In order to avoid harms associated with alcohol consumption, in 2009 the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism issued guidelines that define low-risk drinking. These guidelines differ for men and women: no more than four drinks per day, and 14 drinks per week for men, and no more than three drinks per day, and seven drinks per week for women.
[More]
In medical school, we were taught not to withhold information from our patients or to be "paternal" in making decisions for them. We internalized the idea that fully informed patients are better equipped to make treatment decisions.
[More]
Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have successfully tested their novel anti-cocaine vaccine in primates, bringing them closer to launching human clinical trials.
[More]
A study published in the May 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that mental health resources provided by schools are significantly associated with whether adolescents with mental disorders receive needed mental health services.
[More]
People who gain weight are more likely to give in to temptations but also are more thoughtful about their actions, according to a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
[More]
California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said the nation's largest health insurer, UnitedHealth Group Inc., is imposing unreasonable rate hikes on about 5,000 small businesses. Jones said Wednesday that UnitedHealth couldn't justify the average annual increase of nearly 8 percent, which reflects both higher premiums and a reduction in benefits (Terhune, 5/1).
[More]
Today's headlines include reports about a new study detailing how expanded Medicaid access impacts beneficiaries' utilization of health care services and their overall physical health.
[More]
A new report shows that the number of emergency department visits involving adverse reactions to the sleep medication zolpidem rose nearly 220 percent from 6,111 visits in 2005 to 19,487 visits in 2010.
[More]
Prisoners overall have a very high rate of past or present injection drug use, which is a major risk factor for HCV infection due to repeated exposures to needles.
[More]
Rates of premature mortality in the UK have been falling steadily, but the pace of decline is not as fast as in many other high-income countries, such as Australia. In that sense, the UK lags behind.
[More]
Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at University of the Pennsylvania have shown that an area of the brain that initiates behavioral changes had greater activation in smokers who watched anti-smoking ads with strong arguments versus those with weaker ones, and irrespective of flashy elements, like bright and rapidly changing scenes, loud sounds and unexpected scenario twists.
[More]
Hasbro Children's Hospital emergency medicine physician James Linakis, M.D., Ph.D, was recently awarded a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to validate a more efficient test to screen teenagers for future alcohol abuse and other risk behaviors.
[More]
New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription (Rx) drug at least once in their lifetime - a 33 percent increase over the past five years.
[More]
Long-term use of highly active antiretroviral therapies does not appear to be associated with impaired heart function in children and adolescents in a study that sought to determine the cardiac effects of prolonged exposure to HAART on children infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, according to a report published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.
[More]
Biological Psychiatry is proud to announce this week's publication of a special issue focusing on the question of food as an addiction.
[More]
The Arizona Senate voted Monday to revive the major provisions of a medical pricing transparency bill that was vetoed by Gov. Jan Brewer just last week. Senate Bill 1115 by Republican Sen. Nancy Barto would have required health care providers to post prices for common medical procedures (Christie, 4/15).
[More]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved updated labeling for Purdue Pharma L.P.'s reformulated OxyContin (oxycodone hydrochloride controlled-release) tablets.
[More]
Today's headlines include coverage of the Supreme Court oral arguments regarding whether patents should be granted for human genes.
[More]
Using a miniature electronic device implanted in the brain, scientists have tapped into the internal reward system of mice, prodding neurons to release dopamine, a chemical associated with pleasure.
[More]
Half of patients on high-dose, long-term opioid therapy had hormonal disturbances or signs of inflammation, while 100 percent reported improved pain control and mental outlook, new research shows.
[More]