Substance Abuse News and Research

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For seniors with hoarding disorder, a support group helps confront stigma and isolation

A dozen people seated around folding tables clap heartily for a beaming woman: She’s donated two 13-gallon garbage bags full of clothes, including several Christmas sweaters and a couple of pantsuits, to a Presbyterian church.

6 Mar 2025

Research reveals key parental risk factors for child abuse

Child maltreatment has been the focus of two separate studies led by UQ researchers, who examined the main parental risk factors that lead to child abuse, as well as the behavioural impacts later in life.

3 Mar 2025

Texas measles outbreak nears 100 cases, raising concerns about undetected spread

Some private schools have shut down because of a rapidly escalating measles outbreak in West Texas. Local health departments are overstretched, pausing other important work as they race to limit the spread of this highly contagious virus.

21 Feb 2025

Spanish-language Android app created to help Hispanic smokers quit

University of Houston researchers have created a first-of-its-kind, Spanish-language Android app called Impacto, designed specifically to help Hispanic smokers quit with guidance designed to reflect their cultural experiences.

13 Feb 2025

Less restrictive regulation on vaping could improve public health outcomes

University of Queensland researchers have found smoking rates have declined twice as fast in New Zealand as in Australia, suggesting less restrictive regulation on vaping could improve public health outcomes.

11 Feb 2025

COVID-19 pandemic linked to increased emergency department walkouts

Researchers have long known that patients who leave emergency departments before medically advised use more emergency care services, are more likely to be readmitted to the hospital and face higher costs of care-as well as increased mortality rates.

31 Jan 2025

Kennesaw State University's Wellstar School of Nursing secures funding to address opioid addiction

As Georgia navigates a widespread opioid addiction crisis, researchers in Kennesaw State University's Wellstar School of Nursing (WSON) are leveraging a $1.2 million grant to train budding nurses in addressing substance use disorders.

30 Jan 2025

Montana eyes $30M revamp of mental health, developmental disability facilities

As part of a proposed revamping of the state's behavioral health system, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte's administration is looking into moving a facility for people with developmental disabilities, beefing up renovations at the Montana State Hospital, and creating a Helena unit of that psychiatric hospital.

27 Jan 2025

Parental divorce in childhood tied to 61% higher stroke risk in older adults

Experiencing parental divorce in childhood is associated with a significantly higher risk of stroke in older adulthood, even after accounting for key risk factors such as income, depression, and diabetes.

23 Jan 2025

Study links parental divorce to increased stroke risk in adult children

A recent study by researchers from the University of Toronto, Tyndale University and the University of Texas at Arlington found that older adults are at greater risk of having a stroke if they experienced their parents divorcing during childhood.

22 Jan 2025

Mental health risks higher for pregnant people with MS

Pregnant people with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a higher chance of experiencing mental illness both during their pregnancy and in the first years after they give birth than those without MS, according to a study published in the January 22, 2025 online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

22 Jan 2025

Brief cognitive behavioral interventions help reduce substance use disorders in teens

Brief cognitive behavioral interventions that help young people manage aspects of their personality, such as impulsivity, sensation seeking, hopelessness, and anxiety sensitivity, have been shown to reduce teen Substance Use Disorders.

16 Jan 2025

Urgent training needed to address growing gap in the Asia Pacific health workforce

Training for health workers, including those based in communities where access to services is limited, is urgently needed to address the growing gap in the Asia Pacific health workforce, say leaders in the sector.

2 Jan 2025

Meditation eases PTSD symptoms, with transcendental meditation showing major benefits

Research indicates meditation techniques, particularly Transcendental Meditation, significantly alleviate PTSD symptoms, suggesting new avenues for therapy.

19 Dec 2024

Research reveals how the brain processes fundamental learning calculations and social interactions

In a comprehensive Genomic Press Interview, Dr. Munir Gunes Kutlu, Assistant Professor at Temple University's Center for Substance Abuse Research, unveils revolutionary findings about how our brains process fundamental learning calculations and social interactions.

17 Dec 2024

How are states spending opioid settlement cash? We built a database of answers

In the past few years, state and local governments across the U.S. have begun spending billions in opioid settlements paid by companies accused of fueling the overdose crisis. But where is that money going, who is getting it, and is it doing any good?

16 Dec 2024

$1.5 million grant supports alternatives to opioids initiative at University Hospitals

A grant of nearly $1.5 million from the Department of Health and Human Services through its Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will enable University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center to develop and implement an Alternatives to Opioids (ALTO) program within its Emergency Department (ED).

6 Dec 2024

Boosting endocannabinoids could reduce opioid addiction risk

Increasing the levels of chemicals naturally produced in the body called endocannabinoids may thwart the highly addictive nature of opioids such as morphine and oxycodone while maintaining the drugs' ability to relieve pain, according to Weill Cornell Medicine investigators working with researchers from The Center for Youth Mental Health at NewYork-Presbyterian.

2 Dec 2024

Alcohol use found to be major factor in cannabis vaping among youth and young adults

Alcohol use was the most common predictor of escalating cannabis vaping among youth and young adults, independent of demographic factors, according to research by UTHealth Houston published this month in the journal Social Science & Medicine.

23 Nov 2024

Millions of Americans affected by secondhand harm from substance use

The risks of alcohol and other drug consumption to the user are well known, but many Americans--nearly 160 million--say they've been harmed by someone else's substance use, according to a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

21 Nov 2024