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Heroin is a very addictive chemical called diacetylmorphine. Heroin is a modified form of morphine, a highly abundant opium derived from the seedpods of the poppy plant.

Psychiatry professor selected for Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow 2013-2014

For millions of people across the United States, health and well-being depends on policy decisions made at the federal level. With mental health at the center of today's health policy discussion, Amir Afkhami, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and global health at the George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), will bring his "boots on the ground" experience in mental health policy to the government as a 2013-2014 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Fellow.

25 Jul 2013

State highlights: Court hears arguments on Fla. 'gun-gag' law; Univ. of Minn. seeks to scale back coverage; fewer Utah docs see Medicaid patients

The top attorney for the state of Florida asked a federal appeals court today to reinstate a Florida law that regulates what physicians can ask patients about gun ownership, asserting that the law does not actually stifle such questions. Yes, it does, countered a lawyer representing several Florida medical societies and individual physicians who challenged the law as an infringement on their First Amendment right to free speech (Lowes, 7/18).

20 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 19, 2013

Today's headlines include coverage of President Barack Obama's Thursday speech pitching the positives of the health law.

19 Jul 2013

Drexel University receives NIH grant to study medical marijuana use among LA young adults

Drexel University has received a grant for a five-year study of medical marijuana and its impact on drug use and physical and psychological health among young adults in Los Angeles. It is the first large-scale NIH project funded to directly investigate medical marijuana use among young adults aged 18 to 26.

15 Jul 2013

Study sheds new light on causes, health consequences of drug use among street children

Drug use is common among street children, posing serious threats to both their health and their chances for reintegration into society. It's difficult to reduce drug use among street children without a good understanding of the problem, and up to now the research has been confined mainly to local studies with inconsistent results.

12 Jul 2013

Ritalin helps improve brain function in cocaine addiction

A single dose of a commonly-prescribed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drug helps improve brain function in cocaine addiction, according to an imaging study conducted by researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

28 Jun 2013

Missing brain enzyme increases concentrations of protein related to pain-killer addiction

A missing brain enzyme increases concentrations of a protein related to pain-killer addiction, according to an animal study. The results will be presented Monday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

18 Jun 2013

St. Louis College of Pharmacy, DEA partner to safely dispose of unwanted medication

Rain did not hold back anyone in St. Louis looking to safely dispose of unwanted and expired medication. On April 27, a record 16,311 pounds of medication from the St. Louis metropolitan area was discarded as part of the St. Louis Medication Disposal Initiative.

8 May 2013

1 in 4 teens misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in their lifetime

New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription (Rx) drug at least once in their lifetime - a 33 percent increase over the past five years.

23 Apr 2013

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to hold national drug take-back day this weekend

On April 27, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will be running a national drug take-back day. It is an opportunity for everyone to safely remove unwanted, unused, or expired medication from medicine cabinets.

23 Apr 2013

Most Americans concerned about misuse of pain medication to treat chronic pain

A new national public opinion poll commissioned by Research!America shows only 18% of respondents believe chronic pain is a major health problem, even though a majority of Americans (63%) say they know someone who experienced pain so severe that they sought prescription medicines to treat it.

10 Apr 2013

Untested products sold in stores during patent medicine era, study shows

Scientists provided a glimpse today based on an analysis of a museum collection of patent medicines used in turn-of-the-century America.

8 Apr 2013

Viewpoints: A doctor finds father's hospital care frightening; Politicization of science has hurt research funding

Three years ago, on a Friday afternoon, I received a frantic phone call from my mother. My active and healthy father was in the hospital with a suspected stroke. I immediately started driving to New Jersey, where they lived. I knew I had to be there to ensure that my dad would be safe. He had been taken to one of the most dangerous places in the world: a hospital. The story of my dad's three day stay in a major American teaching hospital is remarkably unremarkable (Ashish Jha, 4/5).

6 Apr 2013

Longer looks: Embarrassing accolades; Mapping the brain; Physician pay

Medicine honors its heroes in many ways. But sometimes high accolades can turn out to be highly embarrassing. Consider the annual award for lifetime achievement in preventing and controlling sexual infections, given since 1972 by the American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association.

5 Apr 2013

Correctional policies discourage released inmates from seeking methadone therapy, researchers say

Methadone treatment for opioid dependence remains widely unavailable behind bars in the United States, and many inmates are forced to discontinue this evidence-based therapy, which lessens painful withdrawal symptoms.

30 Mar 2013

Junk food during pregnancy changes development of opioid signaling pathway in the baby's brain

Here's another reason why a healthy diet during pregnancy is critical to the future health of your children: New research published in the March 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal, suggests that pregnant mothers who consume junk food actually cause changes in the development of the opioid signaling pathway in the brains of their unborn children.

1 Mar 2013

Annual deaths related to heroin and morphine continue to drop in the UK

Annual deaths related to heroin and morphine are continuing to drop significantly, falling from 41 per cent of total drug-related deaths in the UK in 2010 to 32 per cent in 2011. Meanwhile, deaths from 'legal highs' - some of which have now been banned - remained steady following a large increase in the previous year.

28 Feb 2013

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