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Alcohol brand references in popular music linked with luxury lifestyle

In a study published online today in the international journal Addiction, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh reported that the average US adolescent is heavily exposed to alcohol brand references in popular music.

20 Oct 2011

Drunkorexia may affect long-term health of college students

It is well known that eating disorders are common among teens and college students. Heavy alcohol consumption is another well-known unhealthy habit of this age group. A new study from the University of Missouri shows that when college students combine these two unhealthy habits, their long-term health may be affected. "Drunkorexia" is a new term coined by the media to describe the combination of disordered eating and heavy alcohol consumption.

18 Oct 2011

BGU substance abuse expert wins U.S. National Distinguished International Scientist Award

Prof. Richard Isralowitz, of Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU), recently received the U.S. National Distinguished International Scientist Award for his work as director of the Regional Alcohol and Drug Abuse Resources (RADAR) Center.

18 Oct 2011

BGS journal highlights lack of designated service provision for older addicts

There is an increasing prevalence of substance problems in older people but a lack of designated service provision to help treat older addicts highlights an editorial published today in Age & Ageing, the official journal of the British Geriatrics Society.

18 Oct 2011

Hydromorphone can be as effective as diacetylmorphine in treating heroin addiction

A clinical trial to test better treatment options for chronic heroin addiction is expected to begin in Vancouver at the end of this year. Led by researchers from Providence Health Care and the University of British Columbia, it's the only clinical trial of its kind in North America.

13 Oct 2011

Cannabis use leads to increased risk of depression in young people with specific genotype

Young people who are genetically vulnerable to depression should be extra careful about using cannabis: smoking cannabis leads to an increased risk of developing depressive symptoms.

10 Oct 2011

BDNF methionine variation increases risk of suicidal behaviour

A new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has found evidence that a specific gene is linked to suicidal behaviour, adding to our knowledge of the many complex causes of suicide. This research may help doctors one day target the gene in prevention efforts.

10 Oct 2011

BDNF met variation gene linked to suicidal behaviour

7 Oct 2011

Smoking susceptibility of young people linked to tobacco displays

Young people who find tobacco displays in shops attractive and who easily recall seeing the displays have a greater chance of becoming a smoker according to a new Cancer Research UK funded research study published in Nicotine and Tobacco Research today.

7 Oct 2011

Residential treatment may motivate young adults with addiction for recovery

Young adults undergoing addiction treatment arrive ready and willing to make the personal changes that bring about recovery, but it's the help and guidance received during treatment that build and sustain those changes, according to a longitudinal study published electronically and in press within the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

1 Oct 2011

CMA welcomes Supreme Court ruling on Vancouver's supervised injection facility

The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) welcomed today the unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada allowing Vancouver's supervised drug injection facility, Insite, to continue to operate.

1 Oct 2011

Young woman fights tobacco within the Hispanic Community

Twenty-five year old Anna Luzania knows first-hand the effects of tobacco in the Hispanic Community. As a student at California State University (CSU) at Fresno, she did what many young people enjoying their first years of college do not -- she took action to save the lives of her fellow students and community.

30 Sep 2011

UNC professor wins 2011 PECASE award for research into alcohol addiction

During a White House ceremony next month, Thomas L. Kash, PhD, assistant professor in the department of pharmacology and the UNC Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine will receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.

30 Sep 2011

APhA encourages patients to discuss with pharmacist about pain and medications

In honor of Pain Awareness Month, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) encourages patients to have an open discussion with their pharmacist about their pain and the medications they take for pain.

30 Sep 2011

Single hallucinogen dose creates personality change lasting for a year

A single high dose of the hallucinogen psilocybin, the active ingredient in so-called "magic mushrooms," was enough to bring about a measureable personality change lasting at least a year in nearly 60 percent of the 51 participants in a new study, according to the Johns Hopkins researchers who conducted it.

29 Sep 2011

Tobacco companies deliberately kept findings of cancer-causing radioactive particles from the public

Tobacco companies knew that cigarette smoke contained radioactive alpha particles for more than four decades and developed "deep and intimate" knowledge of these particles' cancer-causing potential, but they deliberately kept their findings from the public, according to a new study by UCLA researchers.

29 Sep 2011

UCSF neuroscientist wins PECASE award for research into addiction

Linda Wilbrecht, PhD, a neuroscientist at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is one of 94 researchers named today by President Obama as a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

28 Sep 2011

URBAN ARCH Consortium to examine consequences of alcohol on HIV disease

Researchers from Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health (BUSM/BUSPH), Boston Medical Center (BMC), the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Pittsburgh, have joined together to examine the consequences of alcohol on HIV disease.

27 Sep 2011

Seniors deeply concerned about Medicare, Medicaid future as 'super committee' decisions loom

Seniors, gathered in downtown Los Angeles this week for the annual conference of the AARP, expressed fear and anxiety about aging when Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are under attack both in Washington and on the campaign trail. More than 20,000 seniors are attending ... Seniors are increasingly relying on Social Security and Medicare to finance their retirement and healthcare, AARP chief executive officer A. Barry Rand told a packed house.

26 Sep 2011

Public health approach to reduce health harms from cannabis use

A new research study conducted by an international team of experts recommends a public health approach to cannabis - including evidence-based guidelines for lower-risk use - to reduce the health harms that result from the use of cannabis.

23 Sep 2011