With the support of a five-year, $3.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers will study how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted opioid use disorder and how the COVID-19 response and mitigation policies impact health outcomes, especially in vulnerable populations.
Faculty members with the West Virginia University School of Pharmacy are issuing warnings about the rise of fentanyl in Mountain State communities and elsewhere following the recent seizure of a large amount of “rainbow fentanyl,” potent illegal pills resembling candy, by law enforcement officers in Monongalia County.
A new study published in the scientific journal Addiction has found that the legalization of recreational cannabis in U.S. states appears to have caused a 20% average increase in cannabis use frequency in those states.
People with an obsessive urge to constantly check the news are more likely to suffer from stress, anxiety, as well as physical ill health, finds a new study published in the peer-reviewed journal Health Communication.
The gold standard of opioid addiction treatments, methadone is a lifeline for millions of people addicted to narcotics like heroin, oxycodone and fentanyl. But for many Georgians, accessing medication-assisted treatment is next to impossible. New research from the University of Georgia found four of the five Georgia counties with the highest opioid overdose death rates don’t have a methadone clinic accessible within a 15-minute drive.
A new study published today in the scientific journal Addiction has found that households in the United Kingdom consumed about 6.5% less wine when drinking from smaller (290 ml) glasses than from larger (350 ml) glasses.
Methamphetamine remains a stubbornly prevalent illicit substance in large swaths of rural America, according to a new study by researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and other institutions.
A Penn State College of Medicine study suggests that electronic cigarettes may help people decrease their dependence on combustible cigarettes without increasing their overall nicotine dependence.
New research from Tufts University School of Medicine suggests critical changes to the process of transitioning people out of jail while on substance use treatment can reduce opioid deaths among the highly susceptible population.
Ever since Corey Walker, MD, became a spine surgeon, the traditional measure of success focused on how well a patient was able to walk, bend or move after spine surgery. Now, with the help of artificial intelligence, Walker is measuring success differently.
Heavy drinkers with symptoms of insomnia, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, may be less likely to suffer alcohol-induced blackouts, according to a study co-authored by a Rutgers researcher.
Fast data processing of overdose deaths, which have increased in recent years, is crucial to developing a rapid public health response. But the system now in place lacks precision and takes months. To correct that, UCLA researchers have developed an automated process that reduces data collection to a few weeks.
Phone-based and video-based telehealth visits both helped veterans with opioid addiction stay on buprenorphine medication to treat their opioid use disorder during the pandemic. The findings could inform telemedicine policy.
As the strength or potency of cannabis products has increased internationally over the years, so have rates of people being treated for cannabis addiction, say the authors of a new study.
UNC School of Medicine researchers are beginning to parse the underlying genetic differences in people who abuse substances. The more they learn, the better chance they will be able to create therapies to help the millions of people who struggle with addiction.
A new study has found that drinking alone as an adolescent and young adult can increase the risk of alcohol use disorder later in life, especially for women.
People with two pediatric-onset neurodevelopmental disorders are prescribed opioids at a rate up to five times higher than those who do not have those conditions, a new study finds. Researchers say the findings raise concerns over addiction, overdose and mental health issues.
Adolescents are over three times more vulnerable to developing a cannabis addiction than adults, but may not be at increased risk of other mental health problems related to the drug, finds a new study led by UCL and King’s College London researchers.
They may only be in 4th or 5th grade, but 1 in 10 pre-teen children already say they’re curious about using alcohol or tobacco products, and 1 in 50 say they’re curious about using marijuana, a new study shows.
As many as 3% of the nearly 12,000 9- and 10-year-olds surveyed say they already have a friend who uses one of these substances. And those who said they did were also much more likely to be curious about trying alcohol or tobacco and other nicotine-containing products themselves.
The UCSF-JHU Opioid Industry Documents Archive released more than 114,000 documents related to McKinsey & Company's work showing how they advised opioid makers to help increase sales, despite the growing public outcry over the opioid epidemic.
Prior research has demonstrated greater addiction vulnerability in women; for example, women advance from casual substance use to addiction at a faster rate, experience more severe withdrawal symptoms, exhibit higher rates of relapse, and have less treatment success than men. A new study shows that biobehavioral interactions in alcohol use disorders (AUDs) among women are cyclical in nature: women’s greater risk of personal histories of trauma coupled with a greater vulnerability to alcohol-related brain deficits can lead to more severe AUD effects.
Members of racial and ethnic minority groups were less likely to obtain prescriptions to treat opioid addiction during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study by researchers at Rutgers and Indiana University.
Scientists investigating substance use are making progress on eliminating stigmatizing language that can perpetuate negative biases and worsen outcomes, according to a new analysis of published research articles. Nevertheless, the field has further to go.
New research has revealed a significant gap in prescribing of effective medications for alcohol use disorder (AUD). The study, reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, showed that just one in twenty patients with an alcohol-related diagnosis were prescribed an approved AUD drug (naltrexone, disulfiram, or acamprosate). The findings reinforce and build on previous evidence of under-prescribing, despite these treatments being proven to reduce heavy drinking and relapse. In the inpatient acute care setting, provision of AUD medication has been shown to be both feasible and associated with a reduction in re-admissions and emergency department (ED) visits. However, few prior studies had reported on prescribing habits in this setting. The current study examined prescribing in the acute inpatient care setting compared to other care settings within the University of Colorado Healthcare System.
A study analyzing prescription claims for a drug used to treat opioid addictions found that adolescents and young adults were less likely than usual to get treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially if they were covered by private, commercial health insurance.
With stay-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic, youth spent more time at home with family and were more isolated from in-person interaction with peers. Largely due to this social isolation from peers, substance use among youth declined, according to researchers at the WVU School of Public Health.
Encouraging moderation, balance and real-life engagement coupled with education may combat the overuse of wireless mobile devices and subsequent adverse health outcomes, according to research being presented Sunday at ENDO 2022, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Atlanta, Ga.
Parental smoking is a significant risk factor for developing smoking behavior and nicotine dependence in offspring. These findings suggest that parental nicotine exposure may promote addiction-like behaviors in subsequent generations. Given the significance of cigarette smoking for public health, preventing nicotine use among adolescents is critical to ending tobacco use disorder and decreasing e-cigarette use.
As America sees a record number of overdose deaths, taking action to reduce harm and tragedy due to opioids is vital. Here, three providers with expertise in substance use disorder care share ways individuals, communities and health care providers can help save lives.
Menthol cigarettes increase youth smoking and nicotine addiction report researchers at the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science at University of California San Diego.
A data-driven simulation model designed to help policymakers to better understand and address the nation’s rampant opioid crisis has been developed by a team of scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
Buprenorphine is a prescription approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that effectively treats opioid dependence or addiction. But women, as well as Black and Hispanic populations, do not have equal access to this potentially lifesaving medication, new Mayo Clinic research finds.
Graphic warning labels led smokers to hide their packs but not change other smoking behaviors according to report by University of California San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science researchers.
Scientists have long known that cocaine works by latching on to molecular connectors on the surface of brain cells, allowing dopamine, a chemical that promotes feelings of pleasure and reward, to accumulate in the space between brain cells. Now, Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists say they have found a molecular connector, known as the BASP1 receptor, that binds cocaine, even when the drug is present in very low doses.
The rate of deadly drug overdoses among Black people in Kentucky more than doubled from 2016 to 2020, according to a new analysis by University of Kentucky researchers.
The Black overdose mortality rate increased by nearly 117% — from 21.2 deaths for every 100,000 people in 2016 to 46.0 per 100,000 in 2020, according to the research published in the journal Public Health Reports.
With a $2.5 million National Institutes of Health grant, researchers at the University of Washington will explore one of the most important questions related to a federal emergency policy change: whether those changes helped with another opioid-related crisis — the unequal access experienced by Black and Latinx patients to buprenorphine.
Once a state legalizes recreational cannabis and increase in youth using it illegally occurs, report researchers at University of California San Diego Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science.
Two linked studies led by UCLA Fielding School of Public Health researchers have found strong associations between drug misuse generally and opioid misuse specifically among unemployed Americans, who were found to have a 40% higher likelihood to misuse opioids than those working 35-40 hours per week.
Researchers at the University of Washington found that people might not be 'addicted' to social media. Instead they get stuck in a state of dissociation, like what happens when you are reading a good book.
University Hospitals (UH) Connor Whole Health and Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute (SSIHI) at University of California, Irvine have joined in collaboration to lead BraveNet -- the first and largest whole health, practice-based research network in the U.S.