Substance Use Disorder News and Research

RSS

Opioid use disorder medications underused after injection-related infections

Deaths from injection-related infections like endocarditis have increased among young people, likely due to the growth of injection drug use and stronger, shorter-acting fentanyl.

24 Jul 2024

Study links social vulnerability to mental health and substance use disorders

A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry uncovers significant associations between social vulnerability -; a measurement that aggregates social determinants of health like socioeconomic status, housing type, education and insurance coverage -; and the prevalence and treatment of mental health and substance use disorders in the United States.

24 Jul 2024

Nearly half of adults and 18% of adolescents engage in gambling, study finds

The prevalence of any gambling activity, specific gambling activities, risk gambling, and problematic gambling among adults and adolescents globally.

18 Jul 2024

Telehealth reduces stigma and barriers for addiction treatment, study finds

Even as the nation's opioid epidemic continues to ravage families and communities nationwide -; with more than 100,000 Americans dying of drug overdoses each year -; stigma remains a barrier for many people accessing treatment for addiction.

8 Jul 2024

CAMH research suggests potential targets for prevention and early identification of psychotic disorders

A new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), entitled Mental Health Service Use Before First Diagnosis of a Psychotic Disorder and published in JAMA Psychiatry, found that nearly 75 per cent of young Ontarians with a psychotic disorder had at least one mental health service visit within the three years prior to their first diagnosis of the disorder.

21 Jun 2024

Study links lifetime cannabis use with substance use, mood disorders, celiac, and infectious diseases

Researchers identify genetic loci associated with lifetime and frequency of cannabis use.

21 Jun 2024

Only a third of outpatient mental health facilities offer medication for opioid use disorders

Only a third of outpatient community mental health treatment facilities in 20 states with the highest opioid related overdose deaths report offering medication treatment for opioid use disorders, suggesting efforts may be needed to strengthen such services, according to a new RAND study.

18 Jun 2024

HEALing Communities Study: Data-driven intervention did not reduce opioid-related overdose death rates

A data-driven intervention that engaged communities to rapidly deploy evidence-based practices to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths – such as increasing naloxone distribution and enhancing access to medication for opioid use disorder – did not result in a statistically significant reduction in opioid-related overdose death rates during the evaluation period, according to results from the National Institutes of Health's HEALing (Helping to End Addiction Long-Term) Communities Study.

17 Jun 2024

Study highlights benefits of ADHD medications for pregnant patients with opioid use disorder

Opioid overdoses for pregnant patients are at an all-time high in the United States, even as overall numbers are improving.

13 Jun 2024

Biden’s on target about what repealing ACA would mean for preexisting condition protections

President Joe Biden's reelection campaign wants voters to contrast his record on health care policy with his predecessor's.

13 Jun 2024

New AARF-D award supports Temple researchers to explore synapse function in the aging brain

Late-life depression is a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, in particular because it accelerates progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia.

12 Jun 2024

Developing pre-symptomatic diagnostic tools for Alzheimer's disease using long-read RNA sequencing

Researchers at the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging are working to develop a pre-symptomatic disease diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's disease.

6 Jun 2024

Early life stress can lead to substance use in male and female adolescents

Stress during childhood is associated with earlier substance use in male and female adolescents, according to a study presented Saturday at ENDO 2024, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Boston, Mass.

3 Jun 2024

California pays meth users to get sober

Here in the rugged foothills of California's Sierra Nevada, the streets aren't littered with needles and dealers aren't hustling drugs on the corner.

22 May 2024

Clean needles save lives. In some states, they might not be legal.

Kim Botteicher hardly thinks of herself as a criminal. On the main floor of a former Catholic church in Bolivar, Pennsylvania, Botteicher runs a flower shop and cafe.

17 May 2024

San Francisco tries tough love by tying welfare to drug rehab

Raymond Llano carries a plastic bag with everything he owns in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other, and the flattened cardboard box he uses as a bed under his arm as he waits in line for lunch at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. At 55, he hasn't had a home for 15 years, since he lost a job at Target.

13 May 2024

UCLA Health symposium explores the fusion of psychedelic therapies and ecological medicine

UCLA Health is set to host a unique symposium this week to explore the evolving research in psychedelic therapies and how combining it with reconnection to natural world could help to amplify their mental health benefits.

7 May 2024

Study finds sociodemographic variables to be the most robust predictors of substance use initiation

New research, published online today in the American Journal of Psychiatry, examined a broad range of potential predictors of substance use among adolescents and found sociodemographic variables were the most robust predictors of substance use initiation.

6 May 2024

Study shows contract treatment outperforms incarceration for substance misuse offenders

Substance use disorder treatment in the community is a superior alternative to incarceration for offenders with a substance misuse background, according to a recent study evaluating the effectiveness of the contract treatment sanction in Sweden.