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Repeated cocaine use can increase individual's risk of mood disorders

It is well established that a mood disorder can increase an individual's risk for substance abuse, but there is also evidence that the converse is true; substance abuse can increase a person's vulnerability to stress-related illnesses.

25 Aug 2011

Researchers to generate new knowledge about brain's complex communication system

Researchers at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen have collaborated with the company NeuroSearch to generate new knowledge about an important part of the brain's complex communication system.

20 Aug 2011

Longer looks: Doctors advocating less care; addiction as a 'disease'

These physicians are not anti-medicine. They are not trying to save money on their copayments or deductibles. And they are not trying to rein in the nation's soaring health-care costs, which at $2.7 trillion account for fully one sixth of every dollar spent in the U.S. They are applying to their personal lives a message they have become increasingly vocal about in their roles as biomedical researchers and doctors: more health care often means worse health.

19 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: 'Judicial restraint' and health law; mental health parity; perspectives from JAMA and NEJM

A Supreme Court decision to throw out health-care reform on Commerce Clause grounds could open up hundreds of other federal laws to legal challenge -- starting with the Civil Rights Act. It's hard to believe that this court really wants to relitigate the second half of the 20th century, but we'll have an answer soon enough.

19 Aug 2011

SAMHSA-funded project to develop a Prescriber's Clinical Support System

Medical professionals will gain access to free clinical support in the use of opioid medications through a new grant announced by SAMHSA today. SAMHSA awarded $1.5 million to the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry to develop a Prescriber's Clinical Support System.

18 Aug 2011

Lighter smokers with two high-risk gene variations more likely to develop lung cancer

Smokers with variations in two specific genes have a greater risk of smoking more cigarettes, becoming more dependent on nicotine and developing lung cancer, a new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows.

18 Aug 2011

Addiction – a brain disorder say experts

According to the American Society of Addiction Medicine, addiction is a chronic brain disorder like any other chronic brain disease such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and body dysmorphic disorder. Neurological abnormalities like disruptions in neurotransmission and the reward system drive addiction, the group said in a statement.

17 Aug 2011

Addiction to tanning

A new study reveals addiction of a new kind – addiction to tanning. Researchers have believed for several years that tanners exhibit similar behavior to alcoholics and drug addicts.

15 Aug 2011

Money now preferred to cocaine later

When a research team asked cocaine addicts to choose, hypothetically, between money now or cocaine of greater value later, "preference was almost exclusively for the money now," said Warren K., Bickel, professor in the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, director of the Advanced Recovery Research Center, and professor of psychology in the College of Science at Virginia Tech.

12 Aug 2011

Tanning beds may spur addictive neurological reward and reinforcement trigger

People who frequently use tanning beds may be spurred by an addictive neurological reward-and-reinforcement trigger, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in a pilot study.

12 Aug 2011

Scientists identify new therapeutic target for ADHD, other neuropsychiatric disorders

A biochemical pathway long associated with diarrhea and intestinal function may provide a new therapeutic target for treating ADHD other neuropsychiatric disorders, according to a team of scientists from China and the United States reporting Aug. 11 in Science.

12 Aug 2011

Research: p38α MAPK protein plays a role in addiction, depression-like behavior

Researchers studying mice are getting closer to understanding how stress affects mood and motivation for drugs.

11 Aug 2011

New research uncovers role of p38alpha in mood disorders, addiction

Stressful experiences increase addictive drug consumption and can precipitate bouts of anxiety or depression in vulnerable people. Although the mechanisms linking stress and human behaviors are not well understood, animal models of some aspects of these behaviors have been developed and have been used to define some of the molecular events that may be responsible for stress vulnerability in people.

11 Aug 2011

Longer work hours linked to greater alcohol consumption: Study

According to new research from New Zealand, people who work longer hours can have more than triple the risk of alcohol abuse and addiction.

10 Aug 2011

Integrated treatment approach could save lives of women with addiction

Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center reports people suffering from addiction rarely, if ever, have just substance abuse or addiction issues. Most addicts have trauma histories, many have mood and/or anxiety disorders, and up to 50 percent of women with substance abuse disorder have co-occurring eating disorders.

9 Aug 2011

Smoking first thing in the morning ‘ups’ cancer stakes

Scientists have found that people who need a cigarette within the first half hour of waking up are at a higher risk for lung, head and neck cancers. Actually this indicates a higher nicotine addiction.

8 Aug 2011

One third of patients do not receive follow-up care for depression across Ontario

Twenty-five percent of people who were hospitalized for depression were readmitted or visited an emergency room again for depression within 30 days of discharge, according to a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

4 Aug 2011

Mood-related brain protein linked to sadness during cigarette withdrawal

Heavy smokers may experience sadness after quitting because early withdrawal leads to an increase in the mood-related brain protein monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A), a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has shown. This finding, which was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, may also explain why heavy smokers are at high risk for clinical depression.

3 Aug 2011

Smokers taking multivitamins offset their healthy behaviour by smoking more cigarettes

A new study has found that smokers who take multivitamins offset their healthy behaviour by smoking more cigarettes. This is an example of what psychologists call the licensing effect, which occurs when people make a virtuous choice that permits them to make a poor choice later on, such as when someone 'earns' a weekend binge by avoiding alcohol all week.

2 Aug 2011

Myb protein suppression can help eliminate acute myelogenous leukemia

A team of scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has laid bare the mechanism behind a phenomenon called oncogene addiction in mice suffering from a form of leukemia that mimics acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) in humans.

1 Aug 2011