http://medicalxpress.com/addiction-news/ en-us PhysOrg Team Medical Xpress provides the latest research news on addiction In order to avoid exposing vulnerable groups such as children and young adults to alcohol advertising, industry groups have developed their own self-regulation guidelines. However, these guidelines have been criticized for possible conflict of interest, lack of objectivity, and unresponsiveness to complaints about violations. A study of violations of the U.S. Beer Institute code has identified a relatively inexpensive method of assessing whether alcohol-advertising content is in compliance with the industry's voluntary standards. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-beer-industry-advertising-guidelines-panels-industry.html Addiction 2013-05-17T17:20:01-07:00 In order to avoid harms associated with alcohol consumption, in 2009 the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism issued guidelines that define low-risk drinking. These guidelines differ for men and women: no more than four drinks per day, and 14 drinks per week for men, and no more than three drinks per day, and seven drinks per week for women. A study of how well college students adhere to these limits has found that female college student drinkers exceed national drinking guidelines for weekly drinking more frequently than their male counterparts. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-college-women-niaaa-guidelines-frequently.html Addiction 2013-05-17T16:58:21-07:00 Treatment for alcohol use disorders works best if the patient actively understands and incorporates the interventions provided in the clinic. Multiple factors can influence both the type and degree of neurocognitive abnormalities found during early abstinence, including chronic cigarette smoking and increasing age. A new study is the first to look at the interactive effects of smoking status and age on neurocognition in treatment-seeking alcohol dependent (AD) individuals. Findings show that AD individuals who currently smoke show more problems with memory, ability to think quickly and efficiently, and problem-solving skills than those who don't smoke, effects which seem to become exacerbated with age. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-individuals-heavily-early-aging-brain.html Addiction 2013-05-17T16:51:13-07:00 Researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of South Florida have evaluated how Florida health care and social service agencies distribute "Libres para Siempre", a Spanish smoking relapse prevention booklet series. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-spanish-relapse-booklets.html Addiction 2013-05-17T04:27:57-07:00 Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Declines in smoking among youths were observed from the late 1990s. "However, limited information exists on trends in smokeless tobacco use among U.S. youths," writes Israel T. Agaku, D.M.D., M.P.H., of the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, and colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-significant-smokeless-tobacco-youths.html Addiction 2013-05-14T16:00:02-07:00 A Brazilian investigative team, collaborating with a Simon Fraser University researcher, is citing an urgent need for targeted interventions among young crack users in cities throughout Brazil, identified as the world's biggest crack market, and further research to better address the problem. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-user-critical-intervention.html Addiction 2013-05-14T08:55:43-07:00 He's less than two weeks old, but he has the telltale signs of a baby in pain: a sore on his chin where he's rubbed the skin raw, along with a scratch on his cheek. He suffers from so many tremors that nurses watch him around the clock in case he starts seizing—or stops breathing. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-drug-dependent-babies-hospitals.html Addiction 2013-05-13T02:35:40-07:00 A UCLA-led study of adolescents receiving treatment for methamphetamine dependence has found that girls are more likely to continue using the drug during treatment than boys, suggesting that new approaches are needed for treating meth abuse among teen girls. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-teen-girls-successful-boys-meth.html Addiction 2013-04-30T17:35:36-07:00 (Medical Xpress)—Prevention is often the best medicine, and that is not only true when it comes to physical health, but also public health. Case in point – young adults reduce their overall prescription drug misuse up to 65 percent if they are part of a community-based prevention effort while still in middle school, according to researchers at Iowa State University. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-prosper-substance-abuse-teens.html Addiction 2013-04-25T08:40:03-07:00 (Medical Xpress)—Current college culture allows for an environment where risks of addiction and alcohol dependency increase while mental health decreases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-alcohol-habits-students-addiction.html Addiction 2013-04-24T10:08:19-07:00 Experienced clubbers are more likely to add the former 'legal high' mephedrone to their drug repertoires rather than use it to replace popular established club drugs such as ecstasy and cocaine, according to new research by Lancaster University, Durham University and Guy's and St Thomas Hospitals, London. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-mephedrone-boosts-illegal-drug.html Addiction 2013-04-23T07:29:33-07:00 (Medical Xpress)—Monitoring heart rate patterns can help identify risk and treat people who are dependent on alcohol by predicting their craving levels, researchers at the University of Sydney have shown. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-heart-alcohol.html Addiction 2013-04-22T07:57:35-07:00 Prior research has shown that the transition from high school to college is a particularly vulnerable time, associated with increased alcohol use and risk of negative alcohol-related consequences. While studies have examined the effectiveness of prevention programs to address this problem, few have examined which students may benefit the most. A study of student characteristics has found that parent-based interventions (PBIs) can be effective even among those students feeling high peer pressure to drink alcohol. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-parents-children-alcohol-pitfalls-transition.html Addiction 2013-04-16T16:33:36-07:00 Aerobic exercise may help prevent and perhaps even reverse some of the brain damage associated with heavy alcohol consumption, according to a new University of Colorado Boulder study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-aerobic-cognitive-abilities-heavy-drinkers.html Addiction 2013-04-16T16:31:54-07:00 Raising tobacco prices is one of the most effective means of reducing tobacco use, particularly among price-sensitive smokers such as young people and people with low incomes. But when the UK government has been raising cigarette taxes to increase prices and deter smoking, tobacco companies have been absorbing the tax increases on their ultra-low-price (ULP) brands to keep their prices low. As a result, real ULP cigarette prices have remained virtually unchanged since 2006 and their market share has doubled, suggesting that as cigarette taxes rise, many smokers downtrade to cheaper cigarettes and carry on smoking. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-tobacco-companies-people-uk-cigarette.html Addiction 2013-04-16T00:20:01-07:00 (Medical Xpress)—Light daily smokers, those who smoke fewer than 10 cigarettes per day, have greater success quitting when provided stop-smoking medications and assisted by counselors. Those are the key conclusions of research conducted by scientists at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) and the Medical University of South Carolina and published in the latest issue of Nicotine and Tobacco Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-smokers-benefit-nicotine-replacement-medications.html Addiction 2013-04-11T08:30:02-07:00 In 2010, almost 2 million American children had at least one parent in active military duty. A new University of Iowa study suggests that deployment of a parent puts these children at an increased risk for drinking alcohol and using drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-children-deployed-parents-higher-alcohol.html Addiction 2013-03-28T12:13:04-07:00 Although smoking prevalence has declined in the United Kingdom over recent decades, it has changed little among people with mental health disorders, remaining substantially higher than the national average. Yet a study published in the journal Addiction, presenting work carried out for a report released today by the Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of Psychiatrists called 'Smoking and Mental Health', suggests that general practitioners (GPs) are missing opportunities to help smokers with mental health disorders to quit. Though smokers with mental health problems are more likely than other smokers to receive cessation support from their GP over the course of a year, this reflects the increased frequency of their consultations. Overall, the total proportion of smokers with poor mental health (indicated by a recorded diagnosis or a prescription for a psychoactive medication) who are prescribed a smoking cessation medication in any one year is low: approximately one in ten is prescribed a smoking cessation medication, and only half are advised to quit. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-opportunities-smokers-mental-illness.html Addiction 2013-03-27T20:00:07-07:00 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. Now a new study by researchers from the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, a collaboration of The Miriam Hospital and Brown University, offers some insight on the consequences of these mandatory withdrawal policies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-methadone-barrier-treatment.html Addiction 2013-03-27T11:49:51-07:00 (Medical Xpress)—A Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center team studying alcohol addiction has new research that might shed light on why some drinkers are more susceptible to addiction than others. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-clues-alcohol-addiction-vulnerability.html Addiction 2013-03-26T08:27:47-07:00 In what is believed to be a first of its kind study, a research member at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and colleagues have found that an accelerating trend of smokers relighting cigarettes is related to economic factors, and the practice has implications for tobacco dependence treatment and policy. Results were given at a poster presentation during the 19th Annual Meeting of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco held this past week in Boston. The Cancer Institute of New Jersey is a Center of Excellence of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-cigarette-relighting-tied-tough-economy.html Addiction 2013-03-23T02:49:28-07:00 Some 2-year-olds whose moms used methamphetamine during pregnancy may have an abnormal response to stressful situations, according to a study in the May issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-abnormal-stress-response-toddlers-exposed.html Addiction 2013-03-20T00:10:04-07:00 (Medical Xpress)—A research team that includes several Penn State scientists has completed a first-of-its-kind longitudinal pilot study aimed at better understanding how the neural processes that underlie responses to alcohol-related cues change during students' first year of college. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-brain-mapping-alcohol-effects-first-year-college.html Addiction 2013-03-19T12:10:16-07:00 Abuse of the anesthesia drug propofol is a "rapidly progressive form of substance dependence" that is being more commonly seen among health care professionals, reports a study in the April Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-propofol-abuse-health-professionals.html Addiction 2013-03-18T11:27:31-07:00 In addition to its well-known effects on the CNS, alcohol consumption has a significant impact on metabolism. After consumption, the body rapidly begins converting ethanol to acetate, which can serve as an energy source for the brain and other organs. Lihong Jiang and colleagues at Yale University used a brain imaging technique, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, to track acetate uptake and metabolism in the brains of heavy drinkers (consumed at least 8 drinks/week) and light drinkers (consumed less than 2 drinks/week). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-brain-acetate-metabolism-reward-heavy.html Addiction 2013-03-08T12:00:02-07:00 (Medical Xpress)—The number of heroin and crack cocaine users in England has fallen below 300,000 for the first time. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-fall-heroin-drugs-appeal-young.html Addiction 2013-03-07T07:56:01-07:00 A new free online educational resource has been developed by health researchers from the University of Otago, Wellington to help people learn about addiction directly from those who have experienced it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-demystifying-addiction-online-resource.html Addiction 2013-03-06T09:30:01-07:00 Designer drugs are multiplying at a worrying rate and increasingly sending users to hospital, a UN-affiliated report said Tuesday, calling for international efforts to stem the spread of these substances. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-drugs-health.html Addiction 2013-03-05T06:27:37-07:00 A new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows that alcohol is now the third leading cause of the global burden of disease and injury, despite the fact most adults worldwide abstain from drinking. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-unhealthy-widespread-world.html Addiction 2013-03-04T10:48:22-07:00 (Medical Xpress)—A powerful anti-anxiety drug has been involved in a rising number of heroin-related deaths (HRDs) in Victoria in recent years, according to new research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-alprazolam-heroin-deaths.html Addiction 2013-03-04T08:00:05-07:00