Addiction News and Research

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School status may affect later smoking susceptibility

A low peer status in adolescence could significantly increase the risk for heavy and regular smoking in adulthood, researchers suggest.

28 Nov 2012

Combination of mixed amphetamine salts and topiramate shows promise for cocaine dependence

Medication development efforts for cocaine dependence have yet to result in an FDA approved treatment. The powerful rewarding effects of cocaine, the profound disruptive impact of cocaine dependence on one's lifestyle, and the tendency of cocaine to attract people who make poor life choices and then exacerbate impulsive behavior all make cocaine a vexing clinical condition.

28 Nov 2012

Prevalence of mental health diagnoses increases with long duration of opioid use

Most patients taking opioids for low back pain or other pain syndromes are prescribed low-to moderate doses, but a substantial number are given higher doses. Although there is no consensus on an absolute limit because tolerance varies over time among individual patients, what is known, however, is higher does are associated with elevated risks for side effects, addiction, overdoses and death.

28 Nov 2012

Ethnic differences in susceptibility to movie smoking

Results from a US study suggest that there are significant ethnic and socioeconomic differences among adolescents in susceptibility to the portrayal of smoking in movies.

27 Nov 2012

Orbitofrontal cortex responsible for decisions made on spur of the moment

An area of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex is responsible for decisions made on the spur of the moment, but not those made based on prior experience or habit, according to a new basic science study from substance abuse researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Scientists had previously believed that the area of the brain was responsible for both types of behavior and decision-making.

27 Nov 2012

Study examines reasons why smoking is not treated in many cancer patients

It's a sad but familiar scene near the grounds of many medical campuses: hospital-gowned patients, some toting rolling IV poles, huddled in clumps under bus shelters or warming areas, smoking cigarettes.

27 Nov 2012

Highly impulsive behavior leads to problem gambling in boys

Boys who show a pattern of impulsivity from their early school years are likely to end up with a gambling problem in their late adolescence, research suggests.

23 Nov 2012

IRCM researchers discover a nerve cell's internal clock

A team of IRCM researchers, led by Dr. Fr-d-ric Charron, recently uncovered a nerve cell's internal clock, used during embryonic development.

22 Nov 2012

Study links developmental pattern of impulsivity with late-adolescent gambling

Results of a new study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health indicate that a developmental pattern of impulsiveness in young males is linked with gambling problems in late adolescence.

22 Nov 2012

Pregnant women with mental health disorders face too many barriers to stop smoking

Pregnant women with mental health disorders are facing too many barriers to help them quit smoking during pregnancy despite their willingness to accept support, finds a new study published today (21 November) in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

21 Nov 2012

Musical tones can reset the brain and effectively reduce insomnia

If you are among the 50 percent of Americans who suffer from insomnia, then you have probably tried everything – from warm milk to melatonin pills or prescription medications to induce sleep – with varying degrees of success and side effects. But what if sleep could be achieved not by a substance, but through 'balancing' brain activity?

21 Nov 2012

TAU researcher connects computer communications and psychosis

As Internet access becomes increasingly widespread, so do related psychopathologies such as Internet addiction and delusions related to the technology and to virtual relationships. Computer communications such as Facebook and chat groups are an important part of this story, says Dr. Uri Nitzan of Tel Aviv University's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Shalvata Mental Health Care Center in a new paper published in the Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences.

21 Nov 2012

CAMH psychiatrist receives Polanyi Prize for university research in Ontario

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is extremely proud to announce that psychiatrist Dr. Aristotle Voineskos, Koerner New Scientist and head of CAMH's Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Research Laboratory in the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, has been named one of five winners of the prestigious Polanyi Prize for university research in Ontario.

20 Nov 2012

Study reveals possible reasons why low status children grow up to become smokers

A new study from Sweden reveals that having low peer status in adolescence is a strong risk factor for regular and heavy smoking in adulthood. Researchers from Stockholm University in Sweden used a large database that followed the lives of more than 15,000 Swedes, mainly from the Stockholm area, from birth to middle age.

20 Nov 2012

NCCBH now accepts nominations for National Council Awards of Excellence

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is now accepting nominations for individuals and organizations that qualify to achieve the most prestigious awards in behavioral healthcare — the National Council Awards of Excellence.

17 Nov 2012

Longer looks: A dentist tries to clear his debt; Bringing mental health services to the marines; Learning to laugh in the doctor's office

His jaw clenched beneath a blue surgeon's mask, Opanin Gyaami jerks his right arm and pulls out a prize: the decayed tooth of patient Larry Butler, also known as state prison inmate J22312. By the time he is done, Gyaami's smock and mask are spotted with the inmate's blood. He gently pats Butler on the shoulder and wishes him well.

16 Nov 2012

Adequate pain management at end of life is a team effort

Inadequate management of pain in patients with terminal illness and those at the end of their lives exists because of knowledge deficits and misperceptions among patients, families, and healthcare providers, indicate the results of a study involving palliative nurses.

15 Nov 2012