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Responsible Opioid Prescribing eBook from FSMB Foundation

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) Foundation announced today its publication of an eBook edition of "Responsible Opioid Prescribing: A Clinician's Guide" for Kindles, Nooks, iPads and other popular platforms.

13 Dec 2012

Zucker Hillside Hospital celebrates opening of new $120 million inpatient pavilion

Zucker Hillside Hospital today celebrated the opening of a new 130,000-square-foot, $120 million inpatient pavilion. Constructed with the generous support of North Shore-LIJ Health System trustees Donald and Barbara Zucker and other donors, the 130,000-square-foot building will consolidate outdated living quarters dispersed across the psychiatric facility's campus, significantly improving the coordination of services and treatment along the continuum of care.

12 Dec 2012

Surgical patients with chronic psychological symptoms require psychotherapeutic treatment

In their study, the research group, headed by Privatdozent Dr. Henning Krampe, psychologist at the Charité Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Prof. Claudia Spies, Director of the Charité Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and Prof. Elmar Brähler, Head of the Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology at the University of Leipzig, initially recorded how many patients faced by a forthcoming operation were interested in psychotherapy sessions and to what extent this interest was associated with the increased psychological distress occurring before the operation. Finally, the scientists examined whether changes in the psychological symptoms took place during the six months following the surgery.

10 Dec 2012

Research Roundup: Medicare Advantage Plan beneficiaries may get more appropriate use of services; CHIP participation grows; College students' flu vaccination rates weak

Analysis Of Medicare Advantage HMOs Compared With Traditional Medicare Shows Lower Use of Many Services During 2003-09 – Researchers compared the utilization rates of Medicare Advantage health maintenance organizations (HMOs) with those of traditional Medicare beneficiaries, 2003-09, "to ascertain whether the HMO enrollees demonstrated different levels of use of services, which can be a hallmark of more integrated care."

7 Dec 2012

Cell phone dependence ‘just as real as substance addiction’

Cell phone and instant messaging addictions are similar to compulsive buying or substance addiction and are driven by materialism and impulsiveness, says a Baylor University study in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions.

7 Dec 2012

NCI-funded study to identify metabolic vulnerabilities of particularly aggressive cancers

Eileen White, PhD, associate director for basic science at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and professor of molecular biology and biochemistry at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and colleagues from Princeton University have been awarded a new five-year, $2.4 million dollar research grant from the National Cancer Institute.

7 Dec 2012

Alcoholics Anonymous helps men and women maintain sobriety in different ways

A new study finds differences in the ways that participation in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) helps men and women maintain sobriety. Two Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators found that, while many factors are helpful to all AA participants, some were stronger in men and some in women.

6 Dec 2012

Prescribing opioids lead to admissions for substance abuse treatment and deaths

A Viewpoint article published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that the clinical practice of prescribing amphetamines, opioids, and benzodiazepines to treat chronic pain may be contributing to the increase in fatal drug overdoses and the likelihood that those drugs will be diverted to the illegal market.

6 Dec 2012

Western University research could lead to better treatments for PTSD and drug addiction

New research from Western University could lead to better treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and drug addiction by effectively blocking memories. The research performed by Nicole Lauzon, a PhD candidate in the laboratory of Steven Laviolette at Western's Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry has revealed a common mechanism in a region of the brain called the pre-limbic cortex, can control the recall of memories linked to both aversive, traumatic experiences associated with PTSD and rewarding memories linked to drug addiction.

6 Dec 2012

Smoking cessation support: an interview with Robyn Whittaker

Tobacco smoking involves a physiological addiction to nicotine for a lot of people. Quitting can cause some nasty symptoms due to the withdrawal of nicotine.

5 Dec 2012

Smokers more likely to report hangover symptoms after heavy drinking

People who like to smoke when they drink may be at greater risk of suffering a hangover the next morning, according to a study in the January 2013 issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

5 Dec 2012

Pain can be treated by targeting immune and nerve cells outside brain or spinal cord

The treatment of inflammatory pain can be improved by endogenous opioid peptides acting directly in injured tissue. Scientists at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Université Paris Descartes showed that pain can be successfully treated by targeting immune and nerve cells outside the brain or spinal cord.

3 Dec 2012

States, courts, employers contend with health law's requirements

News outlets follow developments on health insurance exchanges, requirements for mental health parity and employer coverage and assess still-pending lawsuits

30 Nov 2012

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

Addiction News and Research

Responsible Opioid Prescribing eBook from FSMB Foundation

Zucker Hillside Hospital celebrates opening of new $120 million inpatient pavilion

Surgical patients with chronic psychological symptoms require psychotherapeutic treatment

Research Roundup: Medicare Advantage Plan beneficiaries may get more appropriate use of services; CHIP participation grows; College students' flu vaccination rates weak

Cell phone dependence ‘just as real as substance addiction’

NCI-funded study to identify metabolic vulnerabilities of particularly aggressive cancers

Alcoholics Anonymous helps men and women maintain sobriety in different ways

Prescribing opioids lead to admissions for substance abuse treatment and deaths

Western University research could lead to better treatments for PTSD and drug addiction

Smoking cessation support: an interview with Robyn Whittaker

Smokers more likely to report hangover symptoms after heavy drinking

Pain can be treated by targeting immune and nerve cells outside brain or spinal cord

States, courts, employers contend with health law's requirements

School status may affect later smoking susceptibility

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

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

Ethnic differences in susceptibility to movie smoking

Orbitofrontal cortex responsible for decisions made on spur of the moment

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

Highly impulsive behavior leads to problem gambling in boys

Lab Matters host Harriet Gould on building a more connected lab community

The Critical Role of Sample Storage in Drug Discovery and Development

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

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