Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today
Latest Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs News From Medical News Today.
Innovative Drugs-of-Abuse Testing System Announced By Philips And Concateno
Concateno plc, Europe's largest provider of drug and alcohol testing programmes, and Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE:PHG, AEX:PHI) have today announced an innovative handheld drugs-of-abuse detection device. Concateno-Philips pioneering system will make testing for drugs such as cocaine and heroin quicker, simpler and easier enabling immediate point-of-care drug test results, similar to current alcohol tests.
Lower Alcohol Limit Needed To Reduce Deaths On Our Roads, Says British Medica... Commenting on the launch of the Road Safety Compliance consultation published today (Thursday, 20th November 2008), BMA Head of Science and Ethics, Dr Vivienne Nathanson said: "There are a number of sensible ideas in this consultation which if adopted will help improve the nation's road safety. "It is particularly encouraging that the Government intends to investigate the impact of drugs on driving, as well as initiate a major awareness campaign on the issue.
Discovery Of Extensive Use Of Illicit Alcohol The consumption of illicit or noncommercial alcohol is widespread in many countries worldwide and contributes significantly to the global burden of disease, according to a new report released by the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP).
Overuse Of Narcotics And Barbiturates May Make Migraine Worse A team of researchers led by investigators at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has determined that certain commonly-prescribed medications may have the unintended consequence of increasing the frequency of migraine attacks. This important finding could alter the way doctors prescribe migraine medicines.
California Dental Hygienists Urge Greater Awareness Of "Meth Mouth" As An Ear... With methamphetamine addiction continuing to skyrocket, the California Dental Hygienists' Association (CDHA) today called on the public to understand that decaying teeth can be one of the first warning signs that a family member or loved one is abusing the drug.
Free Nicotine Patches Now Available To Massachusetts Veterans And Their Families The Massachusetts Department of Veterans' Services (DVS) and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) today announced a nicotine patch giveaway for Massachusetts veterans, their family members, and survivors who want to quit smoking.
NIMH Grant Awarded To Rutgers Center For Behavioral Health Services, Criminal... Since its founding in 2002 with a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Rutgers Center for Behavioral Health Services and Criminal Justice Research has focused exclusively on mental health services issues that arise when persons with mental illness have encounters with the criminal justice system.
Alcohol Sponsorship Linked To Hazardous Drinking In Sportspeople A new study provides the first evidence of a link between alcohol-industry sponsorship and hazardous drinking among sportspeople. Researchers from The University of Manchester and the University of Newcastle in Australia quizzed nearly 1,300 sportspeople and found alcohol-related companies sponsored almost half of them.
Direct Link Found Between Alcohol Sponsorship And Hazardous Drinking Among Sp... Commenting on a new report by the University of Manchester that finds a direct link between alcohol sponsorship in the sports industry and hazardous drinking among sportspeople, Professor Ian Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians and chair of the UK Alcohol Health Alliance said:
$14 Million In Savings Over 10 Years And Huge Health Gains At Canada's Superv... Canada's only supervised injection facility is extending lives and saving the health-care system millions of dollars, a new study shows. In analyzing the cost-effectiveness of Vancouver-based Insite, a safe injection facility in a downtown neighbourhood where about 5,000 injection drug users live, researchers found $14 million in savings and health gains of 920 life-years over 10 years.
Individualists More Likely To Be Problem Drinkers What makes residents of certain states or countries more likely to consume more alcohol? According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, high levels of individualism lead to more problem drinking. "We looked at the extent to which consumer levels of individualism (vs. collectivism) were related to their beer and problem alcohol consumption," write authors Yinlong Zhang and L.J. Shrum (both University of Texas-San Antonio).
Link Between Nicotine Addiction And Autism Scientists have identified a relationship between two proteins in the brain that has links to both nicotine addiction and autism. The finding has led to speculation that existing drugs used to curb nicotine addiction might serve as the basis for potential therapies to alleviate the symptoms of autism.
Improper Disposal Of Medications Can Lead To Abuse, Other Issues, Wyoming Dep... Ineffective disposal of unwanted or expired medications can lead to abuse, pollution or accidental ingestion, according to Wyoming Department of Health pharmacists. "Prescription drug abuse is a growing concern in Wyoming and across the country," said State Pharmacist Roxanne Homar. "No one wants to make the problem worse, and responsible, prompt disposal of medications can help.
3 Esophageal, Stomach Cancer Subtypes Linked To Smoking; 1 Associated With Al... Researchers who have been following the health of more than 120,000 residents of the Netherlands for more than two decades have found that smoking is associated with two forms of esophageal cancer as well as a form of stomach cancer, and that drinking alcohol is strongly linked to one form of esophageal cancer.
Survey Indicates Wyoming Youth Don't Use Drugs As Much As Peers Believe Most Wyoming high school and middle school students don't use illegal drugs, binge drink, or smoke tobacco, but mistakenly believe that many more of their classmates do, a new statewide survey reveals. "It's both interesting and significant that the survey showed wide divides between perception and reality when it comes to substance use and abuse among Wyoming youth," said Rodger McDaniel, Wyoming Department of Health deputy director for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.
Adverse Effects Of Ecstasy To Be Studied By UA Pharmacy Researcher The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded a researcher at The University of Arizona College of Pharmacy $1.7 million for a nearly five-year study of the long-term adverse effects of the street drug ecstasy, also known as the "hug drug." Terrence J. Monks, PhD, head of the college's Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, is a specialist in the study of drug toxicology, or the "bad" effects of drugs. He will be the principal investigator on the ecstasy project.
Abstract Award Received By Bmc Nurse Manager Hanover resident and Boston Medical Center (BMC) Nurse Manager Colleen LaBelle, RN, ACRN, CARN, was one of two semi-finalists to receive the Best Abstract Award from the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA).
In Russia Hazardous Alternatives To Alcohol Beverages Are Still Widely Available The term "non-beverage alcohols" refers to manufactured liquids that contain alcohol but are not intended for consumption, such as medicinal tinctures, aftershave, alcohol-based anti-freeze, antiseptics, and eau-de-colognes. Drinking these products is very hazardous to one's health.
In Cocaine Addiction, Drug-Related Preference Extends To Images When given a choice between viewing pictures of cocaine and a variety of other images, cocaine addicted individuals, as compared to healthy, non-addicted research subjects, show a clear preference for the drug-related images. Findings from this study, which was conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, were presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington D.C.
Denial In Drug Addiction May Be Explained By 'Insight' Deficit Drug abusers are often characterized as being in "denial" - not recognizing the severity of their disorder. Although "denial" is often considered to be a form of deception, emerging research suggests that it may be due to a specific brain dysfunction similar to that observed in other neuropsychiatric illnesses.
Families, Friends, Schools And Neighborhoods Contribute To Adolescent Alcohol... Characteristics present in the four social environments in which young people live - families, peers, schools, and neighborhoods - contribute both positively and negatively to whether teens misuse alcohol, with risk from one area possibly being magnified or decreased by attributes of another.
Effects Of Cocaine Use On Mother-Infant Relationships Studied By UNC, Yale Pa... Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Yale University have been awarded almost $10 million to study the many ways cocaine use during pregnancy can negatively affect interactions between mothers and their infants. The project's researchers hope their findings will aid the development of new intervention strategies for helping both mothers and children, and prove valuable to others working in fields such as drug abuse and developmental disorders.
Deaths Go Down When Alcohol Taxes Go Up, Study A US study found a strong link between alcohol tax increases in 1983 and 2002 and deaths related to alcohol use in one American state. The research was the work of Dr Alexander C Wagenaar from the University of Florida College of Medicine and colleagues and was published online ahead of print on 13 November in the American Journal of Public Health.
High Rate Of IDUs In Pakistan Living With HIV/AIDS, Official Says Approximately 30% of Pakistan's injection drug users are living with HIV/AIDS, Arshad Altaf -- senior provincial surveillance support officer with an HIV/AIDS surveillance program called the Sindh AIDS Control Program that is managed jointly by Canada and Pakistan -- said on Wednesday at the International Symposium on Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Pakistan's
Potential Treatment To Prevent Relapse To Methamphetamine Abuse A new study at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory suggests that vigabatrin (a.k.a. gamma vinyl-GABA, or GVG) blocks drug-seeking behavior in animals previously trained to associate methamphetamine with a particular environment. Specifically, animals pre-treated with vigabatrin lost interest in spending time in a location where they had previously been given methamphetamine.