Feature Channels: Addiction

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22-Aug-2012 1:00 PM EDT
Imaging Study Sheds New Light on Alcohol-Related Birth Defects
University of North Carolina Health Care System

The new imaging study in a mouse model for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders could enhance the diagnoses of birth defects caused by alcohol exposure in the womb and it illustrates how the precise timing of that exposure could determine specific kinds of defects.

14-Aug-2012 9:00 AM EDT
Scientists Can Now Block Heroin, Morphine Addiction
University of Adelaide

In a major breakthrough, an international team of scientists has proven that addiction to morphine and heroin can be blocked, while at the same time increasing pain relief.

Released: 14-Aug-2012 4:40 PM EDT
Rural Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions Significantly More Likely Than Urban Counterparts to Be Referred by Criminal Justice System
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA)

New report shows significant differences in demographics and abuse patterns of substance abuse treatment admissions in rural versus urban communities.

Released: 2-Aug-2012 10:00 AM EDT
Kicking the Habit: Sex Differences in Smoking Cessation
Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR)

A recent study challenged an enduring belief that women were less successful than men in quitting smoking. The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, found convincing evidence that across all of the age groups, “there [is] relatively little difference in cessation between the sexes.”

Released: 1-Aug-2012 1:45 PM EDT
New FDA Program Adds to Tools to Curb Opiod Abuse in United States
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

A new risk management plan from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to help clinicians properly prescribe drugs with addiction potential aims to help reduce the growing epidemic of opioid abuse in the United States. With deaths associated with these drugs, often sold illegally, now reaching toward 14,000 each year – including the fatal shootings of two Philadelphia teenagers last week in a house where police found large quantities of Percocet and morphine, prescription drug pads, and more than $100,000 in cash -- the authors of a Viewpoint piece in the new issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association say the new plan represents a promising opportunity to cut the amount of addictive prescription drugs in circulation for sale and abuse.

Released: 1-Aug-2012 10:40 AM EDT
Childhood Defiance Correlated with Drug Dependence
Universite de Montreal

Children who exhibit oppositional behavior run the risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, cannabis and cocaine whilst Inattention symptoms represent a specific additional risk of nicotine addiction. Nevertheless, hyperactivity in itself does not seem to be associated with any specific risk of substance abuse or dependence.

Released: 26-Jul-2012 11:00 AM EDT
Are Cigarettes Burning a Hole in Your Pocket? Tips to Quit
Loyola Medicine

Loyola Physician Talks about Quitting Smoking to Improve Your Health and Finances

Released: 3-Jul-2012 10:00 AM EDT
SAMHSA Releases New Reports on Drug Use
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA)

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today released two reports regarding substance abuse. The first indicates that youths between the ages of 12 and 17 are far more likely to start using most substances during the summer than during other parts of the year. The second report of data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) system shows that the rate of increase in drug-related emergency department (ED) visits slowed from an average annual rate of 18.2 percent in the years between 2005 and 2008, to an average annual rate of 6.1 percent in the years 2009 and 2010.

25-Jun-2012 1:35 PM EDT
New Vaccine for Nicotine Addiction
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center/Weill Cornell Medical College

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have developed and successfully tested in mice an innovative vaccine to treat nicotine addiction. In the journal Science Translational Medicine, the scientists describe how a single dose of their novel vaccine protects mice, over their lifetime, against nicotine addiction. The vaccine is designed to use the animal's liver as a factory to continuously produce antibodies that gobble up nicotine the moment it enters the bloodstream, preventing the chemical from reaching the brain and even the heart.

Released: 26-Jun-2012 5:10 PM EDT
American Board of Addiction Medicine Foundation Lauds CASA Columbia Report
The Addiction Medicine Foundation (TAMF)

The American Board of Addiction Medicine Foundation (ABAM Foundation) today lauded the significant findings and recommendations in the landmark report just published by CASA Columbia, Addiction Medicine: Closing the Gap between Science and Practice.

Released: 22-Jun-2012 10:45 AM EDT
New Research Links Alcohol Abuse and Bariatric Surgery
Loyola Medicine

Addiction to food may be replaced by an addiction to alcohol according to JAMA research and a Loyola bariatric surgeon shares why this is important.

Released: 11-Jun-2012 11:50 AM EDT
Painkiller Abuse Linked to Depression, Suicide in College Students
Western Illinois University

Western Illinois University Department of Health Sciences Assistant Professor Amanda Divin and her colleague, Keith Zullig, an associate professor in the West Virginia University School of Public Health, recently conducted and published a study that explores non-medical prescription drug use and depressive symptoms in college students.

Released: 6-Jun-2012 12:35 PM EDT
To Quit Smoking, Try Eating More Veggies and Fruits
University at Buffalo

A University at Buffalo study finds that smokers who consume plenty of fruits and vegetables are three times more likely to quit.

Released: 30-May-2012 11:00 AM EDT
Genes Predict if Medication Can Help You Quit Smoking
Washington University in St. Louis

A new study shows the same gene variations that make it difficult to stop smoking also increase the likelihood that heavy smokers will respond to nicotine-replacement therapy and drugs that thwart cravings. The finding suggests it may one day be possible to predict which patients are most likely to benefit from drug treatments for nicotine addiction.

Released: 18-May-2012 10:45 AM EDT
Doctors Need Training to Help Smokers Quit
Health Behavior News Service

Health care professionals do a better job helping people quit smoking when they are trained in smoking cessation techniques, a new Cochrane Library review finds.

Released: 17-May-2012 9:00 AM EDT
Report Shows Decrease in Smoking Levels Among Adolescents and Young Adults in a Six-Year Period
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA)

A new report shows that while a significant segment of minors and young adults are still current smokers, there was a decrease in the rate of cigarette use among these populations between 2004 and 2010 (the year with the latest available data). The report, based on the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), shows that the rate of current cigarette use (having smoked at least once in the past month) among adolescents decreased from 11.9 percent in 2004 to 8.3 percent in 2010. Similarly, the level of current cigarette users among young adults decreased from 39.5 percent in 2004 to 34.2 percent in 2010.

Released: 7-May-2012 3:00 PM EDT
Tanning Takes Center Stage
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Tanning has captured center stage in the American consciousness with the reports of a New Jersey woman charged with second-degree child endangerment for allegedly taking her child to a tanning bed where she was burned.

Released: 4-May-2012 3:00 PM EDT
Tanning Addiction Expert Available
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist

Steve Feldman, M.D., dermatology, conducted the ground-breaking research that found tanning could be addictive because of the endorphins that are released.

2-May-2012 3:45 PM EDT
Cardiovascular Safety Concerns Over Smoking-Cessation Drug Misleading
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

A popular smoking cessation medication has been under a cloud of suspicion ever since the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) published a study July 2011 reporting “risk of serious adverse cardiovascular events associated with varenicline.” Varenicline, also known as Chantix, blocks the pleasant effects of nicotine on the smoker’s brain and lessens nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

Released: 3-May-2012 8:00 AM EDT
Anti-Smoking Drug Decreases Alcohol Consumption in Heavy-Drinking Smokers
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

The smoking cessation drug varenicline significantly reduced alcohol consumption in a group of heavy-drinking smokers, in a study carried out by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco.

1-May-2012 8:00 AM EDT
Some Women May Be Genetically Predisposed to Smoking-Related Hot Flashes
Endocrine Society

Women who smoke and carry specific variations in the genes that impact their metabolism are at higher risk of developing hot flashes in comparison with smokers who do not carry these gene variants, according to a recent study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (JCEM).

Released: 30-Apr-2012 5:00 PM EDT
About One Baby Born Each Hour Addicted to Opiate Drugs in U.S.
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

More mothers using drugs like OxyContin, Vicodin, giving birth to babies in drug withdrawal, results of study published in JAMA.

25-Apr-2012 3:25 PM EDT
Huge Study Finds Brain Networks Connected to Teen Drug Abuse
University of Vermont

In the largest imaging study of the human brain ever conducted—involving 1,896 14-year-olds—scientists have discovered networks that go a long way toward explaining why some teenagers start experimenting with drugs and alcohol.

Released: 23-Apr-2012 8:30 AM EDT
Specific Protein Triggers Changes in Neurons in Brain Reward Center Linked to Cocaine Addiction
Mount Sinai Health System

New research from Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York reveals that repeated exposure to cocaine decreases the activity of a protein necessary for normal functioning of the brain’s reward system, thus enhancing the reward for cocaine use, which leads to addiction. Investigators were also able to block the ability of repeated cocaine exposure, to induce addiction. The findings, published online April 22 in the journal Nature Neuroscience, provide the first evidence of how cocaine changes the shape and size of neuron rewards in a mouse model.

Released: 23-Apr-2012 8:00 AM EDT
Drug Treatments for Heroin Addiction Heighten Pain Sensitivity
American Pain Society

Patients with addictive disorders who take methadone or other opioid medications for pain will experience heightened sensitivity to pain, known as hyperalgesia, and new research published in The Journal of Pain shows that the condition does not improve over the course of treatment.

Released: 19-Apr-2012 11:00 AM EDT
Anti-Tobacco TV Ads Help Adults Stop Smoking, Study Finds
University of Illinois Chicago

Anti-tobacco television advertising helps reduce adult smoking, according to a study by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago's Institute for Health Research and Policy -- but some ads may be more effective than others.

Released: 9-Apr-2012 3:00 PM EDT
Substance Abuse More Stigmatized Than Smoking, Obesity
Dick Jones Communications

Substance use is considerably more stigmatized than smoking or obesity, according to a new study by Albright College.

Released: 27-Mar-2012 12:55 PM EDT
Supervisor Training Helps Curb Employee Substance Abuse
University at Buffalo

To curb employees’ on-the-job substance use and intoxication, bosses need to do more than just be around their employees all day, according to a new study from the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions (RIA).

Released: 21-Mar-2012 3:40 PM EDT
Middle School Teacher Support Lowers Risk for Early Alcohol Use
Seattle Children's Hospital

Youth with parental separation anxiety also at decreased risk.

Released: 19-Mar-2012 11:45 AM EDT
Researchers Find That Smoking May Restore Tapped-Out Self-Control Resources
Moffitt Cancer Center

Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., have found that when they deplete a smoker’s self control, smoking a cigarette may restore self-control.

   
Released: 16-Mar-2012 1:00 PM EDT
Gambling Addictions Expert Warns of Dangers of Internet Gambling, Especially on Youth
Washington University in St. Louis

Participating in an online March Madness bracket or fantasy sport league is harmless fun for most people, but for someone with a gambling addiction, it can be a dangerous temptation. “Now, with states entertaining the possibility of increasing revenue through legalizing internet gambling, it is even more important to pay attention to groups that may be vulnerable to problem gambling, particularly youth,” says Renee Cunningham-Williams, PhD, gambling addictions expert and associate professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. “Internet gambling provides youth with increased opportunities to gamble, which is particularly concerning because this generation is arguably the most technologically savvy of any generation in history.”

13-Mar-2012 2:30 PM EDT
Deprived of Sex, Jilted Flies Drink More Alcohol
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

Now a group of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has discovered that a tiny molecule in the fly’s brain called neuropeptide F governs this behavior—as the levels of the molecule change in their brains, the flies’ behavior changes as well.

Released: 8-Mar-2012 8:00 AM EST
Discovery of Brain's Natural Resistance to Drugs May Offer Clues to Treating Addiction
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

A single injection of cocaine or methamphetamine in mice caused their brains to put the brakes on neurons that generate sensations of pleasure, and these cellular changes lasted for at least a week, according to research by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.

Released: 5-Mar-2012 4:00 PM EST
Bad Environment Augments Genetic Risk for Drug Abuse
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU)

The risk of abusing drugs is greater – even for adopted children – if the family environment in which they are raised is dysfunctional, according to a new study conducted by a collaborative team from Virginia Commonwealth University and Lund University in Sweden.

Released: 5-Mar-2012 11:40 AM EST
School Bullies More Likely to Be Substance Users
Ohio State University

Middle- and high-school students who bully their classmates are more likely than others to use substances such as cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana, a new study found.

Released: 28-Feb-2012 9:50 AM EST
Online Toolkit for Genetic Research Expands Focus on Substance Abuse and Addiction
RTI International

RTI International has added a collection of substance abuse and addiction-related measures to an online toolkit aimed at helping researchers better understand the relationships between genetics, health, disease and environment.

22-Feb-2012 10:15 AM EST
Drug-Free Housing for Substance Abusers Leaving Detox Linked to Fewer Relapses
Johns Hopkins Medicine

New Johns Hopkins research suggests that providing housing contingent on drug abstinence to inner-city opioid abusers leaving a detoxification program significantly increases their chances of remaining drug free six months later.

Released: 27-Feb-2012 11:10 AM EST
Pain Drug Craving Occurs With or Without Risk for Misuse
American Pain Society

Patients taking opioid analgesics for chronic pain who are not substance-dependent or addicted can frequently experience cravings to take more medication, but this behavior is not associated with pain levels or spikes in pain intensity, according to research reported in The Journal of Pain, the peer-review journal of the American Pain Society

Released: 27-Feb-2012 10:00 AM EST
CESAR FAX Cites Buprenorphine Study from Journal of Addiction Medicine
Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott

A Journal of Addiction Medicine (JAM) study was cited in a recent Center for Substance Abuse Research (CESAR) series highlighting an emerging problem in addiction therapy: the diversion and misuse of the medication buprenorphine. The official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, JAM is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

Released: 23-Feb-2012 9:00 AM EST
Invade and Conquer
Biophysical Society

Cigarette smoke has long been considered the main risk factor for heart disease. But new research, to be presented at the 56th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society, shows that nicotine itself can contribute to the disease process.

Released: 16-Feb-2012 9:00 AM EST
Report Shows 7.5 Million Children Live with a Parent with an Alcohol Use Disorder
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA)

A new report shows 7.5 million children under age 18 (10.5 percent of this population) lived with a parent who has experienced an alcohol use disorder in the past year. According to the report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 6.1 million of these children live with two parents—with either one or both parents experiencing an alcohol use disorder in the past year.

Released: 13-Feb-2012 12:00 PM EST
New Book Examines Impact of U.S. Tobacco Industry
Washington University in St. Louis

A new book, "Tobacco Capitalism", by Washington University in St. Louis anthropologist Peter Benson, PhD, examines the impact of the transformation of the U.S. tobacco industry on farmers, workers and the American public. The book reveals public health threats, the impact of off-shoring, and the immigration issues related to tobacco production, specifically in rural North Carolina.

Released: 13-Feb-2012 11:00 AM EST
Internet Addiction Could Be Warning Sign of Substance Use in Teens, Reports Journal of Addiction Medicine
Wolters Kluwer Health: Lippincott

Adolescents who are "internet addicts" may also be at increased risk of substance abuse, suggests a study in the March issue of Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

Released: 27-Jan-2012 4:25 PM EST
‘Dabbling’ in Hard Drugs in Middle Age Linked to Increased Risk of Death
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Data could lead to better advice for primary-care doctors struggling with a rising tide of older adult patients still in throes of youthful bad habits.

17-Jan-2012 11:35 AM EST
Homeless Heavy Drinkers Imbibe Less When Housing Allows Alcohol
University of Washington

A study of a controversial housing project that allows chronically homeless people with severe alcohol problems to drink in their apartments found that during their first two years in the building residents cut their heavy drinking by 35 percent.

Released: 19-Jan-2012 12:30 PM EST
New UTHealth Clinic Uses Cutting-Edge Research to Treat Addictions
University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

An outpatient clinic founded on evidence-based treatments has opened at the Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addictions (CNRA) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

9-Jan-2012 6:00 PM EST
Study Offers Clue As To Why Alcohol Is Addicting
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

Drinking alcohol leads to the release of endorphins in areas of the brain that produce feelings of pleasure and reward, according to a study led by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco.

Released: 5-Jan-2012 11:30 AM EST
Chinese Herbal Medicine May Provide Novel Treatment for Alcohol Abuse
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

UCLA researchers have identified how a component of an ancient Chinese herbal anti-hangover medicine called dihydromyricetin, isolated from the plant Hovenia, counteracts acute alcohol intoxication and withdrawal symptoms.The research team determined that dihydromyricetin may provide a molecular target and cellular mechanism to counteract alcohol intoxication and dependence, leading to new therapeutic treatments.

   
Released: 5-Jan-2012 11:15 AM EST
Starting Chantix Earlier May Make It Easier to Quit
University at Buffalo

Smokers planning to kick the habit may have more success if they begin using a cessation medication several weeks before they actually try to quit.



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