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Researchers use residues in wastewater to study illicit drug consumption

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, stay-at-home orders and other restrictions drastically affected how people lived and worked, resulting in social isolation and economic instability. Now, researchers show that some people turned to a variety of drugs for relief. Using wastewater analysis, the team identified a spike in consumption of easily abused prescription opioids and anti-anxiety sedatives, while some illicit drug use plummeted, between March and June 2020.

23 Aug 2021

Study shows an increase in home drinking during COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic months of March 2020 to September 2020, U.S. alcohol retail store sales increased compared to usual trends while food services and drinking places sales decreased markedly during the same period, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

19 Aug 2021

New AHA Presidential Advisory addresses opioid use and its effects on heart and brain health

The misuse of opioids in the United States continues to lead to high rates of dependency as well as a staggering number of deaths due to overdose.

19 Aug 2021

Single two-hour session of pain management skills could offer as much benefit as longer-course of CBT

A single two-hour session of a pain management skills class could offer as much benefit as eight sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for patients experiencing chronic low-back pain (CLBP), suggests a study published in JAMA Network Open.

16 Aug 2021

Study: 90% of children with ADHD continue to experience residual symptoms into young adulthood

Most children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) don't outgrow the disorder, as widely thought.

13 Aug 2021

Survey: One in seven Norwegian doctors exposed to physical assault

According to a survey following Norwegian doctors over 20 years, nearly four out of ten doctors have been the target of threats from a patient during the first four years after graduation and one in seven doctors have been physically assaulted.

12 Aug 2021

New research investigates the effects of California’s tobacco 21 minimum sales age law

New Research from the Prevention Research Center of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation investigated the effects of California's 2016 law that raised the minimum tobacco sales age to from 18 to 21 (T21) and found evidence that the new law has had positive public health effects on 7th, 9th, and 11th grade students from across California.

9 Aug 2021

Research documents the existing models of care for patients with opioid use disorder

Data show that concurrent with the opioid overdose crisis, there has been an increase in hospitalizations of people with opioid use disorder (OUD).

4 Aug 2021

Social and spatial networks influence the risk of HIV or hepatitis C in people who inject drugs

The risk of HIV or hepatitis C in people who inject drugs is influenced as much by their social interactions and the venues where they inject as other risk factors, according to a study published today in eLife.

3 Aug 2021

As holdout Missouri joins nation in monitoring opioid prescriptions, experts worry

Kathi Arbini said she felt elated when Missouri finally caught up to the other 49 states and approved a statewide prescription drug monitoring program this June in an attempt to curb opioid addiction.

26 Jul 2021

Researchers identify four themes as key contributors to diseases of despair in Pennsylvania

Financial instability, lack of infrastructure, a deteriorating sense of community and family fragmentation are key contributors to diseases of despair in Pennsylvania communities, according to Penn State College of Medicine and Highmark Health researchers.

23 Jul 2021

NIH leaders address how using appropriate language can reduce mental health and addiction stigma

In a perspective published in Neuropsychopharmacology, leaders from the National Institutes of Health address how using appropriate language to describe mental illness and addiction can help to reduce stigma and improve how people with these conditions are treated in health care settings and throughout society.

19 Jul 2021

Researchers use video conferencing app to study memory effects of high-potency cannabis

Even before the pandemic made Zoom ubiquitous, Washington State University researchers were using the video conferencing app to research a type of cannabis that is understudied: the kind people actually use.

8 Jul 2021

Lower UVB exposure correlated with higher risk of colorectal cancer

University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers have identified a possible link between inadequate exposure to ultraviolet-B (UVB) light from the sun and an increased risk of colorectal cancer, especially as people age.

6 Jul 2021

Prenatal THC and CBD exposure impairs offspring's ability to respond to fluoxetine

Scientists at Indiana University have found that significant amounts of the two main components of cannabis, THC and CBD, enter the embryonic brain of mice in utero and impair the mice's ability as adults to respond to fluoxetine, a drug commonly used to treat anxiety and depression and known by the brand name Prozac.

1 Jul 2021

Study offers a new model for examining genetic risk associated with nicotine dependence

Some people casually smoke cigarettes for a while and then stop without a problem, while others develop long-term, several packs-per-day habits. A complex mix of environmental, behavioral, and genetic factors appear to raise this risk for nicotine dependence.

1 Jul 2021

Researcher receives $2.5 million award to curb HIV infection among people who inject drugs

International organizations and countries around the world are working to eliminate HIV/AIDS by 2030. To reach this goal, new approaches are needed--particularly among difficult-to-reach groups such as people who inject drugs (PWID), who are 30 times more likely to contract HIV/AIDS compared with the general population.

28 Jun 2021