Addiction

While various behavioral and pharmacologic agents have proven to be effective and safe for continued smoking cessation, a combination of varenicline and nicotine replacement (NRT) with transdermal patches has not been shown definitively to be more efficacious than varenicline alone. In the framework of a randomized clinical trial (RCT), the present study evaluates whether a combination of varenicline with NRT improved smoking cessation rates and abstinence duration compared with varenicline alone.

Women tend to become addicted to drugs and relapse faster than men. In a study in the Journal of Neuroscience, Helen Scharfman and Teresa Miller write that high levels of estrogen may be responsible for this difference.

Incentivizing the smoking cessation process increases the adherence rates, according to findings published in the American Journal of Public Health.

Researchers have found that maintenance treatment with methadone or buprenorphine may help prevent hepatitis C infection among injection drug users, a population with the highest risk of infection of the virus.

Mice which were previously self-administering cocaine were less likely to go back to the habit after a period of abstinence, during which brain proteins were measured, according to a report published in Molecular Psychiatry.

Monitoring injured workers by testing urine samples can increase prescription consistencies, according to a recent study.

Researchers have found that maintenance treatment with methadone or buprenorphine may help prevent hepatitis C infection among injection drug users, a population with the highest risk of infection of the virus.

More than one in three adults with a mental illness smoke cigarettes, compared with about one in five adults with no mental illness, according to the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention. Twenty percent of Americans smoke and one in five has a mental illness.

Addiction is a chronic and progressive brain disease of the reward, motivation, and memory pathway that moves from an impulse or positive reinforcement to compulsive and negative reinforcement.

Study results show significant regional variations in the types of procedures and tests administered and the number of prescriptions written for patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), as well as in the number of emergency department visits and hospital admissions.

As part of federal efforts to curb prescription drug abuse, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is reclassifying hydrocodone-combination drugs (Vicodin/AbbVie) as a schedule 2 controlled substance. But even if the tighter controls mean some doctors will switch appropriate patients to schedule 3 drugs, like acetaminophen with codeine, alternative painkillers have a long way to go to topple the market leader, according to data from IMS Health.

Prescription medications for mental health diagnoses (e.g. antidepressants, antipsychotics, and mood stabilizers) consume approximately 25% of commercial health insurers' pharmacy budgets and almost 35% of public payers' pharmacy spending. In 2011, an estimated 26.8 million US adults-more than 11%-took prescription medications for mental illness.

Citing a "public health epidemic" of death and addiction related to use of prescription opioids, the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) calls for a multi-pronged approach to curbing prescriptions. But the group stresses that finding ways to help patients in chronic pain is worthwhile and difficult.

Cannabis users who acknowledge their problem and report withdrawal symptoms are likely to increase abstinence over a 12-month period, according to research published in the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

Omega-3 supplementation can help reduce behavioral issues in adolescents who may be particularly prone to oxytocin receptor gene methylation.

A recent study found states that allowed the use of medicinal marijuana had substantially lower opioid overdose mortality rates compared with states that do not have medical cannabis laws.

Study participants who drank moderate amounts of alcohol each week experienced decreased chronic pain prevalence and lower levels of disability compared to non-drinkers.

As more studies have demonstrated potential therapeutic applications for marijuana, public opinion regarding medical and recreational marijuana use has shifted. One such study recently published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology revealed medical marijuana is potentially beneficial for digestive disorders and gastrointestinal symptoms.

An estimated 3.3% of people in the United States born between 1945 and 1965 have chronic hepatitis C infection. The increased risk of infection in this population has recently led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to recommend one-time hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing for all persons in this age cohort.

In one of the first studies analyzing delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol's tolerance based on gender, Washington State University researchers found that women develop a tolerance more quickly and are 30% more sensitive to the drug.

Teens using nonmedical prescription opioids have an increased likelihood of overdosing due to limited knowledge involving adverse effects and how to prevent them.

The leading cause of cancer related deaths in both men and women is lung cancer. The 5-year survival rate of lung cancer is only 16%, as 75% of patients with lung cancer are presented with symptoms of advanced disease.

The risks of marijuana are greatest for teen users, according to an analysis of current data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse published June 5, 2014 in The New England Journal of Medicine.

A common treatment for opioid addiction significantly reduces testosterone levels in many male patients; researchers suggest that supplementary testosterone might improve outcomes.

Among married couples who smoke marijuana, there is an inverse relationship between frequency of marijuana use and likelihood of a domestic violence occurrence.

Opioid treatment suppressed testosterone levels in men, yet the therapy left women's testosterone levels unaltered, according to a study in Scientific Reports.

Looking back over a 30-year career in pain medicine, the author laments the shift from comprehensive, multidisciplinary pain care to a model that focuses on pills and procedures to treat chronic pain.

Using the metric of time to first cigarette after waking was found to help improve efficiency and reduce false-positive detection in lung cancer screening, a new case-control study suggests.

Post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive symptoms may be reduced with intravenous ketamine, according to research published in JAMA Psychiatry.

The nation's youth, and its smoke-free air need federal protection from vapors from e-cigarettes, according to a set of recommendations released Aug. 25 by the American and Heart Association.