Addiction News and Research

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Study: Lung cancer risk drops significantly within five years of smoking cessation

Just because you stopped smoking years ago doesn't mean you're out of the woods when it comes to developing lung cancer. That's the "bad" news. The good news is your risk of lung cancer drops substantially within five years of quitting.

30 May 2018

Single spinal injection reverses chemotherapy-induced pain for months in mice

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have found a new way to block a root cause of pain. The key is a naturally occurring protein called apolipoprotein A-I binding protein (AIBP). AIBP binds to toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), a protein that sits on the surface of cells like an antenna, searching for signs of infection or tissue damage.

29 May 2018

Stronger alcohol policies contribute to lower rates of alcohol-related car crash deaths

Stronger alcohol policies, including those targeting both excessive drinking and driving while impaired by alcohol, reduce the likelihood of alcohol-related motor vehicle crash deaths, according to a new study from Boston Medical Center and Boston University.

29 May 2018

Exercise alters brain's dopamine system to help treat addiction, study finds

New research by the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions has identified a key mechanism in how aerobic exercise can help impact the brain in ways that may support treatment - and even prevention strategies - for addiction.

25 May 2018

Study explores brain chemistry of alcohol exposure in people with family history of AUD

People with a family history of alcohol use disorder release more dopamine in the brain's main reward center in response to the expectation of alcohol than people diagnosed with the disorder, or healthy people without any family history of AUD, reports a new study in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

23 May 2018

Medical students take to the streets to learn about real world problems at the root of poor health

Medical students seldom learn much about the real-life problems (hunger, joblessness, addiction) their patients face outside the clinic walls. Yet, these problems are at the root of poor health in many low-income communities.

23 May 2018

In-hospital opioid prescribing may increase post-discharge opioid use, shows study

Patients who receive an opioid for most of their hospital stay and patients who are still taking an opioid within 12 hours of being discharged from the hospital appear more likely to fill a prescription for opioids within 90 days of leaving the hospital, according to new research presented at the ATS 2018 International Conference.

21 May 2018

Brain stimulation shows promise in treating obesity by reducing food cravings

Stimulating the brain to alter its intrinsic reward system shows promise in the treatment of obesity, according to results presented in Barcelona at the European Society of Endocrinology annual meeting, ECE 2018.

21 May 2018

New technique allows researchers to control heart cells growing in a dish

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and their collaborators have developed a technique that allows them to speed up or slow down human heart cells growing in a dish on command - simply by shining a light on them and varying its intensity.

21 May 2018

FDA OKs first non-opioid drug for adults with opioid withdrawal symptoms

The United States Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), in a statement this week, approved a new drug Lucemyra (lofexidine hydrochloride) for the treatment and alleviation of opioid symptom withdrawal symptoms in adults in whom the drugs have been withdrawn abruptly.

17 May 2018

Brain abnormality linked to general risk for mental illness

A new study by researchers at Duke University reports an abnormality in visual regions of the brain that is associated with a person's general risk for mental illness.

17 May 2018

Opioid overdoses are rising faster among Latinos than whites or blacks. Why?

The tall, gangly man twists a cone of paper in his hands as stories from nearly 30 years of addiction pour out: the robbery that landed him in prison at age 17; never getting his high school equivalency diploma; going through the horrors of detox, maybe 40 times, including this latest bout, which he finished two weeks ago. He’s now in a residential treatment unit for at least 30 days.

17 May 2018

FDA approves new treatment to mitigate opioid withdrawal symptoms in adults

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Lucemyra (lofexidine hydrochloride) for the mitigation of withdrawal symptoms to facilitate abrupt discontinuation of opioids in adults.

17 May 2018

Reversing an overdose isn’t complicated, but getting the antidote can be

A few months ago, Kourtnaye Sturgeon helped save someone’s life. She was driving in downtown Indianapolis when she saw people gathered around a car on the side of the road. Sturgeon pulled over, and a man told her there was nothing she could do: Two men had overdosed on opioids and appeared to be dead.

16 May 2018

Study lays foundation for treating drug, alcohol addicts with noninvasive brain stimulation

In a study investigating the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation for drug addiction, researchers at Medical University of South Carolina are the first to demonstrate that the noninvasive brain stimulation technique can dampen brain activity in response to drug cues in chronic alcohol users and chronic cocaine users.

15 May 2018

Opioid pharmaceutical marketing influences physicians' opioid prescribing rates

A new study shows the significant impact that even a meal or two paid for by a pharmaceutical company can have on prescribing rates, despite a national decline of opioid prescribing rates.

15 May 2018

Researchers to explore how to prevent stress-related chronic pain conditions

More than 50 million people in the United States suffer from pain in the absence of injury. This includes patients with migraines, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome and many other disorders.

15 May 2018

Study uncovers promising new line of attack against aggressive prostate cancer

UC San Francisco researchers have discovered a promising new line of attack against lethal, treatment-resistant prostate cancer. Analysis of hundreds of human prostate tumors revealed that the most aggressive cancers depend on a built-in cellular stress response to put a brake on their own hot-wired physiology.

14 May 2018

NIH researchers develop new tool to better understand brain disorders

A new tool developed by researchers at the National Institutes of Health has determined, for the first time, how two distinct sets of neurons in the mouse brain work together to control movement.

14 May 2018

CAMH study reveals novel insights into brain networks in people with autism

A CAMH study analyzing more than 1,000 brain scans reveals surprising new insights into brain networks in people with autism, after applying a new personalized approach to brain mapping.

14 May 2018