Addiction

Continuing medical education is far too important an endeavor to be subjected to a political process, especially one that is often driven by news headlines or the personal experiences of legislators or influential constituents.

A recent study has raised concerns about the use of prescribed anxiolytic and hypnotic drugs, especially given their addictive nature.

Patients with mental health disorders are significantly more likely to have used or currently use electronic cigarettes.

Patients with IBS-D in two phase II trials of eluxadoline experienced sustained improvements in abdominal pain and bowel symptoms at 26 weeks of treatment, with mild side effects.

The opioid overdose epidemic and resulting focus on preventing opioid abuse and diversion could threaten access to effective medications for patients with legitimate medical needs.

Despite rampant opioid misuse, abuse, and diversion self-reported by chronic pain patients in a study presented at the American Pain Society 33rd Annual Scientific Meeting, primary care providers tended to downgrade the patients' risk for engaging in those drug-related aberrant behaviors, indicating a gap between physicians' objective risk assessment for opioid abuse and the actual extent of the problem.

Do National Prescription Drug Takeback Programs really make an impact on opioid misuse and diversion? Why doesn't the DEA go after people who overdose on opioids that were probably diverted?

Among other tobacco products, e-cigarettes, cigars, nicotine gels, and hookah tobacco will be regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration, the agency announced Thursday.

Men who are HIV-positive and enrolled in substance use treatment programs report reduced sexual risky behavior and stimulant use.

Recalling alcohol brand names mentioned in song lyrics is associated with adolescent alcohol consumption, according to research published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Following the approval of Zohydro last year, attorneys general across the country requested the FDA reconsider its decision until the medication could be reformulated to include abuse-deterrent properties. Now, two states have moved to reduce access to Zohydro. Will the courts uphold these decisions, or will other states follow in their wake?

Administering 2 so-called pregnancy hormones simultaneously in patients suffering from intractable pain may significantly reduce their opioid use, pain, and flare intensity.

Obese women who smoke may not be able to fully perceive creaminess and sweetness, according to a study published in Obesity.

Men who began smoking before age 11 are more likely to have sons with higher BMIs than sons of men who never smoke, according to research in the European Journal of Human Genetics.

The use of baclofen, typically used for spasms in spinal cord injury patients, can significantly reduce craving triggers for cocaine-addicted patients.

A study published in BMJ explains the long-term risks of opioid treatment in the postoperative setting.

For patients with HIV, there is a negative correlation between drinking frequency and antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, according to a cross-sectional study published online in Patient Preference and Adherence.

What do you crave: food, material possessions, love, attention, sex, sugar, chocolate, drugs, alcohol, praise, or power? For hundreds of thousands of people around the world, the answer is dirt.

The newly approved naloxone auto-injector has the potential to save many lives, but should not be viewed as the Holy Grail of the ongoing fight to prevent overdose deaths from opioid abuse and misuse.

The US Food and Drug Administration approved the first naloxone treatment specifically designed to be given by family members or caregivers to treat a person known or suspected of an opioid overdose.

The use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) is not associated with greater rates of smoking cessation or reduced cigarette consumption after 1 year.

Among Medicare beneficiaries with 4 or more pain medicine providers, concurrent opioid prescribing is common and significantly associated with increased rates of hospital admission related to narcotic use.

Some experts are concerned that efforts to legalize medical marijuana may lead to an increase in the incidence of low testosterone and related conditions such as gynecomastia.

Smoking tobacco doubles a patient's risk of developing recurrent tuberculosis (TB), according to a study published in the April issue of the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

As many as 20% of orthopedic trauma patients are "doctor shopping" for narcotic prescriptions, according to a study released at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) annual meeting.

While the peak of the opioid epidemic may now have been reached (according to some), we are not out of the woods. Every decision to start or continue opioid therapy must be careful, deliberate, and weigh benefit against risk, while keeping in mind that risk is not constant/static, but dynamic and evolves through time.

Quitting smoking is associated with improved mood and reduced depression, anxiety, and stress.

As evidenced in brain scans after abstaining from smoking for 24 hours, smokers were likely to show weakened interconnectivity between brain networks, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Since family physicians are more likely to adhere to a patient-centered biopsychosocial model than specialist physicians who treat chronic pain, primary care seems to be the logical "home" for its treatment.

Researchers have identified cannabinoid receptors in the region of the brain that regulates anxiety and the flight-or-fight response.