Feature Channels: Drugs and Drug Abuse

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Researchers have received a U.S. patent for a novel method to identify therapeutic agents to treat addiction. The invention, related to the fields of pharmacology, medicine, neurology and psychiatry, targets the protein MBLAC1, which the Blakely lab identified as the mammalian form of a gene the group first identified in worms as a modifier of signaling by the neurotransmitter dopamine.

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Cannabis therapy also linked to improvements in anxiety, depression, and pain levels—though no changes in sleep disturbance levels reported.

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Aug. 31 marks International Overdose Awareness Day, a time when attention is directed toward raising awareness about opioid overdose and ways to reverse the deadly effects.

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Research suggests that an ADHD drug could serve as a cocaine-replacement therapy, but clinical results have been mixed. Although labs have produced MPH derivatives for testing, parts of the molecule remained inaccessible. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have cleared that hurdle.

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Anxiety remains one of the most diagnosed clinical symptoms in adolescence and is a potent precursor to and exacerbator of substance use disorder. Through this NIH-funded study, UNC Chapel Hill researchers will examine the neural and physiological mechanisms associated with emergence of substance use in adolescence who experience anxiety.

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One Virginia Tech researcher wants to spread awareness about the science of breastfeeding, particularly for pregnant women with opioid use disorder and their advocates.

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A new study finds law enforcement plays a critical role in launching programs designed to reduce the risk of repeat overdoses in people who use drugs.

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Tufts University School of Medicine teams and collaborators are running multiple projects that seek to reduce overdoses and the spread of infections, such as HIV and hepatitis C, in people who use drugs

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In a new preclinical study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, scientists provide the first evidence that changes in the gut microbiome have significant effects on cocaine use and cravings after withdrawal.

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Two studies featured today at the 2023 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo highlight advances that could boost the accuracy of marijuana tests and provide vital information for addressing the opioid epidemic.

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Indiana University researchers have made a substantial discovery in the role genes play in the development of AUDs, finding that alteration of a group of genes known to influence neuronal plasticity and pain perceptions, rather than single gene defect, is linked to AUDs.

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Men were significantly more vulnerable than women to overdose deaths involving opioid and stimulant drugs in 2020-2021, according to a new study analyzing data from across the United States.

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A new clinical trial run by Howard University, the University of Illinois Chicago and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine will partner with community organizations and sites to bring life-saving care closer to a highly vulnerable population – Black people with opioid use disorder.

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The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is hosting an expert briefing for the media from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EDT, Thursday, June 15, on the recent Purdue Pharma ruling that shields the Sackler family from current and future civil lawsuits in exchange for contributing up to $6 billion to states and communities to fight the opioid epidemic.

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A new intervention developed by a team of researchers and led by Guillermo “Willy” Prado, professor of nursing and health studies at the University of Miami, aims to curb devastating mental health trends and drug use among Hispanic youth who identify as sexual minorities.

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Despite getting “the munchies”, people who frequently use cannabis are leaner and less prone to diabetes than those who don’t. University of California, Irvine researchers have now uncovered a possible explanation for this paradox – and it’s not good news.

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With an urgent mission to address the alarming rise in drug overdose deaths, the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) has announced plans to open the new Kahlert Institute for Addiction Medicine.

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Leveraging the HEALing Communities Study infrastructure, researchers are testing whether there is an association between fentanyl test strip use and overdose risk reduction behaviors among people who use drugs over a 28-day observation period. The Stay Safe Study will be in Kentucky, Ohio and New York.

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Penn Medicine is launching a new community mental health hub at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania — Cedar Avenue (HUP Cedar), co-locating inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care with a new crisis response center (CRC) at the facility. The multi-year plan will put crucial psychiatric and substance use care in easy reach for West and Southwest Philadelphia residents, at a time when both mental illness and drug and alcohol dependence are surging in the city.

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May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Get your mental health news here.

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A new study led by a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researcher found that the percent of patients treated for opioid use disorder with methadone significantly decreased their use of fentanyl during a year of treatment. The percent who tested positive for fentanyl declined on average from 21.8 percent in week one to 17.1 percent in week 52.

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Gentrification doesn’t erase drug crime and gun violence. Instead, research from West Virginia University economist Zachary Porreca shows that when one urban block becomes upwardly mobile, organized criminal activity surges outward to surrounding blocks, escalating the violence in the process.

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Strategies to treat pain without triggering dangerous side effects such as euphoria and addiction have proven elusive. Now scientists at Washington University School of Medicine have identified a potential pathway to pain relief that neither triggers addiction nor causes hallucinations.

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A new study found a declining proportion of DATA-waivered clinicians prescribed any buprenorphine between 2017 and 2021. While the number of waivered clinicians increased significantly during the five-year window, only one out of three prescribed any buprenorphine as of May 2021. Furthermore, the majority of prescriptions were written by clinicians who specialize in treating opioid use disorder. The new study was published as a research letter in JAMA.

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Treating opioid addiction should be much easier now than it was a few years ago, thanks to pandemic-era rule changes that aim to improve access to buprenorphine, a medicine proven to help in recovery. But a new study shows prescriptions and adherence rates have remained flat.

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Researcher will discuss the study which involved a sleeping aid known as suvorexant that is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for insomnia, hints at the potential of sleep medications to slow or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

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U.S. middle and high schools with the most students taking prescription stimulants to treat ADHD also had, overall, the highest percentage of students who misused prescription stimulants within the past year.

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First study to do apples-to-apples comparison of residential treatment use among Medicaid enrollees across several states

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University of Kentucky researchers are creating an innovative statewide surveillance system to inform prevention and response efforts aimed at reducing the burden of opioid use disorder in Kentucky. The Rapid Actionable Data for Opioid Response in Kentucky (RADOR-KY) will use data from federal, state, and local sources to guide evidence-based practices aimed at preventing opioid overdoses in the Commonwealth.

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From septic shock to sticker shock. Keep up with this ever-growing, changing sector. Below are some of the latest stories on healthcare on Newswise.

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Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridioides difficile, Candida auris, Drug-resistant Shigella. These bacteria not only have difficult names to pronounce, but they are also difficult to fight off. These bacteria may infect humans and animals, and the infections they cause are harder to treat than those caused by non-resistant bacteria. Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent global public health threat.

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Anthony DiStefano, professor of public health at Cal State Fullerton, believes that the sudden social isolation that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic had an influence on mental health and drug overdose deaths.

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It's sleep awareness week, according to the National Sleep Foundation. It’s important to understand how sleep deprivation can impact your health. Most people recognize that if they don’t get enough sleep, their mood and memory will suffer the next day.

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People living in the United States must travel significantly farther to access methadone treatment for opioid addiction than Canadians, suggests a new study led by Washington State University researchers.