Addiction News and Research

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Researchers discover genes linking stress, high blood pressure, alcoholism and tobacco addiction

A team led by a Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher has uncovered a series of genes linking mental stress, high blood pressure, alcoholism and tobacco addiction.

22 Oct 2007

Height may point to a biological basis for pedophilia

Height may point to a biological basis for pedophilia, according to new research released by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

22 Oct 2007

Addicts renting their cars in exchange for drugs

A growing number of crack cocaine users are renting their cars in exchange for drugs, according to criminologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Justice Sciences.

22 Oct 2007

Childhood epilepsy research offers new hope for seizure control

Scientists still do not know what causes epileptic seizures, but researchers from Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute are one step closer to solving this puzzle with the help of their newly developed genetically modified epileptic mouse.

18 Oct 2007

Tolerance to inhalants may be caused by changes in gene expression

Changes in the expression of genes may be the reason why people who abuse inhalants, such as spray paint or glue, quickly develop a tolerance, biologists at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered.

18 Oct 2007

Insulin levels affect the brain's dopamine systems

Insulin, long known as an important regulator of blood glucose levels, now has a newly appreciated role in the brain.

18 Oct 2007

How does the opioid system work?

The opioid system controls pain, reward and addictive behaviors. Opioids exert their pharmacological actions through three opioid receptors, mu, delta and kappa whose genes have been cloned (Oprm, Oprd1 and Oprk1, respectively).

15 Oct 2007

What's wrong with being shy?

What's wrong with being shy, and just when and how did bashfulness and other ordinary human behaviors in children and adults become psychiatric disorders treatable with powerful, potentially dangerous drugs?, asks a Northwestern University scholar in a new book that already is creating waves in the mental health community

12 Oct 2007

Complementary medicine for chronic pain

Mr. Jones has chronic back pain. He cannot sleep, bend or stand for long periods of time because of the pain. He cannot lose weight because the pain keeps him from exercising.

10 Oct 2007

Peer influence can help young adults avoid drug use

High-risk teenagers who participate in peer-led substance abuse prevention programs reduce their drug use by approximately 15 percent versus traditional curricula, suggests a study led by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC).

9 Oct 2007

New report says 'treat smokers like drug addicts'

According to the the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), heavily-addicted smokers in Britain who find it impossible to quit are being let down.

7 Oct 2007

OxyContin drug company sued for millions

A private company in the United States is being sued by a number of counties in the state of Kentucky over the potent painkilling drug OxyContin.

7 Oct 2007

Anorexia as addictive as ectasy

French scientists say that anorexia is comparable to the drug Ecstasy as both appear to activate some of the same brain pathways

4 Oct 2007

Trauma, drug misuse and transforming identities: a life story approach

A new book that offers insights into addiction and how it can be tackled, by looking at the life stories of ex-drug misusers in their own words, is published today.

2 Oct 2007

Mechanism behind nicotine dependency revealed

The research is being published the week of October 1, 2007, in an advance, online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

2 Oct 2007

Nicotine dependence triggered by changes in brain chemistry that follow very first dose of nicotine

Following up on studies that have indicated the speed with which adolescents can get hooked on cigarettes, researchers at the University of Massachusetts Medical School have conducted the first study to determine why some adolescents who try smoking get addicted while others do not.

2 Oct 2007