Addiction News and Research

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Cigarette taxes do reduce smoking but can lead to bootlegging

Increasing cigarette taxes is an effective strategy for reducing tobacco use but there may be negative consequences especially in disadvantaged minority communities.

29 Jun 2007

Abuse of prescription drugs

Increasingly, drug abusers are getting their next fix from their medicine cabinets, instead of from drug dealers.

26 Jun 2007

New therapeutic vaccines help kick drug habits

A pair of new vaccines designed to combat cocaine and methamphetamine dependencies not only relieve addiction but also minimize withdrawal symptoms, according to study results presented by Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) researchers at the Annual Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence in Quebec City, Canada.

23 Jun 2007

Heavy drinking leads to early senile dementia

Constant alcohol consumption results not only in cognitive disorders but can elicit symptoms of senile dementia in people as young as in their forties.

20 Jun 2007

Turn-ons and turn-offs for neurons

Our brain consists of billions of nerve cells enabling to learn, remember and reason.

20 Jun 2007

50 million Europeans suffer from neurological diseases

About 50 million people in the EU suffer from neurological diseases such as epilepsy, migraines, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, strokes and dementia.

18 Jun 2007

Hazardous drinking causes nearly half of deaths in working-age Russian men

Hazardous alcohol drinking causes 43% of deaths in Russian men aged 25-54, conclude authors of a study published in The Lancet.

17 Jun 2007

Gastric bypass surgery gets people 'drunk' faster

An Oprah Winfrey-inspired study done by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine has found that patients who undergo gastric bypass surgery to lose weight will get drunk faster and take longer to get sober.

17 Jun 2007

Brits and their 'booze culture' costing 20 billion pounds each year

In a new report on alcohol consumption in Britain the drinking culture there is being blamed for health, crime and disorder problems which cost the nation as much as 20 billion pounds each year.

5 Jun 2007

Link between khat use and mental illness

Researchers investigating the evidence for a potential causal link between khat use and mental illness - in the first ever systematic review of the topic - have called for improved research on the stimulant plant, and its possible association with psychiatric disorders.

5 Jun 2007

Modafinil (Provigil) alleviates post-chemotherapy fogginess

A drug described by some people as a genius pill for enhancing cognitive function provided relief to a small group of Rochester breast cancer survivors who were coping with a side effect known as chemo-brain, according to a University of Rochester Medical Center study.

5 Jun 2007

Gene therapy provides hope for peripheral neuropathy

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine report that they have successfully used gene therapy to block the pain response in an animal model of neuropathic pain, a type of chronic pain in people for which there are few effective treatments.

1 Jun 2007

Smart mice miss out on Alzheimer's

Scientists in the U.S. have managed to breed mice which lack the enzyme thought to be the culprit in Alzheimer's disease.

28 May 2007

Appetite-regulating hormones and peptides may be involved in the neurobiology of alcohol craving

Defined as a powerful urge to drink, or intense thoughts about alcohol, is an important contributor to the development and maintenance of alcoholism.

28 May 2007

FDA should be given broad regulatory authority over tobacco marketing, packaging, and distribution

A combination of increased excise taxes, nationwide indoor smoking bans, and other measures would significantly lower the U.S. smoking rate, which now hovers at around 21 percent of the adult population, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

28 May 2007

Research reveals a new mechanism of learning in the brain

Mice genetically engineered to lack a single enzyme in their brains are more adept at learning than their normal cousins, and are quicker to figure out that their environment has changed, a team led by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center has found.

28 May 2007