Feature Channels: Alcohol and Alcoholism

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Cannabis plus alcohol is one of the most frequently detected drug combinations in car accidents, yet the interaction of these two compounds is still poorly understood. A study appearing online today in Clinical Chemistry, the journal of AACC, shows for the first time that the simultaneous use of alcohol and cannabis produces significantly higher blood concentrations of cannabis’s main psychoactive constituent, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as THC’s primary active metabolite, 11-hydroxy-THC (11-OH-THC), than cannabis use alone.

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Expert can speak on the need for treatment of pain with less potential for abuse than existing painkillers; for better options for those already dealing with opioid dependence; and for the need to address patients’ lifestyles as well as bodies to ensure optimal treatment. Dr. Mark Sirgo is president and CEO of BioDelivery Sciences, whose FDA-approved drug BUNAVAIL and investigational drug BELBUCA allow for the efficient delivery of buprenorphine while potentially overcoming some of the administration challenges presented by sublingual dosage forms, and whose Inreach Assist website and app offers a comprehensive array of information and resources to support patients dealing with addiction and their families.

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With the use of e-cigarettes on the rise, especially among young people, research to uncover the health effects of e-cigs is becoming increasingly important. In a new study published ahead of print in AJP-Lung, researchers find that e-cig solution and vapors—even those that are nicotine-free—damage lung health.

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Contrary to some popular beliefs, marijuana is harmful to adolescent brains. Researchers have found that targeting at-risk youth through school programmes can limit their use of this drug.

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A new NYU study is the first to examine the sociodemographic correlates of rave attendance and relationships between rave attendance and recent (12-month) use of various drugs in a representative US sample of high school seniors.

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Trending news releases with the most views in a single day. Topics include: nutrition, fibromyalgia, e-cigarettes, cystic fibrosis, asthma, and gluten

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Secondhand exposure to cannabis smoke under “extreme conditions,” such as an unventilated room or enclosed vehicle, can cause nonsmokers to feel the effects of the drug, have minor problems with memory and coordination, and in some cases test positive for the drug in a urinalysis. Those are the findings of a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine study, reported online this month in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have discovered that a brain protein has a key role in controlling binge drinking in animal models.

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Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute have found using animal models that the new recreational drug alpha-PVP (“flakka”) seems equivalently potent as a stimulant, and therefore as addictive, as its chemical cousin MDPV (“bath salts”).

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Norris Cotton Cancer Center investigators found teens aged 15-17 years old who had ever mixed alcohol with energy drinks were four times more likely to meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder.

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Trending news releases with the most views in a single day. Topics include: Underage drinking, dieting, electrical engineering, neurology and genetics, Nepal earthquake, breast cancer, and supercomputing.

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Repeated alcohol exposure during adolescence results in long-lasting changes in the region of the brain that controls learning and memory, according to a research team at Duke Medicine that used a rodent model as a surrogate for humans.

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Underage youth who cite alcohol marketing and the influence of adults, movies or other media as the main reasons for choosing to consume a specific brand of alcohol are more likely to drink more and report adverse consequences from their drinking than youth who report other reasons for selecting a specific brand, new research suggests.

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Trending news releases with the most views in a single day. Topics include: robotics, nicotine and alcohol, stem cells, vision, cancer, pregnancy, racial disparities in smoking risk, and herbal therapy for cardiac hypertrophy

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A study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute reveals that, in rat models, nicotine exposure actually promotes alcohol dependence.

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A team led by Case Western Reserve researchers has identified a promising approach to lowering relapse rates among youths addicted to illegal drugs or alcohol. These findings were posted online this month in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

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It has been called a pioneering strategy for treating opioid addiction, and has already been adopted in a small yet growing number of jails and prisons in the United States. Now, a clinical trial published in the journal Addiction by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center finds that the extended-release medication naltrexone (XR-NTX) is associated with a significant decline in relapse rates for a group of mostly heroin-dependent men after their release from New York City jails.

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A study by a team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center shows that pregnant women are commonly being prescribed opioids -- narcotic pain relievers such as hydrocodone -- which results in an increased likelihood of NAS. In addition, the study found that opioid type and duration of exposure combined with tobacco use or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use (for treating depression and anxiety) augmented risks for NAS.

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One in ten high school seniors have used hashish, a highly potent form of marijuana. Teens self-described as “hooked” on pot were twice as likely to use hashish

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The relatively new synthetic drug 251-NBOMe, or “N bomb,” has been associated with the deaths of at least 17 people in the United States since 2010, when it first became available over the Internet, often marketed as “legal” or “natural” LSD.

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Trending news releases with the most views in a single day. Topics include: education, children's health, autism, obesity, smoking, weight loss, LHC re-start, malaria, food safety, kidney disease, and avian flu.

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Two young men sit in an inner-city ER. One is getting care for injuries he suffered in a fight, the other, for a sore throat. After getting care, both head back out to an environment of violence and poverty. But, a new study finds, the one who had been in a fight will have a 60% chance of involvement in a violent incident involving a firearm within the next two years.

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Binge-drinking during adolescence may perturb brain development at a critical time and leave lasting effects on genes and behavior that persist into adulthood. The findings, by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine using an animal model, are reported online in the journal Neurobiology of Disease.

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A study conducted in rats measuring risk factors that contribute to alcohol abuse suggests females are particularly sensitive to alcohol-related cues and stress which elicits a “craving” response.

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Increasing state alcohol taxes could prevent thousands of deaths a year from car crashes, say University of Florida Health researchers, who found alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes decreased after taxes on beer, wine and spirits went up in Illinois.

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In most people, any liver damage that might occur from drinking alcohol is reversible. However, in 25 to 30 percent of alcoholics what begins as accumulation of fat in the liver progresses to inflammation, fibrosis and ultimately irreversible cirrhosis, for which the only treatment is a liver transplant. A new study indicates that specific gene mutations might predispose some people to irreversible liver cirrhosis.

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If every new car had a built-in blood alcohol level tester that prevented impaired drivers from driving the vehicle, the U.S. could avoid 85 percent of crash deaths attributable to alcohol-involved motor vehicle crashes. In just 15 years, that would mean preventing more than 59,000 deaths.

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Gavin Arteel, Ph.D., will address the societal and biological effects of alcohol on March 18.

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A reformulation of OxyContin that makes it less likely to be abused than the older formulation has curtailed the drug’s illicit use. But researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a significant percentage still abuse the drug despite package labeling that emphasizes its abuse-deterrent properties.

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Insomnia symptoms affect the risk of suicide among people who drink alcohol, according to a groundbreaking study led by the director of Mississippi State University’s Sleep, Suicide and Aging Laboratory.

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A new study identifies both where in the brain and how a protein in the brain, called Neuropeptide Y or NPY, can act to suppress binge alcohol drinking. These findings suggest that restoring NPY may be useful for treating alcohol use disorders and may also protect some individuals from becoming alcohol dependent.

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Researchers at the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) have found that women with alcoholic partners who face barriers to seeking help may benefit from an Internet-based, interactive support program.

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As marijuana’s legal status throughout the country continues to change, people should know it can cause allergic reactions.

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Briefly counseling college students on the dangers of binge drinking is effective in lowering heavy drinking levels among many students, but only temporarily. Three out of four will be right back where they started a year later, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.

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A new study by researchers affiliated with New York University's Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR), is now online ahead of print in Drug and Alcohol Dependence and it is one of the first national studies to examine risk factors for use of synthetic marijuana among a large, nationally representative sample of teens.

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Physicians urge households to clean out their medicine cabinets as part of Spring cleaning, and get rid of any medication no longer needed.

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Underage drinkers of flavored alcoholic beverages who exclusively consume the supersized versions are more than six times as likely to report suffering alcohol-related injuries compared to underage youth who drink other types of alcoholic beverages, according to a new study.

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When it comes to detecting alcohol misuse, newly minted primary care physicians ask the wrong questions at the wrong times, according to a study led by researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.

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Crack users are much more likely to experience arrest than powder cocaine users, and being poor is the true overwhelming correlate, not being black or a minority.

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Alcohol and caffeine have joined the ranks of milk, juice and other substances that now come in powdered form. Of the two, caffeine is more concerning, says one Penn State Hershey physician.

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A study published recently by researchers from Nationwide Children’s Hospital, found 10 percent of adolescents sent to a Sleep Center for evaluation of excessive daytime sleepiness with testing results consistent with narcolepsy had urine drug screens positive for marijuana.

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Patients who increased doses of opioid medicines to manage chronic pain were more likely to experience an increase in depression, according to Saint Louis University findings in Pain.

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In a study with chronic adolescent and adult meth users in South Korea, MRI brain scans showed decreased thickness in the gray matter of younger users’ frontal cortex. Adult brains showed less damage.

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Scientists at the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) are studying chronic stress and depression, with a focus on endocannabinoids, which are brain chemicals similar to substances in marijuana.

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Cocaine addicted individuals may continue their habit despite unfavorable consequences like imprisonment or loss of relationships because their brain circuits responsible for predicting emotional loss are impaired, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published today in The Journal of Neuroscience.

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Expert can harness her extensive experience working with addiction and mental health a residential treatment center in Canada to discuss the implications of a sharp rise in the use of marijuana among the adult population in Ontario, and whether marijuana has been given a “free pass” as a largely harmless drug leading to greater consequences.