Abstinence News and Research

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Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging a desire or appetite for certain bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to abstention from sexual intercourse, alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical considerations.

Proactive telephone counseling helps increase long-term smoking cessation

Proactive telephone counseling helps smokers quit regardless of how they are recruited to a telephone quitline, according to a study published online June 10th in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

13 Jun 2011

Scientists discover key biological mechanism underpinning transition to alcohol dependence

A team of Scripps Research Institute scientists has found a key biological mechanism underpinning the transition to alcohol dependence. This finding opens the door to the development of drugs to manage excessive alcohol consumption.

1 Jun 2011

UNAIDS Director says Pope's comments on condoms open dialogue for HIV prevention

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe on Saturday "told a Vatican conference [Pope Benedict XVI] had opened the door to greater dialogue with his groundbreaking comments on condoms and HIV prevention - even as Vatican officials stressed abstinence and marital fidelity as the best prevention," the Associated Press reports.

1 Jun 2011

Omeros' PDE7 program expands addiction franchise

Omeros Corporation today announced that its phosphodiesterase 7 inhibitors demonstrated robust efficacy in animal models of nicotine addiction.

6 May 2011

'Harm-minimization' approach can lead to high teen alcohol consumption

Allowing adolescents to drink alcohol under adult supervision does not appear to teach responsible drinking as teens get older. In fact, such a "harm-minimization" approach may actually lead to more drinking and alcohol-related consequences, according to a new study in the May 2011 issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

28 Apr 2011

Hangovers affect surgeon's performance

A new study has shown that excessive alcohol consumption, even on the previous day, appears to be associated with changes in some surgical skills performed on virtual reality simulator testing the following day. The study appeared in the April issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

19 Apr 2011

Hospital patients with AUDs are at increased risk of developing HAIs: Study

Hospital patients with alcohol use disorders are at an increased risk of developing healthcare-associated infections, which affect 1.7 million patients annually in the United States. HAIs are infections that patients acquire during their hospitalization and that were not present at the time of admission to the hospital.

16 Apr 2011

Safer-sex education leads to fewer episodes of unprotected sex

Teaching young women how to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) increases condom use and might reduce their number of sexual partners, but little research exists on whether educational programs reduce rates of STIs such as human papillomavirus, according to an updated research review from England.

15 Apr 2011

TZDs might serve as new agents for addiction treatment

Thiazolidinediones are a class of medications that are commonly prescribed to treat type-2 diabetes, while fibrates are a structurally-related class of medications that are prescribed to modulate lipid levels in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

6 Apr 2011

Cocaine-addicted individuals show heightened response to drug-related images

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and Stony Brook University (SBU) have conducted the most comprehensive study to date of how cocaine users respond to drug-related and other emotional stimuli, making use of comparisons with a matched control group and exploring the effects of recent cocaine use and abstinence. The findings appear in a paper published online in the European Journal of Neuroscience.

5 Apr 2011

CAS-Carrera awarded $3.5M SIF grant from EMCF

The New York based Children's Aid Society Carrera Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program has been awarded a $3.5 million Social Innovation Fund grant from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation to deepen the program's impact in New York City and replicate it nationally.

2 Apr 2011

Smoking cessation prior surgery not linked to increased risk of postoperative complications

A meta-analysis of nine previous studies found that quitting smoking shortly before surgery was not associated with an increased risk of postoperative complications, according to a report published online today that will appear in the July 11 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

15 Mar 2011

Study finds passive smoking increases risk of still birth by 23%

Pregnant non-smokers who breathe in the second-hand smoke of other people are at an increased risk of delivering stillborn babies or babies with defects, a study led by researchers at The University of Nottingham has found.

9 Mar 2011

Prolonged exposure to antidepressants can induce tardive dysphoria

In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics a new important side effect of antidepressant drugs is described: tardive dysphoria.

9 Mar 2011

Study: Residential treatment greatly improves smoking abstinence

In the March issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, researchers report that residential treatment for tobacco dependence among heavy smokers greatly improves the odds of abstinence at six months compared with standard outpatient treatment.

8 Mar 2011

Study: Moderate drinking can reduce risk of dementia even among older adults

3202 German individuals attending general practitioners , who were free of dementia were studied at baseline, were followed up 1.5 years and 3 years later by means of structured clinical interviews including detailed assessment of current alcohol consumption and DSM-IV dementia diagnoses.

8 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Obama's 'flexibility' offer; Virginia's abortion law 'mischief'; primary care cuts

President Obama had a splendid idea this week. He challenged governors who oppose his health care reforms, most of whom are Republicans, to come up with a better alternative.

3 Mar 2011

Psychologists develop cognitive-bias modification to help alcoholics stay sober

Alcoholism is a tough addiction to kick. Eventually, most people return to drinking. But some Dutch and German psychological scientists have tested a short-term regime that promises to help alcoholics stay sober. Their study is published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association of Psychological Science.

2 Mar 2011

Omeros announces license agreement with Daiichi Sankyo for PDE7 inhibitors

Omeros Corporation today announced that its exclusive license to phosphodiesterase 7 inhibitors from Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. has been amended to include addiction and compulsive disorders in the field of use.

23 Feb 2011

E-cigarettes produce abstinence rates nearly double that of traditional method

Two new studies available online and being published in the April edition of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine find that electronic cigarettes produces abstinence rates nearly double that of traditional nicotine replacement methods and that consumer interest in e-cigarettes is currently much higher than interest in traditional nicotine replacement products.

10 Feb 2011