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HHS Secretary announces $52.9M in new grant awards for youth suicide prevention programs

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will today announce $52.9 million in new grant awards to states and tribes for youth suicide prevention programs during a visit to Tanana Chiefs Conference in Fairbanks, Alaska.

3 Sep 2011

Tobacco industry goes after confidential smoking data from UK’s Department of Health

The tobacco giants are urging the UK’s Department of Health to extract information about meetings between government officials and researchers who are investigating the public-health implications of new smoking policies.

2 Sep 2011

Few treatment options for growing population of drug users in Afghanistan

The New York Times examines the "growing drug addiction problem" in Afghanistan, where, in 2010, about 900,000 people, or seven percent of the adult population, were using drugs, according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

30 Aug 2011

Webinar on Prescription Drug Abuse in Workers' Comp

Joseph Paduda, principal of Health Strategy Associates, will present "Prescription Drug Abuse in Workers' Comp," an hour-long webinar on Thursday, Sept. 1, starting 1 p.m. (PDT)/ 4 p.m. EDT.

25 Aug 2011

Lightlake to begin opioid antagonist derived nasal spray Phase II trials in Binge Eating Disorder

Lightlake Therapeutics Inc., an early stage biopharmaceutical company currently developing a nasal spray for the treatment of overweight and obese patients with Binge Eating Disorder, today announced that its patient testing stage of the Phase II clinical trials will start August 26th, 2011

25 Aug 2011

Repeated cocaine use can increase individual's risk of mood disorders

It is well established that a mood disorder can increase an individual's risk for substance abuse, but there is also evidence that the converse is true; substance abuse can increase a person's vulnerability to stress-related illnesses.

25 Aug 2011

Researchers to generate new knowledge about brain's complex communication system

Researchers at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen have collaborated with the company NeuroSearch to generate new knowledge about an important part of the brain's complex communication system.

20 Aug 2011

Longer looks: Doctors advocating less care; addiction as a 'disease'

These physicians are not anti-medicine. They are not trying to save money on their copayments or deductibles. And they are not trying to rein in the nation's soaring health-care costs, which at $2.7 trillion account for fully one sixth of every dollar spent in the U.S. They are applying to their personal lives a message they have become increasingly vocal about in their roles as biomedical researchers and doctors: more health care often means worse health.

19 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: 'Judicial restraint' and health law; mental health parity; perspectives from JAMA and NEJM

A Supreme Court decision to throw out health-care reform on Commerce Clause grounds could open up hundreds of other federal laws to legal challenge -- starting with the Civil Rights Act. It's hard to believe that this court really wants to relitigate the second half of the 20th century, but we'll have an answer soon enough.

19 Aug 2011

SAMHSA-funded project to develop a Prescriber's Clinical Support System

Medical professionals will gain access to free clinical support in the use of opioid medications through a new grant announced by SAMHSA today. SAMHSA awarded $1.5 million to the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry to develop a Prescriber's Clinical Support System.

18 Aug 2011

Lighter smokers with two high-risk gene variations more likely to develop lung cancer

Smokers with variations in two specific genes have a greater risk of smoking more cigarettes, becoming more dependent on nicotine and developing lung cancer, a new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows.

18 Aug 2011

Addiction – a brain disorder say experts

According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, addiction is a chronic brain disorder like any other chronic brain disease such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder. Neurological abnormalities like disruptions in neurotransmission and the reward system drive addiction, the group said in a statement.

17 Aug 2011

Addiction to tanning

A new study reveals addiction of a new kind – addiction to tanning. Researchers have believed for several years that tanners exhibit similar behavior to alcoholics and drug addicts.

15 Aug 2011

Money now preferred to cocaine later

When a research team asked cocaine addicts to choose, hypothetically, between money now or cocaine of greater value later, "preference was almost exclusively for the money now," said Warren K., Bickel, professor in the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, director of the Advanced Recovery Research Center, and professor of psychology in the College of Science at Virginia Tech.

12 Aug 2011

Tanning beds may spur addictive neurological reward and reinforcement trigger

People who frequently use tanning beds may be spurred by an addictive neurological reward-and-reinforcement trigger, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in a pilot study.

12 Aug 2011

Scientists identify new therapeutic target for ADHD, other neuropsychiatric disorders

A biochemical pathway long associated with diarrhea and intestinal function may provide a new therapeutic target for treating ADHD other neuropsychiatric disorders, according to a team of scientists from China and the United States reporting Aug. 11 in Science.

12 Aug 2011

Research: p38α MAPK protein plays a role in addiction, depression-like behavior

Researchers studying mice are getting closer to understanding how stress affects mood and motivation for drugs.

11 Aug 2011

New research uncovers role of p38alpha in mood disorders, addiction

Stressful experiences increase addictive drug consumption and can precipitate bouts of anxiety or depression in vulnerable people. Although the mechanisms linking stress and human behaviors are not well understood, animal models of some aspects of these behaviors have been developed and have been used to define some of the molecular events that may be responsible for stress vulnerability in people.

11 Aug 2011

Longer work hours linked to greater alcohol consumption: Study

According to new research from New Zealand, people who work longer hours can have more than triple the risk of alcohol abuse and addiction.

10 Aug 2011

Integrated treatment approach could save lives of women with addiction

Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center reports people suffering from addiction rarely, if ever, have just substance abuse or addiction issues. Most addicts have trauma histories, many have mood and/or anxiety disorders, and up to 50 percent of women with substance abuse disorder have co-occurring eating disorders.

9 Aug 2011