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Butler Hospital receives COBRE grant to enhance research on neuropsychiatric illnesses

Neuropsychiatric illnesses are common and highly impairing conditions that arise from abnormal functioning of the brain.

21 Mar 2019

UTSA professor helps train first responders to detect prescription opioid overdoses

James Bray, professor and chair of the UTSA Department of Psychology, is working on a research project with agencies in Houston to train first responders in how to detect prescription opioid overdoses and provide life-saving outreach services.

20 Mar 2019

FDA warns marketer of unapproved products claiming to treat addiction, chronic pain

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today posted a warning letter to Nutra Pharma Corp. for illegally marketing unapproved products labeled as homeopathic with claims about their ability to treat addiction and chronic pain, including pain associated with cancer, diabetes, shingles, fibromyalgia and other serious conditions.

19 Mar 2019

A call for more comprehensive research models to study different aspects of puberty

Puberty is much more than just a time of biological overdrive, propelled by sexual maturation. Progress in developmental science has greatly broadened the perspective of this critical maturational milestone.

15 Mar 2019

Motivational interviewing: New approach to help dental patients improve oral health behaviors

Brush your teeth twice per day and floss regularly are habits most people know of, but despite the pleas of dentists nationwide, few follow through on this advice.

12 Mar 2019

Review of research evidence suggests increased suicide rates in high-altitude areas

High-altitude areas - particularly the US intermountain states - have increased rates of suicide and depression, suggests a review of research evidence in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

11 Mar 2019

Research highlights increase in heart attacks among younger adults

Even though fewer heart attacks are occurring in the U.S.--in large part due to the use of medications like statins and a decline in smoking--these events are steadily rising in very young adults.

8 Mar 2019

Study: Fewer American hospital programs address opioid abuse

The damage done to America's health by the opioid epidemic is well-recognized and enormous, with drug overdose death rates helping to drive down U.S. life expectancy in recent years. Yet as the problem has worsened, American hospitals collectively have seen a loss of programs dealing with substance abuse.

25 Feb 2019

More states say doctors must offer overdose reversal drug along with opioids

In a growing number of states, patients who get opioids for serious pain may leave their doctors' offices with a second prescription — for naloxone, a drug that can save their lives if they overdose on the powerful painkillers.

21 Feb 2019

The United States records highest drug overdose death rates

In the most comprehensive international comparison of its kind, a USC study found that the United States has the highest drug overdose death rates among a set of high-income countries.

21 Feb 2019

Greater primary care physician supply associated with longer life spans

New research shows us just how important primary care physicians are in prolonging our lives.

19 Feb 2019

Discharged, dismissed: ERs often miss chance to set overdose survivors on ‘better path’

The last time heroin landed Marissa Angerer in a Midland, Texas, emergency room — naked and unconscious — was May 2016. But that wasn't her first drug-related interaction with the health system.

15 Feb 2019

PTSD alone does not explain the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in veterans

Post-traumatic stress disorder by itself does not explain the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in veterans with this condition.

13 Feb 2019

Relapse dreams more common in people with severe alcohol, drug addiction history

Vivid dreams involving drinking and drug use are common among individuals in recovery. A study from the Massachusetts General Hospital Recovery Research Institute, published in the January issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment after online release in October 2018, finds these relapse dreams are more common in those with more severe clinical histories of alcohol and other drug problems.

13 Feb 2019

LGBTQ youths are more likely to suffer negative outcomes in child welfare system

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youths are more likely to end up in foster care or unstable housing and suffer negative outcomes, such as substance abuse or mental health issues, while living in the child welfare system, according to new research from The University of Texas at Austin.

11 Feb 2019

Researchers find a dearth of mental health interventions for ethnic minority American youth

Hispanic and Latino youth are more likely to drink alcohol at a younger age than their African-American and non-Hispanic Caucasian peers, but they are less likely to receive treatment for substance abuse.

11 Feb 2019

What ‘dope sick’ really feels like

Detoxing off heroin or opioids without medication is sheer hell. I should know. For many users, full-blown withdrawal is often foreshadowed by a yawn, or perhaps a runny nose, a sore back, sensitive skin or a restless leg. For me, the telltale sign that the heroin was wearing off was a slight tingling sensation when I urinated.

8 Feb 2019

MUSC researchers examine the way estrogen affects drug addiction

Male rats have held steady as the focus of most addiction studies in the past. But as the field begins to take female rats into account, scientists see that drugs like methamphetamine affect the sexes differently, suggesting the basis for a change in addiction treatment.

7 Feb 2019

HEROES awarded two grants to support opioid intervention program in Houston

The Houston Emergency Response Opioid Engagement System was recently awarded two grants that will help fund the opioid intervention program through the end of 2020.

6 Feb 2019

Are Electronic Cigarettes Facilitating Illicit Drug Use?

In this interview, Dr. Michelle Peace provides an introduction to her research into the use of e-cigarettes for the inhalation of illicit drugs.

From Pittcon 5 Feb 2019