Addiction News and Research

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New nanotechnology treatment for drug addiction

A precise, new nanotechnology treatment for drug addiction may be on the horizon as the result of research conducted at the University at Buffalo.

23 Mar 2009

Long-term daily drinking is biggest risk factor in serious liver disease

Long-term daily drinking, rather than weekly binge drinking, is by far the biggest risk factor in serious liver disease, according to a new report from the University of Southampton.

22 Mar 2009

Naltrexone can reduce relapse rates among alcohol-dependence patients

Naltrexone, an opioid antagonist approved in 1994 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for alcohol-dependence (AD) treatment, can reduce relapse rates among AD patients.

20 Mar 2009

Low to moderate drinking releases 'feel-good' endorphins in the brain, not heavy drinking

Scientists know that alcohol affects the brain, but the specifics remain unclear.

20 Mar 2009

Fetal alcohol syndrome testing expands

Improved technology, partnerships and collaboration across two provinces have allowed Queen's University scientists to dramatically expand the use of eye-movement tests that help identify and assess children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD).

20 Mar 2009

Drinking alcohol is the greatest risk factor for acetaldehyde-related cancer

New evidence by researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and researchers in Germany shows that drinking alcohol is the greatest risk factor for acetaldehyde-related cancer.

20 Mar 2009

Happy pills in America -- Our complex love affair with designer consciousness

The spectacular increase in the use of psychiatric drugs over the past 50 years involved what a University at Buffalo historian calls "a massive break with what we consider 'normal' mental health," one linked to myriad social and cultural changes in America.

19 Mar 2009

Drug being used to improve cognition affects dopamine, suggesting potential for abuse

Preliminary research in healthy men suggests that the narcolepsy drug modafinil, increasingly being used to enhance cognitive abilities, affects the activity of dopamine in the brain in a way that may create the potential for abuse and dependence, according to a study in the March 18 issue of JAMA.

17 Mar 2009

Discovery of new mechanism for the processing of endocannabinoids

New research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health, has identified a new mechanism for the processing of endocannabinoids, natural brain compounds similar to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

17 Mar 2009

Close relationships can perpetuate health-compromising behaviors

Human problems rarely occur in a vacuum, but persist as part of ongoing social interaction in which causes and effects are interwoven.

11 Mar 2009

Salt could be 'nature's antidepressant' according to new research

Most people consume far too much salt, and a University of Iowa researcher has discovered one potential reason we crave it: it might put us in a better mood.

11 Mar 2009

Combination of genes and prenatal exposure to smoking increases teens' risk of disruptive behavior

A study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, a component of the National Institutes of Health, shows that prenatal exposure to smoking combined with a specific genetic variant places children at greatest risk for behavioral problems.

5 Mar 2009

Opioid antagonists help pain management

Achieving effective, durable, and safe pain relief, especially in patients with chronic and/or severe pain conditions, can be difficult.

3 Mar 2009

Recent drug use masks cocaine abusers' cognitive impairment

Recent cocaine use may hide some of the cognitive deficits commonly experienced by individuals addicted to cocaine, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory report in a study published in the April 2009 issue of Neuropsychopharmacology - a special issue dedicated to cocaine research.

3 Mar 2009

Researchers discover gene variation linked to cocaine addiction and cocaine-induced paranoia

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Yale University School of Medicine and the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, have discovered that variants in the á-endomannosidase (MANEA) gene are associated with cocaine addiction and cocaine-induced paranoia in European American and African American populations.

2 Mar 2009

New insights into addiction

A new comprehensive review by researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University and the University of Cambridge, England provides vital insights into the neurological basis of addiction by investigating Parkinson's disease patients, who in some instances develop various addictions when undergoing medical treatment.

25 Feb 2009

Treating drug-addicted doctors is good medicine

Doctors who become addicted to alcohol and other drugs can be treated successfully and returned to medical practice with the help of special programs that couple referral to treatment and monitoring with rapid responses to noncompliance, University of Florida researchers report.

24 Feb 2009