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NIH awards $2.3 million for pilot project to develop opioid vaccine

The NIH has awarded $2.3M for a pilot project, led by Boston Children's Hospital, to develop a vaccine that would protect people with opioid use disorder against an accidental fentanyl overdose.

8 Aug 2019

New study explores the effects of cannabis on brain neurochemistry

A new Addiction Biology study provides the first evidence of a blunted response to stress-induced dopamine signaling in the brain's prefrontal cortex in individuals at high risk for psychosis who regularly used cannabis.

7 Aug 2019

Drug used to treat alcohol use disorder reduces craving in heavy drinkers

Researchers at Yale University have identified how naltrexone, a medication used to treat alcohol use disorder, reduces craving and consumption in heavy drinkers.

6 Aug 2019

Smartphone-controlled soft brain implant to treat brain disease

Neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, depression, pain disorders and addictions could now be treated from within the brain itself using an intriguing new soft implant in the brain itself.

6 Aug 2019

Scientists can now control neural circuits using smartphone

A team of scientists in Korea and the United States have invented a device that can control neural circuits using a tiny brain implant controlled by a smartphone.

5 Aug 2019

New core curriculum designed to educate primary care providers on substance use disorders

Dr. Michelle Lofwall, professor of behavioral science and psychiatry in the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, is one of three national addiction physician experts who led a team of healthcare professionals in developing a new core curriculum designed to educate primary care providers on the prevention, assessment and treatment of substance use disorders throughout the continuum of care.

3 Aug 2019

Study examines health outcomes for meth-positive burn patients

UC Davis Health researchers were surprised to find that methamphetamine use is not linked with worse health outcomes among burn patients. However, meth use was associated with significantly worse conditions for those patients after their release from the hospital.

2 Aug 2019

Vaping trends and detrimental effects of e-cigarette usage

In recent news, researchers have found that the liquid used in e-cigarettes, when heated, reacts to form irritating chemicals called acetals, formed from chemicals used to flavor and perfume foods and other commercial products.

31 Jul 2019

Astrocytic MORs in the hippocampus responsible for conditioned place preference

If somebody asks me "are you a coffee addict?" I may say, "Yeah it seems like, but on the one condition, only in my office." I don't have that much craving for coffee at home, but just being in the office, where I used to drink coffee all the time seeking to get caffeine jitters, seems to trigger my caffeine-addicted brain.

31 Jul 2019

Blocking dopamine reduces drug seeking and taking behavior

Blocking dopamine receptors in different regions of the amygdala reduces drug seeking and taking behavior with varying longevity, according to research in rats published in eNeuro.

From Society for Neuroscience 30 Jul 2019

Plant compound found in red wine displays anti-stress effects

Like to unwind with a glass of red wine after a stressful day? Don't give alcohol all the credit.

26 Jul 2019

UChicago awarded $17 million grant to tackle opioid addiction in criminal justice settings

It's estimated that more than 130 people die every day from opioid-related drug overdoses. Particularly at risk are people transitioning through the criminal justice system, many of whom may already be struggling with complex issues spanning mental health, family instability and job and housing insecurity.

26 Jul 2019

Researchers harness the pain-relieving properties of cannabis to develop new pain killers

The cannabis plant produces pain-relieving molecules that are 30x more effective than aspirin. Researchers are now working on a plant-based pain killer.

25 Jul 2019

Researchers receive $10 million grant to examine opioid addiction treatment for jail detainees

Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Massachusetts Medical School are among the scientists at a dozen institutions nationwide that will form the Justice Community Opioid Innovation Network, an ambitious, $155 million effort to improve opioid addiction treatment in criminal justice settings, the National Institutes of Health announced.

25 Jul 2019

Researchers decode factors that contribute to risk of developing motor neuron disease

Trinity College Dublin researchers have found that one in 347 men and one in 436 women can be expected to develop motor neuron disease during their lifetime.

25 Jul 2019

Study finds higher opioid prescribing rates in the U.S. compared to other countries

Physicians in the United States may prescribe opioids more frequently to patients during hospitalization and at discharge when compared to their physician peers in other countries, according to a recently published study led by researchers from the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

24 Jul 2019

Impact of racial discrimination in moderate-to-heavy drinking adult Latinxs

University of Houston associate professor of psychology Andres Viana has received a $900,000 Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to examine the impact of racial discrimination in moderate-to-heavy drinking adult Latinxs. Viana prefers the gender-neutral term Latinx.

23 Jul 2019

Poverty tied to prolonged hospital stay for infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome

For infants with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome due to prenatal opioid exposure, poverty is a risk factor for prolonged length of hospital stay, reports a study in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

23 Jul 2019

Amid teen vaping ‘epidemic,’ Juul taps addiction expert as medical director

Juul Labs, the nation's leading manufacturer of e-cigarettes, has hired as its medical director a prominent University of California researcher known for his work on the dangers nicotine poses for the adolescent brain.

19 Jul 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Biden doubles down on Obamacare

Former Vice President Joe Biden has said if he's elected president he would build on the Affordable Care Act rather than move to a whole new health care system, such as the "Medicare for All" plan supported by some of his primary opponents for the Democratic nomination.

19 Jul 2019