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Ameritox launches Rx Guardian CD, next-generation pain-medication monitoring solution

Ameritox, the leader in pain-medication monitoring, today announced the launch of Rx Guardian CD, its next-generation pain-medication monitoring solution and part of the patented Rx Guardian process.

9 Jun 2011

Celebrities urge decriminalization of drug possession

Dame Judi Dench, Sir Richard Branson, actress Julie Christies and Sting have added their support to an ex-drugs minister and three former chief constables in calling for the decriminalization of the possession of all drugs. These celebrities together with leading lawyers, academics, artists and politicians have signed an open letter to David Cameron to mark this week's 40th anniversary of the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act. The letter, published in a full-page advertisement in Thursday's Guardian, calls for a “swift and transparent” review of the effectiveness of current drugs policies.

2 Jun 2011

Transcendental Meditation reduces symptoms of PTSD in veterans just within 8 weeks

Veterans of the Iraq/Afghanistan wars showed a 50 percent reduction in their symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after just eight weeks of practicing the stress-reducing Transcendental Meditation technique, according to a pilot study published in the June 2011 issue of Military Medicine.

2 Jun 2011

Report: Only 2% of nation's substance abuse treatment facilities offer counseling services in Asian languages

A new report shows that only 2-percent (291) of the nation's 13,513 substance abuse treatment facilities provide counseling services in various Asian languages. The report also showed that the proportion of facilities offering these services varied by geographic region.

27 May 2011

Research provides new understanding of how heroin affects the brain

New research from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health suggests that our understanding of how heroin affects the brain should be changed. A new report shows that heroin is metabolised to 6-MAM which then crosses the blood-brain barrier to cause the intoxicating effects that arise shortly after heroin administration.

27 May 2011

'Survival protein' protects brain against effects of stroke

Johns Hopkins scientists say that a newly discovered "survival protein" protects the brain against the effects of stroke in rodent brain tissue by interfering with a particular kind of cell death that's also implicated in complications from diabetes and heart attack.

24 May 2011

Discovery of possible new strategy for treating neurologic disorders

23 May 2011

Millennium Laboratories founder to be honored as 2011 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur for pain care

Millennium Laboratories, a leading provider of medication monitoring services to physicians and staff treating chronic pain, announced today that James Slattery, CEO and founder, is a regional finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2011 San Diego region.

23 May 2011

APS honors recipients of Clinical Centers of Excellence in Pain Management Awards

The American Pain Society, www.ampainsoc.org, today honored the recipients of its fifth annual Clinical Centers of Excellence in Pain Management Awards recognizing the nation's outstanding pain care centers.

21 May 2011

'Mu opioid' receptors in the brain linked to smoking relapse

Nearly everyone who has tried to quit smoking says it's incredibly difficult, and the struggle is due in part to genetic factors. Now, a new study from the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania sheds light on how one specific genetic risk for smoking relapse may work: Some of the difficulties may be due to how many receptors, called "mu opioid" receptors, a smoker has in his or her brain.

17 May 2011

Early antiretroviral treatment can halt HIV spread in couples

A research study led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has made a major discovery in the effort to halt the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

13 May 2011

Nearly one third of the miners on a synthetic form of cannabis

New research has revealed that a synthetic form of cannabis is being consumed and has shown up in one in ten West Australian mine workers’ urine samples. The state's ChemCentre provides forensic testing for police and the State Coroner. They have been given the contract on an increasing basis by private companies in mining regions to test their workers for the substance, known as Kronic.

12 May 2011

Scientists develop promising vaccine formulations to treat methamphetamine addiction

Scientists are reporting development of three promising formulations that could be used in a vaccine to treat methamphetamine addiction - one of the most serious drug abuse problems in the U.S. The report appears in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

12 May 2011

School-based prevention programs can help reduce alcohol problems in young people

School prevention programs aimed at curbing alcohol misuse in children are somewhat helpful, enough so to deserve consideration for widespread use, according to a large, international systematic review.

12 May 2011

Couples having marital difficulties may have infants with sleep problems

Couples having marital difficulties may have infants who are losing sleep, according to a new study - and that may have a continuing impact on the children.

11 May 2011

Researchers design new tool for identifying protein function from genetic code

Mayo Clinic researchers have designed a new tool for identifying protein function from genetic code. A team led by Stephen Ekker, Ph.D., succeeded in switching individual genes off and on in zebrafish, then observing embryonic and juvenile development.

10 May 2011

Teen drinkers spend more time on computers frequenting social networking sites

Teenagers who drink alcohol spend more time on their computers for recreational use, including social networking and downloading and listening to music, compared with their peers who don't drink.

10 May 2011

Ecstasy use falls while synthetic versions grow in popularity

Where on one hand the use of ecstasy is falling in Australia, experts are warning that the use of dangerous designer synthetic drugs, which can be made legally, may begin to rise. Ecstasy, one of the most popular “recreational” drugs in Australia over the past two decades is becoming less popular with regular users, consistent with global trends, say the authors of a new report from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of NSW.

10 May 2011

Teen alcohol consumption associated with computer use

Teenagers who drink alcohol spend more time on their computers for recreational use, including social networking and downloading and listening to music, compared with their peers who don't drink.

9 May 2011

When Government usurps responsibility, people are more likely to abdicate

We hear much talk about preventive care, but nobody has defined it. From the content of the discussions, I deduce that what the health bureaucrats actually refer to would be better characterized as “early detection.” Early detection is what occurs when a physician finds a disease in its early stages that might have been prevented by earlier measures. But who can take those measures? Not the physician, only the patient. There is only one person living the patient’s life; it is the patient. I cannot live his life for him.

9 May 2011