Addiction News and Research

RSS

FDA participates in major global operation to target illegal prescription drugs sold online

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in partnership with international regulatory and law enforcement agencies, recently took action against more than 500 websites that illegally sell potentially dangerous, unapproved versions of prescription medicines, including opioids, antibiotics and injectable epinephrine products to American consumers.

25 Sep 2017

Narrow networks get even tighter when shopping for mental health specialists

If you've got a plan offered on the federal health law's insurance marketplace and you're looking for a therapist, you may have to look really hard: The average provider network includes only 11 percent of all the mental health care providers in a given market, according to a recent study.

22 Sep 2017

Study supports importance of alcohol control policies to reduce homicide

Stronger alcohol policies, including taxes and sales restrictions, have been shown to reduce the likelihood of alcohol involvement among homicide victims, according to a new study from Boston Medical Center and Boston University.

21 Sep 2017

BMC researchers studying possibility of weight loss drugs to combat cocaine addiction

Boston Medical Center's psychiatry team is studying a drug called lorcaserin, which targets the brain's serotonin receptors and could help reduce cocaine cravings as well as dampen the rewards associated with taking cocaine.

21 Sep 2017

Study may provide insights into treating autism and other neuropsychiatric disorders

Alterations in a naturally occurring chemical in the brain called serotonin have been linked to a number of neuropsychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder as well as autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

20 Sep 2017

People with schizophrenia three times more likely to die than general population

People with schizophrenia are three times more likely to die, and die younger, than the general population, indicating a need for solutions to narrow this gap, according to research published in CMAJ.

18 Sep 2017

Research shows link between brain's immune system and desire to drink alcohol

Researchers from the University of Adelaide have found a new link between the brain's immune system and the desire to drink alcohol in the evening.

15 Sep 2017

Cocaine users have ‘global impairment’ in brain area linked to impulse and self-control, study finds

Cocaine-addicted individuals say they find the drug much less enjoyable after years of use, but they have great difficulty quitting.

11 Sep 2017

For low-income drug users, Medi-Cal offers a fresh start

Breann Johnson stopped using heroin on Mother's Day this year, determined to end her 13-year addiction. Days later, she began three months of residential treatment in Riverside, Calif. — all paid for by California's Medicaid program.

8 Sep 2017

New set of research priorities identified to support tobacco control

A new set of research priorities to support tobacco control will help ensure future research provides the greatest benefit to public health and value for money, according to an international group led by Oxford University researchers.

8 Sep 2017

Duke neuroscientists pinpoint one powerful cell that serves as ‘master controller’ of habits

Some habits are helpful, such as automatically washing your hands before a meal or driving the same route to work every day. They accomplish an important task while freeing up valuable brain space.

7 Sep 2017

Collaborative care model can expand access to treatment for opioid or alcohol addiction

Combining substance abuse treatment with regular medical care can successfully treat people with opioid or alcohol addiction, providing an option that might expand treatment and lower the cost of caring for people caught up in the nation's opioid epidemic, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

6 Sep 2017

Better understanding of serotonin's function in the brain could lead to radical shift in psychiatric care

A better understanding of how a key chemical messenger acts in the brain could lead to a radical shift in psychiatric care, according to a new research paper.

4 Sep 2017

Long-term alcohol use changes brain functions differently in young men and women

Scientists have found that brain functions in young men and women are changed by long-term alcohol use, but that these changes are significantly different in men and women.

4 Sep 2017

More than half of the public think non-smokers should get regular fresh-air breaks at work

According to a recent survey conducted by Flavour Boss, they had found 80% of people don’t think it’s fair that smokers get breaks but non-smokers don’t whilst 58% of people think that non-smokers should get regular fresh-air breaks at work.

31 Aug 2017

APSAD members oppose Federal Government’s planned drug testing trial for welfare payment recipients

Doctors from the Australasian Professional Society on Alcohol and other Drugs (APSAD) strongly oppose the Federal Government’s Welfare Reform Bill and its planned drug testing ‘trial’ for welfare recipients.

31 Aug 2017

Millennials regret opioid use, prefer lifestyle changes to manage pain

Often spending their days hunched over phones, tablets or computers and their free time at spin class or playing sports, millennials are the next generation poised to experience chronic pain. Even at their young age, millennials say acute and chronic pain are already interfering with their quality of life.

30 Aug 2017

Researchers use biochemical validation to verify claims of smoking cessation

According to a recent study led by The University of Kansas Cancer Center researchers, a high proportion of smokers enrolled in bedside tobacco cessation programs who said they had quit were misreporting their smoking status.

29 Aug 2017

Finnish researchers reveal how eating stimulates brain's endogenous opioid system

Finnish researchers have revealed how eating stimulates brain's endogenous opioid system to signal pleasure and satiety.

28 Aug 2017

Researchers use zebrafish animal model to explore drug-seeking behavior

As the opioid crisis escalates, the science behind addiction remains poorly understood. To address this need, researchers at University of Utah Health devised a system that allowed zebrafish, a small tropical fish, to self-administer doses of hydrocodone, an opioid commonly prescribed to people for pain.

26 Aug 2017