Addiction News and Research

RSS

Discovery of gene variant linked to nicotine addiction and lung cancer

Scientists have identified a genetic variant that not only makes smokers more susceptible to nicotine addiction but also increases their risk of developing two smoking-related diseases, lung cancer and peripheral arterial disease.

3 Apr 2008

HDAC inhibitors show potential as therapeutic agents in treating alcoholism

Reshaping of the DNA scaffolding that supports and controls the expression of genes in the brain may play a major role in the alcohol withdrawal symptoms, particularly anxiety, that make it so difficult for alcoholics to stop using alcohol.

3 Apr 2008

Link between variant in the sequence of the human genome and susceptibility to nicotine dependence

Cigarette smoking is a major public health problem that contributes to millions of deaths around the world each year.

3 Apr 2008

Stimulant treatment for ADHD does not contribute to substance abuse later in life

Treating children as early as age six or seven with stimulants for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is not likely to increase risk of substance abuse as adults, according to two studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

2 Apr 2008

Illicit drug use increasingly glamorized in rap music

Rap music has gone from an art form that largely warned against the dangers of substance abuse to one that often glorifies illegal drug use, according to the first systematic social science study of the genre covering nearly two decades.

2 Apr 2008

New brain cells implicated in machinery of cannabinoid signaling

The researchers said their findings could aid in development of treatments for cannabinoid drug abuse. Also, because so-called "endocannabinoids" produced by brain cells are involved in the neural machinery of pain perception and learning and memory, the findings could help in understanding those processes, said the researchers.

28 Mar 2008

Excessive texting a sign of mental illness

According to an expert in the U.S., sending excessive text messages and e-mails may be an indication of a mental illness.

25 Mar 2008

Scottish drug addicts should not be treated as second-class says Government

Government Ministers in Scotland are proposing a rethink on how drug addiction is both viewed and treated and want drug users' aspirations to be recognised.

24 Mar 2008

Keeping middle schoolers from alcohol is a tougher task in the inner city than in rural areas

A three-year, three-pronged prevention program did little to keep Chicago middle schoolers from drinking or using drugs, despite its prior success in rural Minnesota, where the program reduced alcohol use 20 to 30 percent, UF and University of Minnesota researchers recently reported in the online edition of the journal Addiction.

18 Mar 2008

Call for all cigarettes to be sold in plain cardboard packs

Cigarettes should be sold in plain, dull cardboard packs, with nothing but the health warning and the brand name allowed, researchers at the University of Sydney School of Public Health have argued in a major review published in the international research journal, Addiction.

13 Mar 2008

Researchers model emotional impact of cocaine in rats

Cocaine addicts often suffer a downward emotional spiral that is a key to their craving and chronic relapse.

13 Mar 2008

Scientists discover epigenetic changes in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

Scientists have discovered epigenetic changes (i.e. chemical changes to a gene that do not alter the DNA sequence) in individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

12 Mar 2008

The potential for cannabinoids as medicines

Smokers trying to quit in the future could do it with the help of cannabis based medicines, according to research from The University of Nottingham.

10 Mar 2008

Drinking at university residence increases the likelihood of aggression

A significant proportion of university students experience violence, under circumstances that often involve alcohol.

6 Mar 2008

Protein within neurons in the amygdala controls development of alcohol withdrawal symptoms and drinking behaviors

Doctors may one day be able to control alcohol addiction by manipulating the molecular events in the brain that underlie anxiety associated with alcohol withdrawal, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine and the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center report in the March 5 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

6 Mar 2008

Brain differences between women and men

What was once speculation is now being confirmed by scientists: the brains of women and men are different in more ways than one.

1 Mar 2008

Diltiazem reduces cocaine cravings in a rat model

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School have found that diltiazem, a drug used in the treatment of high blood pressure, reduces cocaine cravings in a rat model.

28 Feb 2008

New view of human brainstem

A team of scientists from Princeton University has devised a new experimental technique that produces some of the best functional images ever taken of the human brainstem, the most primitive area of the brain.

28 Feb 2008

Step-parents influence teenage smoking behaviour

Smoking by a non-biological parent is as influential as smoking by biological parents in determining whether their teenager smokes, reveal the results of a Cancer Research UK study published in the journal Addiction.

27 Feb 2008

"Beautiful Boy" author reaches out to parents as a guest blogger on Drugfree.org

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America is proud to have David Sheff, parent and author of "Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction," as a guest blogger on the Partnership's parent-to-parent blog, Decoder (decoder.drugfree.org), which engages the everyday issues of raising healthy, drug-free teens.

26 Feb 2008