Addiction News and Research

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FDA rules e-cigarettes as tobacco products and plans regulations

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ruled that electronic cigarettes should be considered tobacco products. E-cigarettes are small plastic or metal devices that heat a liquid nicotine solution, creating a vapor that is then inhaled. They are marketed as a way to help smokers quit by addressing their addiction and the behavioral aspects of smoking.

26 Apr 2011

Research sheds light on molecular movements of neural transporters

A team of scientists from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medical College has shed light on the molecular workings of transporter proteins, molecular machines embedded in the cell membranes of neurons that modulate the transfer of signals between cells and recycle neurotransmitters.

25 Apr 2011

Convergence initiates CNV2197944 Phase I study in chronic pain

Convergence Pharmaceuticals Limited, the company focused on the development of novel and high value analgesic medicines, today announced that the first-time-in-man Phase I study of the novel, first in class calcium channel blocker CNV2197944, for the treatment of chronic pain has been initiated and dosing has begun.

22 Apr 2011

Opinions: Eliminating TB; HIV prevention trial; Reducing stillbirths; Foreign aid, global stability; Safe injection sites

In a U.S. News & World Report opinion piece, African Health Ministers Aaron Motsoaledi of South Africa, Mphu Ramatlapeng of Lesotho, and Benedict Xaba of Swaziland call upon the international community to join with them in the fight to rid the world of tuberculosis (TB). "That goal might seem overambitious or unrealistic. [But i]t's not," they write

21 Apr 2011

IPSY programme leads children to say 'no' to cigarettes and alcohol

Their numbers are rising, but their age is dropping: children and young adults who drink so much that they have to go to the hospital. Binge-drinking is sadly fashionable amongst the under 20-year-olds. But how can adolescents be effectively protected from alcohol and substance abuse?

20 Apr 2011

North American legal injection drug site helps decrease overdose deaths, study shows

North America's only authorized facility for injecting illegal drugs has helped cut drug overdose deaths significantly in the Vancouver community where it is located and "should be used as a model in other cities," according to a study published on Monday in the Lancet, Reuters reports (Dowd, 4/18).

20 Apr 2011

Plans to combat painkiller abuse

This Tuesday, the Obama administration announced a plan to fight prescription drug abuse, warning that accidental fatal overdoses now exceed the combined deadly overdoses from the crack epidemic of the 1980s and black tar heroin in the 1970s.

19 Apr 2011

Vancouver's supervised injection site reduces overdose mortality rates to 35%

Illicit drug overdose deaths in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside dropped by 35 per cent after the establishment of Insite, North America's first supervised injection facility, according a new study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS.

19 Apr 2011

NIDA launches Addiction Performance Project for primary care providers

The National Institute on Drug Abuse announced today the launch of its Addiction Performance Project, an innovative continued medical education program designed to help primary care providers break down the stigma associated with addiction.

19 Apr 2011

Study highlights deceptive potential of 'slim', 'silver' and 'gold' cigarette brands

Despite current prohibitions on the words 'light' and 'mild', smokers in Western countries continue falsely to believe that some cigarette brands may be less harmful than others. In fact, all conventional brands of cigarette present the same level of risk to smokers, including 'mild' and 'low-tar' brands.

12 Apr 2011

NIDA, ASAM launch new screening resources for primary care providers

A free, nationwide service was launched today to help primary care providers seeking to identify and advise substance-abusing patients.

11 Apr 2011

Biochemical battle of the bulge: New developments

Dozens of researchers in the coming days will lay out what's around the corner in the biochemical battle of the bulge as part of the Experimental Biology 2011 conference in Washington, D.C.

8 Apr 2011

Biological Psychiatry publishes Omeros' PPAR-gamma addiction program

Omeros Corporation today announced that research on the PPAR-gamma agonists it is developing in its Addiction franchise has been published in the April 1, 2011 issue of the Journal of Biological Psychiatry.

7 Apr 2011

Work, social and family disability affect 50% of patients with bipolar disorder

Such was the conclusion obtained in a study conducted at the University of Granada that was recently awarded a prize in the IV Spain-Portugal Meeting on Therapeutical Adherence held in Oporto.

6 Apr 2011

ABAM accredites 10 new addiction training programs for physicians

The American Board of Addiction Medicine Foundation today accredited 10 training programs, the nation's first post-graduate addiction medicine residencies for physicians. The Foundation also released its Program Requirements and Curriculum Objectives, national guidelines for addiction medicine residencies.

6 Apr 2011

Comprehensive book on chronic pain and addiction

Up to date and comprehensive, this book is relevant to all professionals engaged in the care of patients with chronic pain or addiction and all others interested in these contemporary issues, particularly non-clinicians seeking clarity in the controversy over the best approach to patients with chronic pain.

6 Apr 2011

Study finds marked increases in teen use of marijuana and Ecstasy

Following a decade of steady declines, a new national study released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation indicates that teen drug and alcohol use is headed in the wrong direction, with marked increases in teen use of marijuana and Ecstasy over the past three years.

6 Apr 2011

TZDs might serve as new agents for addiction treatment

Thiazolidinediones are a class of medications that are commonly prescribed to treat type-2 diabetes, while fibrates are a structurally-related class of medications that are prescribed to modulate lipid levels in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

6 Apr 2011

Two reports show drastic increase in opioid prescriptions in America

Two reports by addiction researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the National Institute on Drug Abuse show a drastic shift in prescribing patterns impacting the magnitude of opioid substance abuse in America.

6 Apr 2011

Scientists identify gene influencing levels of alcohol consumption

Scientists have identified a gene that appears to play a role in regulating how much alcohol people drink, in a study of over 47,000 people published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

5 Apr 2011