Addiction News and Research

RSS

Survey: Majority of U.S. pharmaceutical companies develop drugs for mental illness

Pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies in New Jersey, California, New York and North Carolina are responsible for 192 of the 313 medicines in development today to treat mental illnesses, a new survey shows.

16 Aug 2010

MeCP2 regulatory protein determines vulnerability to cocaine addiction: Research

A regulatory protein best known for its role in a rare genetic brain disorder also may play a critical role in cocaine addiction, according to a recent study in rats, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health. The study was published today in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

16 Aug 2010

Catalyst second-quarter net loss decreases to $1,328,541

Catalyst Pharmaceutical Partners, Inc. today announced its financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2010.

13 Aug 2010

Nurses increasingly the target of violence; Texas nurse case settled

The Associated Press: "Violence against nurses and other medical professionals appears to be increasing around the country as the number of drug addicts, alcoholics and psychiatric patients showing up at emergency rooms climbs. Nurses have responded, in part, by seeking tougher criminal penalties for assaults against health care workers.

12 Aug 2010

New findings identify mGlu2/3 receptors as a promising treatment target for cocaine addicts

Glutamate is the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, which has been implicated in drug addiction. Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) represent a family of G-protein coupled receptors that modulate glutamate transmission. Glutamate is an important neurotransmitter involved in learning and memory. Today, these receptors are considered to be promising targets for drug discovery, with therapeutic potential to treat various neurological and psychiatric disorders, including drug addiction.

11 Aug 2010

Scientists identify chemical system effective in cocaine-addiction cure

UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have identified a chemical system in the brain that reacts differently in cocaine addicts, findings that could result in new treatment options for individuals addicted to the drug."We found that the amount of blood flow in areas of the brain known to be involved in the rewarding effects of cocaine and craving was different in cocaine addicts, compared with healthy subjects," said Dr. Bryon Adinoff, professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern and lead author of a study that appeared in Neuropsychopharmacology. "Now we have a new target for pharmacologic intervention."

11 Aug 2010

‘Decriminalize’ but not ‘Legalize’ drug abuse says Australian Sex party

Professor Paul Wilson, an Australian criminologist revealed that illegal drug use in Australia costs the nation $3.8 billion every year. Australian Sex Party however claims personal drug use should be decriminalized and drug abusers sent for rehabilitation instead of imprisonment.

10 Aug 2010

Australia ranks near top when it comes to alcohol abuse: Study

In a new study researchers have found that Australia ranks near the top when it comes to alcohol abuse. The study was conducted by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) and it found that one in five Australians has a drinking problem and four in five go untreated for these problems. Professor Maree Teesson and her team analyzed data collected from almost 9,000 Australians aged 16 to 85 years for the National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing in 2007.

9 Aug 2010

Scientists develop hand prosthesis that eases phantom pain

The pain of losing a body part is twofold, as the patients not only suffer from wound pain. Often they are also affected by so called phantom pain. Unlike bodily wounds which will eventually heal, phantom pain often lasts for years and sometimes a lifetime. "Phantom pain is very difficult to treat", says Professor Dr Thomas Weiss from the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.

7 Aug 2010

Study: Drug control efforts have caused a drop in methamphetamine treatment admissions in Mexico

A study published today in the scientific journal Addiction shows that the Mexican government's recent efforts to control the manufacture of methamphetamine have caused a drop in methamphetamine treatment admissions in Mexico and in neighbouring Texas.

6 Aug 2010

One-on-one talk with therapist reduces peer aggression

A brief, motivational talk in the emergency room reduced by half the chances that teenagers would experience peer violence or problems due to drinking, according to a study published Aug. 4 in a theme issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

4 Aug 2010

Titan completes 60% enrollment in confirmatory Phase 3 clinical study of Probuphine for opioid addiction

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that patient enrollment is more than 60% complete in the confirmatory Phase 3 clinical study of Probuphine for the treatment of opioid addiction, and the study is expected to complete enrollment by early fourth quarter of this year, which is almost three months ahead of schedule.

3 Aug 2010

Using internet can develop depression among teens

Teens who use the Internet pathologically appear more likely to develop depression than those who do not, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the October print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

3 Aug 2010

Louisiana's Medicaid rate cuts kick in Aug. 1; Other states seek health program assistance, make tough choices to balance budgets

"The rates paid to many of the private health providers in Louisiana's Medicaid program will fall Sunday to trim spending by $168 million in the program that provides care to the poor, elderly and disabled. The latest cuts to private hospitals, home- and community-based care providers, doctors and specialty service providers are the final piece of balancing this year's $6.5 billion Medicaid budget. Department of Health and Hospitals Undersecretary Jerry Phillips said Medicaid funding was cut by $277 million in the 2010-11 fiscal year that began July 1."

31 Jul 2010

Opinions: IDUs and HIV; AIDS 2010; International Violence Against Women Act

In a Los Angeles Times opinion piece, Evan Wood, associate professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia, writes about the Vienna Declaration, a document he helped to draft, that calls for international leaders to revise drug policies to incorporate greater scientific evidence and promote HIV prevention, treatment and care for drug users.

31 Jul 2010

Scientists develop new version of medication to relieve severe forms of pain

Scientists have developed a new version of a medication, first isolated from the saliva of sea snails, that could be taken in pill form to relieve the most severe forms of pain as effectively as morphine but without risking addiction. An article on the topic appears in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS' weekly newsmagazine.

29 Jul 2010

NIH issues SBIR grant to Titan Pharmaceutical for PD treatment development

Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the National Institutes of Health has awarded the company a grant under the Small Business Innovation Research program supporting the development of a long-term, non-fluctuating dopamine agonist treatment for Parkinson's disease. The first year award in the amount of $300,000 will be available to Titan starting August 1, 2010, and an additional $195,000 for the second year starting August 1, 2011 has been recommended subject to availability of funds and satisfactory progress of the project. The grant will be administered by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

27 Jul 2010

Today's OpEds: Health reform and long-term care; Health care incentives; Reasons for optimism or repeal and replace?

Our system of long-term care does not provide adequate or coordinated human services and medical treatment for our growing aging population. … Thanks to a provision of the new health care law known as the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports program, tomorrow's continuum of care does not have to be so unforgiving. For the first time, a voluntary public insurance program will be available to help adults and families pay for long-term care services (Bruce Chernof, 7/23).

26 Jul 2010

British adults support removal of tobacco displays in shops, ban on cigarette vending machines: Survey

Three quarters of British adults support the removal of shop displays of tobacco (73 per cent) and a complete ban on cigarette vending machines (77 per cent) according to a new survey commissioned by Cancer Research UK this weekend.