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For-profit companies open psychiatric hospitals in areas clamoring for care

A for-profit company has proposed turning a boarded-up former nursing home here into a psychiatric hospital, joining a national trend toward having such hospitals owned by investors instead of by state governments or nonprofit health systems.

1 Apr 2024

Promising new compound reduces alcohol dependence in animal studies

Scripps Research scientists have found that LY2444296-;a compound that selectively blocks the kappa opioid receptor (KOP)-;may reduce drinking in cases of alcohol dependence in animal studies.

29 Mar 2024

Emergency departments prove fertile ground for smoking cessation success

The Cessation of Smoking Trial in the Emergency Department (COSTED) study demonstrates that a brief intervention including e-cigarette starter kits can significantly help smokers in emergency departments quit, offering a new avenue to tackle smoking rates and associated health inequalities.

28 Mar 2024

Is smoking linked to abdominal obesity?

Researchers estimate the causal relationship between smoking and abdominal obesity.

27 Mar 2024

Feedback loop involving estrogen linked to women's higher propensity to nicotine addiction

A newly discovered feedback loop involving estrogen may explain why women might become dependent on nicotine more quickly and with less nicotine exposure than men.

25 Mar 2024

A paramedic was skeptical about this Rx for stopping repeat opioid overdoses. Then he saw it help.

Fire Capt. Jesse Blaire steered his SUV through the mobile home park until he spotted the little beige house with white trim and radioed to let dispatchers know he'd arrived.

25 Mar 2024

Smoking linked to increased abdominal fat

The worry of gaining weight is a common excuse for smokers not to quit.

21 Mar 2024

Inhibiting neurons involved in the body's stress response may reduce alcohol use

Neuroscientists at Scripps Research have found that inhibiting neurons involved in the body's stress response may reduce alcohol consumption in people who have both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD)-;even if they still experience trauma-related anxiety.

21 Mar 2024

Researchers develop a cost-effective method to spatially characterize and map brain epigenomes

An estimated one in six people suffer from a brain disorder worldwide, according to the American Brain Foundation.

20 Mar 2024

Amid mental health staffing crunch, Medi-Cal patients help one another

Three people gathered in a classroom on a recent rainy afternoon listened intently as Derrick Cordero urged them to turn their negative feelings around.

19 Mar 2024

Lower grades for students who use both tobacco and cannabis, California survey reveals

A recent study published in The Journal of Pediatrics examines the odds of these outcomes when tobacco and cannabis are co-used after compensating for other risks.

18 Mar 2024

Δ-8-Tetrahydrocannabinol use among US teens climbs in states without regulation

Adolescent Δ8-THC use is notably high in the US, particularly in states without Δ8-THC regulations or marijuana legalization, emphasizing the need for enhanced policy and public health initiatives.

13 Mar 2024

UArizona study identifies link between poor sleep and migraine attacks

A new study by researchers at the University of Arizona Health Sciences identified a link between poor sleep and migraine attacks that suggests improving sleep health may diminish migraine attacks in people with migraine.

13 Mar 2024

West Virginia city once battered by opioid overdoses confronts ‘fourth wave’

From 2006 through 2014, more than 81 million painkiller pills were shipped to this city and surrounding rural Cabell County.

13 Mar 2024

California voters are skeptical that more money is the answer to homelessness

California Gov. Gavin Newsom's expensive ballot-box attempt to tackle the mental health and addiction crisis on the state's streets is leading by a razor-thin margin, a week after the March 5 election.

12 Mar 2024

A new $16,000 postpartum depression drug is here. How will insurers handle it?

A much-awaited treatment for postpartum depression, zuranolone, hit the market in December, promising an accessible and fast-acting medication for a debilitating illness.

12 Mar 2024

The state of the union is … busy

President Joe Biden is working to lay out his health agenda for a second term, even as Congress races to finish its overdue spending bills for the fiscal year that began last October.

7 Mar 2024

When it comes to ketamine, Meta’s posting policy is no party to decipher

People keep talking about ketamine. The drug has become a favorite of celebrities, billionaires, and ordinary patients, many of whom view it as a potential miracle drug for depression and other mental health conditions.

7 Mar 2024

Study reveals parental concerns over rise of zero-alcohol drinks among adolescents

New research from Flinders University has revealed that parents are feeling conflicted, confused and concerned when it comes to zero-alcohol beer, wine and spirts and adolescents.

5 Mar 2024

Statistical models vs. front-line workers: Who knows best how to spend opioid settlement cash?

In this Gulf Coast city, addiction medicine doctor Stephen Loyd announced at a January event what he called "a game-changer" for state and local governments spending billions of dollars in opioid settlement funds.

5 Mar 2024