Substance Abuse News and Research

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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

European approval of Cymbalta/Xeristar for treatment of major depressive episodes

Eli Lilly and Company and Boehringer Ingelheim announced today that Cymbalta/Xeristar (duloxetine hydrochloride)(+) has been granted marketing authorization by the European Commission for the treatment of major depressive episodes.

5 Jan 2005

Mutant gene that starves the brain of serotonin 10 times more prevalent in depressed patients

A mutant gene that starves the brain of serotonin, a mood-regulating chemical messenger, has been discovered and found to be 10 times more prevalent in depressed patients than in control subjects, report researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).

21 Dec 2004

Emergency room patients with substance abuse treatment need incur higher health care costs

Emergency department patients with unmet substance abuse treatment need generate much higher hospital and emergency department charges than patients without such need, according to a new study to be published today as an advance online publication of Annals of Emergency Medicine.

20 Dec 2004

Having a job reduces likelihood of drug use

It's said that "idle hands are the devil's workshop." A pair of University of Houston professors studying employment and drug use now provide support for that proverb.

30 Nov 2004

Capsules may be effective in treating bipolar disorder

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers have announced study results finding that a formulation of three-beaded extended-release carbamazepine capsules (ERC-CBZ) was effective, safe and tolerable in the treatment of bipolar I disorder

19 Nov 2004

Large increase in male mentally ill drug abusers

The amount of mentally ill male drug abusers has increased by more than 79% in five years across England and Wales, finds research in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

16 Nov 2004

Abbott's investigational anti-interleukin-12 fully human monoclonal antibody in Crohn's disease study

Results of a Phase II study of Abbott's ABT-874, a fully human anti-interleukin-12 (IL-12) monoclonal antibody, will appear tomorrow in the New England Journal of Medicine citing treatment with ABT-874 shows differences in response and remission in patients with active Crohn's disease compared to placebo, in one arm of the study.

10 Nov 2004