Abstinence News and Research

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Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging a desire or appetite for certain bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to abstention from sexual intercourse, alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical considerations.

Twitter-based smoking cessation programs twice as successful as traditional methods in helping smokers quit

A new study by researchers from UC Irvine and Stanford University found subjects in one of the first real-time, fully automated, Twitter-based smoking intervention programs - Tweet2Quit -- were twice as successful at kicking the habit as those using traditional methods. The new findings were recently published online in Tobacco Control, an international peer reviewed journal. The print version of the research is forthcoming.

30 Mar 2016

Lancet experts call for evidence-based approach to drug policy

Fifty years of drug policies aimed at restricting and criminalizing drug use and minor possession have had serious detrimental effects on the health, wellbeing and human rights of drug users and the wider public, according to a major new report by The Lancet and Johns Hopkins University in the US

25 Mar 2016

Immediate treatment can benefit cannabis users who experience withdrawal symptoms

Heavy users of cannabis who experience withdrawal symptoms such as nervousness and cravings when they quit are likely to use again sooner than their peers, a new study finds.

24 Mar 2016

Exercise helps smokers with high-anxiety sensitivity kick the habit

Exercise helps smokers with a high risk for cessation failure due to emotional distress finally kick the habit, according to psychologists at The University of Texas at Austin.

24 Feb 2016

Findings may help states optimize tobacco cessation, cancer control programs

A new analysis indicates that states' Web-based and phone-based tobacco cessation programs can help people quit smoking, but certain personal characteristics may lead individuals to prefer one type of program over the other.

8 Feb 2016

Vanderbilt study offers a glimmer of hope to alcoholics suffering from depression

A study by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is offering a glimmer of hope to alcoholics who find it hard to remain sober because their abstinence is hounded by stubborn, difficult-to-treat depression.

1 Feb 2016

Buprenorphine superior to methadone in reducing duration of treatment for babies born in drug withdrawal

A study of two opioids used to wean babies born in withdrawal from drugs their mothers have taken shows that buprenorphine is superior to methadone in reducing duration of treatment and length of hospital stay.

6 Jan 2016

Brief manualized treatment helps people with problematic caffeine use lower caffeine consumption

Engaging in brief, cognitive-behavioral therapy is an effective treatment for helping people with problematic caffeine use lower their caffeine consumption, according to a new study coauthored by Laura M. Juliano, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at American University.

10 Nov 2015

People with psychosis and addiction disorder may respond better to disorder-specific treatment

People with psychosis often develop an addiction disorder: almost one in two patients with schizophrenia are affected once during their lifetime. Patients with a dual diagnosis mostly have a poorer prognosis, and their disorder often becomes chronic.

31 Oct 2015

New computer-based modeling may help improve outcomes for babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome

Computer-based modeling is helping to further reduce length of hospital stay and duration of treatment with opioids that are used therapeutically to wean babies born in withdrawal from drugs their mothers have taken. This condition is known as neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).

30 Oct 2015

Researchers one step closer to finding effective drug for alcohol dependence

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden might be one step closer to finding an effective drug for alcohol dependence. In two separate studies, they show that the so-called dopamine stabilizer OSU6162 can reduce the craving for alcohol in alcohol dependent people and normalises the level of dopamine in the brain reward system of rats that have consumed alcohol over a long period of time.

14 Oct 2015

Smoking cessation medication 46% effective in women

The most effective prescription drug used to quit smoking initially helps women more than men, according to a Yale School of Medicine study. The study, published Oct. 7 by the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, found that varenicline, marketed as Chantix, was more effective earlier in women, and equally effective in women and men after one year.

8 Oct 2015

Type 2 diabetes risk grows with active and passive smoking

A meta-analysis of 88 studies covering nearly 6 million people published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology shows that both active and passive smoking are linked to increased risk of type 2 diabetes, while the risk in those who quit smoking decreases as time elapses since their last cigarette.

22 Sep 2015

Adolescents with bulimia nervosa recover faster when parents involved in treatment

Involving parents in the treatment of adolescents with bulimia nervosa is more effective than treating the patient individually, according to a study led by Daniel Le Grange, PhD, Benioff UCSF Professor in children's health in the departments of psychiatry and pediatrics at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital San Francisco, and James Lock, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine.

21 Sep 2015

Three studies point to mGluR2 as new molecular target for addiction treatment

The latest issue of Biological Psychiatry presents the results of three studies implicating metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGluR2) as a new molecular target for the treatment of addiction.

15 Sep 2015

New treatment protocol can improve outcomes for babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome

A new protocol to treat babies born in withdrawal from drugs can be used widely to improve outcomes for these babies. The protocol reduces length of stay and the duration of treatment with opioids that are used therapeutically to wean babies off of drugs.

14 Sep 2015

Studies suggests that insular cortex may hold key to treating addiction

A pair of studies suggests that a region of the brain - called the insular cortex - may hold the key to treating addiction. Scientists have come to this conclusion after finding that smokers who suffered a stroke in the insular cortex were far more likely to quit smoking and experience fewer and less severe withdrawal symptoms than those with strokes in other parts of the brain.

8 Sep 2015

Variations in opioid receptor genes linked to neonatal abstinence syndrome severity in newborn babies

A new study led by researchers at Boston Medical Center indicates that variations in opioid receptor genes are associated with more severe neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in newborn babies. The findings, published online in Drug & Alcohol Dependence, could help lead to the development of individualized treatment plans tailored to each infants' risk of requiring medication to curb their NAS symptoms, which could help improve these patients' outcomes and reduce how long some stay in the hospital.

26 Aug 2015

TSRI study shows single injection of blebbistatin drug prevents methamphetamine relapse in animal models

Recovering addicts often grapple with the ghosts of their addiction—memories that tempt them to relapse even after rehabilitation and months, or even years, of drug-free living.

5 Aug 2015

Northwestern gets $17.5 million NIH grant to invent, develop implantable drug delivery system for HIV prevention

Northwestern Medicine scientists have received a five-year, $17.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for an interdisciplinary project that aims to invent, develop and test an implantable drug delivery system to protect high-risk individuals from HIV infection for up to a year at a time.

4 Aug 2015