Feature Channels: Addiction

Filters close
Released: 17-Dec-2020 12:50 PM EST
Pandemic has severely disrupted sleep, increasing stress and medication use
University of Ottawa

The COVID-19 pandemic is seriously affecting the sleep habits of half of those surveyed in a new study from The Royal and the University of Ottawa, leading to further stress and anxiety plus further dependence on sleep medication.

   
Released: 16-Dec-2020 2:05 PM EST
Vaping could nearly triple the chance of smoking in teens
Ohio State University

A new study offers strong evidence that kids who use e-cigarettes are more likely to take up smoking or smokeless tobacco, researchers say. Teen boys who vaped were almost three times as likely to start smoking as other teen boys with similar risk profiles and more than two times as likely to try smokeless tobacco, the study from The Ohio State University found.

Released: 16-Dec-2020 1:40 PM EST
How hope can make you happier with your lot
University of East Anglia

Having hope for the future could protect people from risky behaviours such as drinking and gambling - according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

14-Dec-2020 2:35 PM EST
Analysis finds gaps in care in treating opioid use disorders during pandemic shutdowns
Harvard Medical School

Study finds no decrease in prescription fills or clinician visits in the first three months of the COVID-19 pandemic for patients recently receiving opioid use disorder therapy. On the flip side, the study found that during this period fewer people started new treatment for opioid use disorder and fewer urine tests were given across both new and established patients. Findings identify strengths and weaknesses in telemedicine’s role for opioid use disorder during shutdowns and can inform strategies for improvement.

Released: 15-Dec-2020 10:45 AM EST
Sights set on curbing gun crime
Flinders University

A community or sub-culture encouraging young men's exposure and obsession with guns - as well as ready access to firearms and drugs - can make gun violence 'all too easy', with Flinders University experts promoting a new direction on managing the global problem.

10-Dec-2020 10:00 AM EST
Experts to Discuss the Essential Efforts of Clinical Laboratories to Fight the Opioid Epidemic at the 2020 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting
Association for Diagnostic and Laboratory Medicine (ADLM (formerly AACC))

The opioid epidemic has only gotten worse since the advent of COVID-19, with some areas in the U.S. reporting a 50% increase in drug overdoses due to the pandemic. With no end in sight to this public health crisis, scientific sessions during the virtual 2020 AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo will highlight the integral role of clinical laboratories in efforts to manage it, as well as the latest drug tests needed to do so.

Released: 11-Dec-2020 12:55 PM EST
'The robot made me do it': Robots encourage risk-taking behaviour in people
University of Southampton

New research has shown robots can encourage people to take greater risks in a simulated gambling scenario than they would if there was nothing to influence their behaviours.

Released: 9-Dec-2020 8:50 AM EST
New Project Offers Real-World Case Studies to Teach Big Data Lessons to Help Solve Pressing Health Issues
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed a series of case studies for urgent public health issues to help students and practitioners across the U.S. learn how to apply big-data analysis approaches in their work.

Released: 7-Dec-2020 2:10 PM EST
Novel Anti-Craving Mechanism Discovered to Treat Cocaine Relapse
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

Cocaine continues to be one of the most commonly abused illicit drugs in the United States. Pre-clinical literature suggests that targeting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptors (GLP-1Rs) in the brain may represent a novel approach to treating cocaine use disorder. Specifically, GLP-1R agonists, which are FDA-approved for treating diabetes and obesity, have been shown to reduce voluntary drug taking and seeking in preclinical models of cocaine used disorder. However, the exact neural circuits and cell types that mediate the suppressive effects of GLP-1R agonists on cocaine-seeking behavior are mostly unknown.

Released: 3-Dec-2020 12:55 PM EST
After CDC guidance, little change in opioid prescriptions to those at risk of misuse
Saint Louis University

Research from Saint Louis University finds that among patients at risk for opioid misuse, the odds of receiving a schedule II opioid for non-cancer pain were similar to those not at risk, despite new prescribing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Released: 2-Dec-2020 1:10 PM EST
Brexit opens the door to tougher anti-smoking measures
University of Bath

Brexit offers the UK opportunities to strengthen its world-leading tobacco control measures, by creating greater flexibility to respond to industry action and market developments, according to new research from the University of Bath.

   
23-Nov-2020 5:45 PM EST
People who Use Alcohol and Cannabis Together May Reduce Risks by Choosing Certain Products and Combinations
Research Society on Alcoholism

Young adults who combine alcohol and cannabis use experience fewer negative consequences when they stick with a single type of drink versus consuming multiple types of alcohol, according to a new study. In addition, by avoiding cannabis concentrate they may steady or lower their overall consumption. The findings suggest that for those who choose to sustain their levels of alcohol and cannabis use, judicious choice of products may reduce the risks.

     
Released: 23-Nov-2020 11:50 AM EST
Nurse practitioners play key role in opioid addiction treatment in very rural areas
Washington State University

Giving nurse practitioners the authority to prescribe buprenorphine has brought that gold standard treatment for opioid addiction to people who might not have had access to it before, according to a new study led by Tracy Klein, PhD, associate professor at the Washington State University College of Nursing in Vancouver.

Released: 20-Nov-2020 8:40 AM EST
UCLA receives $6.4 million to fund cannabis research
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

UCLA has received seven grants totaling $6.4 million from the California Bureau of Cannabis Control. The awards will fund studies on topics ranging from the toxicity of inhaled and second-hand cannabis smoke to employment conditions in California’s cannabis industry.

Released: 19-Nov-2020 1:50 PM EST
More than 1.1 million deaths among Medicare recipients due to high cost of drugs
West Health Institute

ore than 1.1 million Medicare patients could die over the next decade because they cannot afford to pay for their prescription medications, according to a new study released today by the West Health Policy Center, a nonprofit and nonpartisan policy research group and Xcenda, the research arm of the drug distributor AmerisourceBergen.

Released: 19-Nov-2020 8:10 AM EST
Changes in vaping, other substance use, another side effect of COVID-19
Mayo Clinic

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, information about the dangers of vaping was emerging. To investigate the potentially serious health and respiratory implications of vaping, Mayo Clinic researchers wanted to better understand the factors influencing vaping in the community.

Released: 18-Nov-2020 5:25 PM EST
UTEP Researcher Studies Effects of Teen Vaping on the Brain and Behavior
University of Texas at El Paso

With support from a nearly $340,000 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Ian Mendez, Ph.D., UTEP assistant professor of pharmacy, is developing an animal model that mimics real life exposure to e-cigarettes in order to investigate the effects of nicotine vapor exposure on adolescent behavior.

Released: 18-Nov-2020 3:25 PM EST
Are E-cigarettes Safer Than Cigarettes? Study Sheds Light on the Issue
University of Kansas Cancer Center

Scientists and medical professionals have long debated whether pod e-cigarettes are a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes. A new study provides some insight.

Released: 17-Nov-2020 8:45 AM EST
Cannabis strength soars over past half century -- new study
University of Bath

New research shows that over the past 50 years street cannabis across the world has become substantially stronger carrying an increased risk of harm.

Released: 11-Nov-2020 6:05 PM EST
Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Surgeon Establishes First-Ever Guidelines for Pediatric Opioid Prescribing
Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Dr. Lorraine Kelley-Quon forms team of health care providers and community advocates to establish recommendations for safe opioid use. According to the National Institutes of Health, opioid misuse and addiction in the United States is a national crisis, with an economic burden upwards of $78 billion. Opioids are useful for pain management following surgery and other major procedures, but until now there have been no recommendations guiding safe use of opioids in children.

Released: 10-Nov-2020 3:05 PM EST
Understanding Impacts of COVID-19 on Substance Use Disorder and Treatment
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

A Rutgers expert discusses the many impacts of COVID-19 on people with substance use disorder and what treatment providers, policymakers and researchers are doing to help.

Released: 10-Nov-2020 2:05 PM EST
COVID poses hardships for people with substance abuse problems
University of Michigan

Both fatal and nonfatal overdoses have increased this year compared to last, according to a recent report by the Overdose Data Mapping Application Program. And, anecdotal information suggests that compared to last year, people in recovery are relapsing at alarming rates.

Released: 10-Nov-2020 1:00 PM EST
Take Part in the 2020 Great American Smokeout
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey

November 19, 2020 marks the Great American Smokeout, an annual intervention hosted by the American Cancer Society as a call to action to take the first step towards better health through the elimination of tobacco products. Rutgers experts share more on why and how to get started.

Released: 26-Oct-2020 8:55 AM EDT
Real-time opioid overdose tracking system shows rise in the time of COVID-19
Michigan Medicine - University of Michigan

An epidemic that was already raging before COVID-19 arrived has flared up in recent months, according to a real-time tracking system in Michigan. It shows a 15 percent rise in suspected opioid overdose deaths since March, compared with the same time last year, and a 29% rise in first responders’ use of the rescue drug naloxone.

Released: 21-Oct-2020 8:30 AM EDT
Opioid Use Disorder? Electronic Health Records Help Pinpoint Probable Patients
Florida Atlantic University

A new study suggests that patients with opioid use disorder may be identified using information available in electronic health records, even when diagnostic codes do not reflect this diagnosis. The study demonstrates the utility of proxies coding for DSM-5 criteria from medical records to generate a quantitative DSM-5 score that is associated with opioid use disorder severity. The study methods are unique in deriving a severity score that aims to mirror severity scores from more traditional interview-based diagnostic procedures.

Released: 20-Oct-2020 2:25 PM EDT
From pills to powder: 1 in 3 high school seniors who misused prescription opioids later used heroin
University of Michigan

Nearly one-third of students who reported misusing prescription opioids as high school seniors between 1997 and 2000, but did not have a history of medical use, later used heroin by age 35, according to a University of Michigan study.

Released: 15-Oct-2020 3:30 PM EDT
UC San Diego Mexico Violence Resource Project Goes Beyond Cartels to Study Drug War
University of California San Diego

The Mexico Violence Resource Project—a new initiative from the University of California San Diego’s Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies—was recently launched to provide policymakers and journalists analysis and information to better understand the complicated escalation of violence in Mexico.

Released: 14-Oct-2020 5:35 PM EDT
Virtual Reality as Medicine: An Interview with Brennan Spiegel, MD
Cedars-Sinai

In the wake of the opioid addiction crisis that has cost more than 500,000 U.S. lives, medical investigators have focused on finding new methods to help patients control pain.

   
Released: 13-Oct-2020 9:55 AM EDT
IU study examines effects of low-level lead exposure and alcohol consumption
Indiana University

A new IU study examining effects of low-level developmental lead exposure in mice could explain why some people dependent on alcohol return to using.

28-Sep-2020 11:50 AM EDT
Significant decline in prescription opioid abuse seen among Americans at last
American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA)

Almost 20 years into the opioid epidemic, there finally is evidence of significant and continual decreases in the abuse of these risky pain medications, according to an analysis of national data being presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY® 2020 annual meeting.

Released: 25-Sep-2020 12:05 PM EDT
NYU College of Dentistry Awarded NIH Grant to Investigate Endosomal Receptors as Targets for Chronic Pain Treatment
New York University

The NIH has awarded NYU College of Dentistry researchers Nigel Bunnett, PhD, and Brian Schmidt, DDS, MD, PhD, a $3.9 million grant to study targeting endosomal receptors for the treatment of chronic pain. The five-year grant will support Bunnett and Schmidt’s collaborative research, which aims to ultimately yield improved pain management without the need for opioids.

Released: 21-Sep-2020 5:05 AM EDT
College Students with Disabilities at Greater Risk for Substance Abuse
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

College students with physical and cognitive disabilities use illicit drugs more, and have a higher prevalence of drug use disorder, than their non-disabled peers, according to a Rutgers study.

Released: 17-Sep-2020 10:45 AM EDT
Preparing Future Clinicians to Intervene in Opioid Crisis
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

Opioid use disorder and overdose have reached unprecedented levels around the world. In the United States, remediation of pain is one of the most common reasons American adults seek healthcare. Therefore, it is vital that clinicians practicing in diverse roles and settings have a clinical understanding of pain and substance use disorders as well as knowledge about public health and opioid policy interventions.

Released: 16-Sep-2020 8:00 AM EDT
$11.4 million NIH grant advances drug to treat nicotine addiction
Sanford Burnham Prebys

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, Camino Pharma, LLC and University of California San Diego School of Medicine have been awarded an $11.4 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance a novel drug candidate for nicotine addiction into first-in-human Phase 1 studies. The drug targets a neuronal signaling pathway underlying addictive behaviors, and would be a first-in-class medication to help people quit smoking.

14-Sep-2020 8:00 AM EDT
Potent Drug Supply Drop, Not U.S. Domestic Drug Policies, Likely Behind 2018’s Overdose Death Downturn
Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh

The slight decline in drug overdose deaths in 2018 coincides with Chinese regulations on the powerful opioid carfentanil, rather than the result of domestic U.S. efforts to curb the opioid epidemic, a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health analysis revealed today.

Released: 15-Sep-2020 4:35 PM EDT
UTEP Partnership Receives Federal Grant to Combat Opioid Abuse in West Texas Counties
University of Texas at El Paso

The University of Texas at El Paso’s Minority AIDS Research Center (MARC) is the subrecipient of a $1 million implementation grant to target substance use disorders and opioid use disorders in five rural counties along the Texas-Mexico border.

Released: 15-Sep-2020 3:05 PM EDT
Telehealth supports collaborative mental health care in the needs of rural patients
American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)

Traditionally, primary care clinics connect patients who have mental health care needs to specialists like psychiatrists in a collaborative care model.

Released: 15-Sep-2020 11:40 AM EDT
Abandoned Buildings, Fear of Calling Police Contribute to High Rate of Fatal Overdoses in Philadelphia, New Study Shows
American University

Abandoned Buildings, Fear of Calling Police Contribute to High Rate of Fatal Overdoses in Philadelphia, New Study Shows

Released: 14-Sep-2020 2:45 PM EDT
Virtual Reality Trains Public to Reverse Opioid Overdoses
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing

The United States has seen a 200% increase in the rate of deaths by opioid overdose in the last 20 years. But many of these deaths were preventable. Naloxone, also called Narcan, is a prescription drug that reverses opioid overdoses, and in more than 40 states — including Pennsylvania — there is a standing order policy, which makes it available to anyone, without an individual prescription from a healthcare provider.

Released: 11-Sep-2020 10:10 AM EDT
University of Miami Miller School Researcher Wins NIH Avenir Award to Pursue Innovative Opioid Addiction Research
University of Miami Health System, Miller School of Medicine

Luis M. Tuesta, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, has been awarded the Avenir Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, to study the epigenetic mechanisms of microglial activation and their role in shaping the behavioral course of opioid use disorder.

Released: 8-Sep-2020 11:55 AM EDT
Rutgers-Led National Survey Uncovers Doctors' Misconceptions About Nicotine Risks
Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Most doctors misperceive the risks of nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco products, according to a Rutgers-led national survey.

Released: 3-Sep-2020 7:05 PM EDT
UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative launches COVID-19 survey
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

To better understand the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on cannabis and CBD use, the UCLA Cannabis Research Initiative has launched the Cannabis, CBD and COVID Survey.

31-Aug-2020 12:45 PM EDT
Studies: E-cigarettes Don’t Help Smokers Quit and They May Become Addicted to Vaping
UC San Diego Health

Two UC San Diego School of Medicine-led analyses report that e-cigarettes are not effective in helping adults to quit smoking.

Released: 2-Sep-2020 10:00 AM EDT
Adjusting Jailed Women’s Beliefs about Their Friends’ Substance Use May Help Reduce Their Drinking and Risk of Reoffending
Research Society on Alcoholism

Brief interventions can potentially reduce incarcerated women’s alcohol use when they leave jail, according to a new study.

     
27-Aug-2020 8:35 AM EDT
Heavy-drinking Rodents Enhance Understanding of Problematic Alcohol Use Patterns
Research Society on Alcoholism

New study findings in mice suggest that repeated binge drinking increases the motivation to consume alcohol to excess. In humans, the pattern of drinking (as well as quantity consumed) can be an important indicator of future drink problems; in adolescents, for example, a binge-drinking pattern can predict development of alcohol use disorder (AUD). Studies using laboratory animals that have been selectively bred to drink alcohol (ethanol) in large amounts can provide valuable insights on problematic drinking patterns, using experimental approaches that would be impossible or unethical to apply in humans. Indeed, many important findings on responses to alcohol have been gained from animal studies, conducted to strict welfare guidelines. The latest study, reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, examined two behaviors in mice that reflect their motivation to experience alcohol’s rewarding effects on the brain.

     


close
33.17777