Addiction

Data corresponding with DSM-IV symptoms were gathered around ages 18, 21, and 23 years and the primary outcome was depression at age 24.

The American Heart Association has released a new scientific statement on the current science on the health effects of e-cigarette use and calls for more studies regarding their long-term impact.

A Lynchburg-based clinic was able to cure hepatitis C in all follow-through patients with substance abuse who underwent a comprehensive care plan over 8 weeks.

The analysis of 500+ patients with ADHD shows no statistically significant evidence linking stimulant treatment to later substance use, indicating that stimulant medication did not increase or decrease the risk of substance use in adolescence or adulthood.

The data provide promising results, yielding a smoking abstinence rate of 26.4% in the intervention group at 18 months.

Reports from the intervention group show decreased alcohol-related problems, mediated by the change in insomnia severity following treatment.

Patients with comorbid major depressive disorder were more likely to have a diagnoses of tobacco, alcohol, opioid, cannabis, stimulants, hallucinogens, sedatives-hypnotics, or anxiolytic use disorders compared to patients with only systemic lupus erythematous.

The results show 26.3% of patients in the daily cannabis use only group endorsed 2 or more items on the symptom checklist, consistent with DSM-5 SUD, compared to 30.2% of the other drug use group and 51.8% of the daily cannabis and other drug use group.

A prospective cohort analysis of Denmark residents suggests correlation between cannabis overuse and risk of psychiatric conditions.

Individuals who sought outpatient mental health and addiction services were generally younger, proportionately more female, more likely to have a psychiatric comorbidity, and more likely to have had their index alcohol-related hospitalization attributed to than to other diagnoses such as harmful alcohol use or alcoholic liver disease.

Buprenorphine is available either in a weekly injection formulation and a monthly formulation for patients already being treated with buprenorphine.

The petition with the US DEA is aiming to remove dual orexin receptor antagonist medications from the Controlled Substances Act due to negligible potential for abuse.

The proportion of AUD treatment engagement did not differ between the 2 time periods, but intervention increased intermediate outcomes, including screening, new AUD diagnosis, and treatment initiation.

Future research could explore the factors contributing to this disparity and identify effective interventions to reduce tobacco use in this population.

Personalized text message-based smoking cessation intervention was found to be more effective than the non-personalized text message approach, especially among smokers with low nicotine dependence and strong quitting intention.

A study examining the COVID-19 pandemic finds that substance use declined substantially across nearly all categories in 2018-2019 vs 2020 among youth and young adults.

It wasn't the unavailability of varenicline, but the inaccessibility, that perpetuated the reduced prevalence of prescriptions. Investigators speculated that patient, clinician awareness and concerns related to nitrosamine were contributing factors.

E-cigarettes are marketed as an alternative to tobacco, though discussion within the research community emphasizes the inconsistencies in evidence regarding health and addiction among users.

Pregnant individuals with opioid use disorder are commonly treated with methadone.

The receipt of DAA treatment within 1 year was 7% for patients entering the cohort in 2014, compared to 33% in 2015, 53% in 2016, and 56% in 2017.

A retrospective analysis of controlled drug dispensation shows conflicting rates of prescriptions to teenagers and young adults.

CDC investigators stated that the expansion of telehealth strategies is “urgently needed” to provide medications for opioid use disorder because it could increase retention in care and improve outcomes for OUD.

The mean daily alcohol consumption was also lower in the psilocybin group compared to the placebo group.

Reductions in prescribed benzodiazepines were especially noted in continuing prescriptions.

New comparative effectiveness data go against CDC recommendations for tapering or abruptly ending long-term opioid prescription.

After March 2020, overdose deaths not involving methadone continued to increase whereas methadone-involved overdose deaths remained stable.

According to a new report from the CDC, as fatal drug overdoses increase across the board, the Black and Indigenous communities represent a significantly greater death rates.

Data suggest continued prescribing, not initial prescribing, is linked to opioid addiction risk among exposed family members.

Buprenorphine has shown to be effective and has the potential for widespread use to address the opioid epidemic. A subset of individuals with OUD have been acquiring it without a prescription.

An Ohio State researcher discusses a new medical center education program for navigating addiction risk in pain patients.