Category: From Newswise – Substance Abuse

People who self-medicate pain with alcohol may be vulnerable to hazardous drinking, with their experience of pain relief a potentially powerful driver of alcohol consumption, a new study suggests. Both pain and dangerous alcohol use are major public health issues. Each affects millions of US adults and costs hundreds of billions of dollars annually in health care and lost productivity. Recent studies have demonstrated a strong correlation between pain and alcohol use; people with chronic pain are more likely than others to report heavy drinking, and those with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are more likely to report chronic pain. Alcohol has known analgesic effects. Evidence of shared neural mechanisms underlying chronic pain and substance misuse suggest alcohol’s pain-relieving capacity might be influenced by individuals’ experience of chronic pain. Better understanding the relationship between chronic pain and alcohol use could inform improved prevention and treatment approaches. For the

The cost of buying the opioid antidote naloxone is out of reach for many uninsured Americans, a hurdle that may keep the treatment from saving more people who overdose on opioids, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

American military veterans are least willing to seek treatment for the health conditions that are most prevalent in their communities — including sleep and alcohol use problems — according to a new study from the University of Missouri School of Medicine.

New research from Tufts University School of Medicine suggests critical changes to the process of transitioning people out of jail while on substance use treatment can reduce opioid deaths among the highly susceptible population.

Relapse presents a major barrier to recovery from substance use disorders – when people begin taking drugs such as cocaine again after a period of abstinence.

Phone-based and video-based telehealth visits both helped veterans with opioid addiction stay on buprenorphine medication to treat their opioid use disorder during the pandemic. The findings could inform telemedicine policy.

In a new study, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers tested more than 100 topical cannabidiol (CBD) products available online and at retail stores, and found significant evidence of inaccurate and misleading labeling of CBD content.

The new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease estimates that 1.34 billion people consumed harmful amounts of alcohol (1.03 billion males and 0.312 billion females) in 2020.

A study by Indiana University faculty found that despite COVID-19 pandemic challenges, those with substance use disorder were largely resilient and employed effective coping mechanisms.