Substance Abuse News and Research

RSS

Parents drugs, alcohol and tobacco use harm their children's futures

A white paper - Family Matters: Substance Abuse and the American Family - released by The National Centre on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, says parents who use illegal drugs, abuse alcohol and use tobacco put half the nation's children - more than 35 million of them - at greater risk of substance abuse and of physical and mental illnesses.

30 Mar 2005

Primary health care providers should incorporate HIV testing into routine patient care for all sexually active individuals

Primary health care providers should incorporate human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing into routine patient care for all sexually active individuals, regardless of risk factors, say a group of physician/researchers at Emory University School of Medicine, Brown Medical School, and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

30 Mar 2005

Researchers discover nicotine demethylase gene

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (USSTC) announced today that scientists at its GenApps Inc. laboratories in Winchester, Kentucky, led by Drs. Mark Nielsen and Dongmei Xu, succeeded in discovering a key tobacco gene encoding nicotine demethylase.

28 Mar 2005

Mental health service costs offset by savings in other public sectors

Penn State researchers have found that reduced expenditures for inpatient hospitalization, the juvenile justice system, the child welfare system and the special education system offset the costs of the improved mental health services delivered to youth through the system of care approach now being tried in communities in every state in the U.S.

28 Mar 2005

Use of major opioid drugs combined with a history of previous relapse increased the likelihood of another relapse

The risk of relapse is significantly increased for health-care professionals treated for substance use disorders if they have coexisting psychiatric illness or a family history of substance abuse.

23 Mar 2005

Alcohol ranks as the number one health risk in all but two countries

Alcohol ranks as the number one health risk in all but two countries – Canada and the United States – in the Americas, according to a publication of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

16 Mar 2005

HIVMA and AAHIVM urge lawmakers to make medical care the top priority for Ryan White Programs

The nation’s frontline HIV medical providers are calling for an end to waiting lists for essential anti-AIDS drugs that patients need in order to live.

8 Mar 2005

Natural mentoring relationships positively impact teens

Natural mentoring relationships positively impact teens, but these relationships do not meet all the needs of at-risk youth, according to a study by University of Illinois at Chicago researchers. The study appears in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

2 Mar 2005

Suicides outnumber homicides in the U.S

Charles Curie, head of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said suicides in the United States run at about 80 a day or more than 29,000 a year, three for each two homicides.

2 Mar 2005

Naltrexone may help men and women quit smoking without gaining weight

Naltrexone is a medication that blocks the effects of drugs such as morphine, heroin and codeine. It also has been approved for use in treating alcoholism and is being investigated for its ability to help smokers quit.

28 Feb 2005

Second-generation Antidepressants

A recent article in the prestigious British Medical Journal seems to confirm an increased risk for suicidal behavior among adults taking popular antidepressants. This follows evidence that certain selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may have a similar effect among children and adolescents.

27 Feb 2005

South Africa explores faith-based healing

The South African Department of Health met with religious leaders in Johannesburg on Monday (21 February 2005) to discus areas of cooperation between the Department and faith-based organisations in improving health of South African nation.

23 Feb 2005

Early diagnosis and treatment is important for children and adolescents with bipolar disorder

"These new guidelines were formulated by a group of leading experts in child psychiatry and are the most up-to-date and comprehensive set of guidelines for the treatment of children and adolescents with bipolar disorder," said Dr. Kowatch. "They represent a major step towards practicing evidence-based medicine in this difficult to treat group of patients.

22 Feb 2005

Stop-smoking products increase quit rate for smokers who need to quit the most

An article in the current issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment (Volume 28, Issue 1, 2005) provides new hope for smokers who are highly dependent upon tobacco and who smoke more than two packs per day.

21 Feb 2005

Naltrexone helps alcoholics moderate their drinking

A little-known drug called naltrexone provides a “meaningful benefit” in helping alcoholics moderate their drinking, according to the latest review of evidence from 29 studies on four continents.

20 Feb 2005

Women with a history of caesarean section deliveries do not have a higher risk of a subsequent stillbirth

"Caesarean sections have been associated with some pregnancy complications, but when a physician consults a woman with prior caesarean sections about her next pregnancy, stillbirth should not be one of the concerns," said Bahtiyar.

13 Feb 2005

Many alcohol dependent HIV patients need assistance adhering to medications

Supervised medication delivery or simplified dosing regimens may be needed to ensure that HIV-infected patients with a history of alcohol problems stick to their medication regimens, according to a new study by researchers at Boston University Medical Center.

8 Feb 2005

Parent methamphetamine abuse and child welfare in the rural midwest

In its destructive effect on rural families and their children, methamphetamine may be in a class of its own, based on the first study from an ongoing research project in seven Central Illinois counties, conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

7 Feb 2005

Program aimed at improving the quality of treatment for depression is effective at reducing depression

An intervention for adolescents aimed at improving the quality of treatment for depression is effective at reducing depression, according to a study in the January 19 issue of JAMA.

19 Jan 2005

Seven percent of college students have used prescription stimulants for non-medical purposes

Seven percent of college students have used prescription stimulants for non-medical purposes over their lifetimes and 4 percent have used in the past year, according to a study of students at 119 four-year colleges and universities nationwide published in the January issue of the journal Addiction.

10 Jan 2005