Category: From Newswise – Addiction

Risky drinking often co-occurs with maladaptive eating in young adults, according to a study reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. While previous research had suggested a link between heavy alcohol use and obesity-related factors in college students, the latest study aimed to identify specific profiles of problematic drinking, food addiction, and obesity within a more diverse sample of community-dwelling young people. The researchers also explored shared theoretical risk factors for heavy drinking and overeating, and how these differ across the profiles. Calorie-dense food and alcohol both require little effort to obtain and consume, and each generates immediate and potent experiences of reward in the brain. According to ‘reinforcer pathology’ theory, people who place a high value (‘demand’) on unhealthy items, and who also favor small immediate rewards (such as food and alcohol) over larger delayed rewards (such as health), are at highest risk for overconsumption

The legalization of cannabis and the arrival of nonmedical fentanyl are fundamentally changing drug markets in North America.

A new study published Tuesday 10 March, No Smoking Day, from King’s College London highlights the ‘clear benefit’ of using e-cigarettes daily in order to quit smoking, and supports their effectiveness when compared to other methods of quitting, including nicotine replacement therapy or medication.

A new study shows that providing a non-acute care space after hospital discharge for patients with COVID-19 who are experiencing homelessness helped reduce hospitalizations and keep inpatient beds available for those requiring acute care.

The first-wave COVID-19 lockdown in Barcelona, Spain, has been linked to increased drinking among people recovering from alcohol use disorder (AUD), as reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Pandemic-associated stress has already been associated with increased drinking in the general population, but few studies have examined the impact among people with a clinical diagnosis of AUD, who may be particularly susceptible to using alcohol as a coping mechanism. Additionally, almost all COVID-19 studies to date have been based on self-reported alcohol use, which does not always provide an accurate measure, particularly among heavy drinkers and those with AUD. In the latest study, researchers used the results of urine alcohol tests to assess changes in alcohol consumption among people with AUD before and after the first-wave lockdown. Although the lockdown in Spain was one of the strictest in the world, with residents allowed to leave homes for basic needs only, alcohol r

Dr. Carlos Pato and Dr. Michele Pato to Oversee Behavioral Health, Addictions and Genomic Psychiatry Research at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences

Although the prevalence of opioid use among Black people is comparatively low, the rate of opioid deaths has increased the sharpest and fastest among that population in recent years, according to an article in the March/April issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry. The journal is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.

One of the nation’s largest research projects aimed at measuring the outcomes of medication-assisted recovery (MAR) housing for opioid-use disorder will launch this spring, led by harm reduction specialists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) in partnership with the Health and Human Services Commission’s Texas Targeted Opioid Response Program (TTOR).

A new review article published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS) examines the variability that exists in opioid prescribing patterns across the United States for many common orthopaedic procedures. While the Northeast and Midwest were most impacted by the opioid epidemic, the study found that patients in the West and South consistently were given prescriptions at or greater than the national medians. These regional and national variations in opioid prescribing practices can serve as a benchmark for orthopaedic surgeons to help develop guidelines to reduce excess postoperative opioid prescriptions.

The drug buprenorphine is an effective treatment for opioid use disorder, but many who misuse opioids also take benzodiazepines — drugs that treat anxiety and similar conditions. Many treatment centers hesitate to treat patients addicted to opioids who also take benzodiazepines. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied overdose risk in people taking buprenorphine and found that the drug lowered risk, even in people taking benzodiazepines.