Archive for the ‘Addiction’ Category

DRUG USERS MORE LIKELY TO DRIVE THAN DRINKERS, AUSTRALIA

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

Illegal and pharmaceutical drug users are far more likely to drive after taking drugs than those who drink alcohol, new research shows. The Australian Drug Foundation (ADF), in conjunction with Turning Point Alcohol & Drug Centre (TP), announced the findings of their comprehensive year-long study into the drug-driving habits of Australian ...

UNRAVELLING THE GENETICS OF ALCOHOL SENSITIVITY WITH THE HELP OF FRUIT FLIES

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

Research published in the online open access journal Genome Biology this week has identified a number of genes that are associated with sensitivity to alcohol in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). It is hoped that these findings will help researchers uncover the genetic basis of drinking behaviour in humans. Fruit flies are ...

ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN KIDS KEY TO ALCOHOL TROUBLE IN TEENS, UK

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

It is not levels of underage drinking, but early signs of antisocial behaviour that best predict future alcohol-related trouble and continued alcohol use by young people. This conclusion is drawn from a study led by Robert Young of the Medical Research Council Social and Public Health Sciences Unit in Glasgow. Published ...

AWARD FROM AATOD RECEIVED BY BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE PHYSICIAN

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

Needham resident Daniel Alford, MD, an associate professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) attending physician in the General Internal Medicine Department at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and associate medical director of the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Division with the Boston Public Health Commission, was one ...

CULTURE CAN AFFECT ACCESS TO ALCOHOL, DRUG ABUSE TREATMENT FOR RURAL YOUTH

Thursday, November 1st, 2007

Cultural stereotypes about Hispanics could impede Latino youth from seeking help for drug and alcohol abuse. In turn, substance abuse treatment providers must better understand how their own attitudes toward culture can affect the provision of sufficient behavioral health services, according to a new study. To do this, providers must ...

DON’T OVER INDULGE HEAVY HOLIDAY DRINKING CAN POSE SIGNIFICANT HEALTH RISK

Sunday, October 28th, 2007

Tulane University researchers found that heavy drinking -- more than 21 drinks per week -- may increase the risk of stroke. The results of the study of a large group of men in China are published in a recent issue of Annals of Neurology. "We found that the men who drink ...

INSULIN SIGNALING AND AMPHETAMINES

Tuesday, October 16th, 2007

Abuse of psychostimulants such as amphetamine remains a serious public health concern. Amphetamines mediate their behavioral effects by stimulating dopaminergic signaling throughout reward circuits of the brain. This property of amphetamine relies on its actions at the dopamine transporter (DAT), a presynaptic plasma membrane protein responsible for the reuptake of ...

RESPONSE TO DRUG USED TO TREAT HEAVY DRINKING AFFECTED BY FAMILY HISTORY OF ALCOHOLISM

Sunday, September 23rd, 2007

Naltrexone is one of four oral medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of alcoholism. A recent large multicenter research study of alcohol dependence supported by the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA), the COMBINE Study, suggested that naltrexone produced a modest ...

ILLICIT DRUGS AND THE FAMILY: PARLIAMENTARY REPORT LACKS CREDIBILITY AND PRAGMATISM, AUSTRALIA

Sunday, September 23rd, 2007

It is wearisome that we had to submit to yet another expensive exercise in investigating the well documented and significant impact of illicit drugs on the family. The parliamentary Family and Human Services Committee's "The Winnable War on Drugs: the impact of Illicit Drug Use on Families" report is extremely ...