A study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory demonstrated that drug addicted individuals who have a certain genetic makeup have lower gray matter density — and therefore fewer neurons — in areas of the brain that are essential for decision-making, self-control, and learning and memory. Nelly Alia-Klein, a study coauthor who is a Brookhaven Lab medical scientist, said, “This research shows that genes can influence the severity of addiction. The results suggest that addicted individuals with low MAOA [monoamine oxidase A] genotype may need a different kind of treatment than...

Drinking can be influenced by both personal and societal factors, including economic fluctuations, political instability, and social norms. These factors, in turn, can vary among countries and time periods, leading to different “drinking cultures.” A review of 31 peer-reviewed and published studies looked at birth-cohort and gender differences in alcohol consumption, alcohol disorders, and mortality. Analysis showed that people born after World War II are more likely to binge drink and develop alcohol use disorders (AUDs), and that the gender gap in alcohol problems is narrowing in many countries. Findings will be published in...

Binge drinking is prevalent among university students, especially in the United States. One brain structure particularly sensitive to alcohol’s neurotoxicity during development is the hippocampus, which plays a key role in learning and memory. A study of the association between binge drinking and declarative memory — a form of long-term memory — in university students has found a link between binge drinking and poorer verbal declarative memory. Results will be published in the August 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View. “In northern European...

He was the first patient of the day, dropped off at the emergency room by the police or a family member — a man in his 50s, unshaved, stumbling, engulfed in the pungent aroma of alcohol. When he blew into the breathalyzer’s strawlike tube, the readout was 0.18, more than twice the legal limit. “I get seizures,” he said, referring to the dangerous reaction some people experience when they abruptly stop drinking. Then, as if to prove it, he held out trembling hands. Each bore the nicks and scars of a hard-lived life. I looked at the beads of sweat on his brow, then down at his vital signs. Heart rate 120;blood pressure pushing...

People who think they can learn from their mistakes have a different brain reaction to errors than those who don’t think they can learn from their mistakes, according to a groundbreaking study by Michigan State University researchers. The study, which will appear in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, is the first to show a fundamental difference between these two groups. “This finding is exciting in that it suggests people who think they can learn from mistakes have brains that are more tuned to pick up on mistakes very quickly,” said Jason Moser, assistant professor of clinical psychology and lead researcher on...

Genetics, environment, and personality all contribute to your risk for alcoholism and drug addiction. There are many warning signs of addiction, including complaints from friends and family about your behavior. By Hedy Marks, MPH Medically reviewed by Pat F. Bass III, MD, MPH From cocaine to gambling, addiction takes many forms, but alcohol and drug dependency may be the most pervasive forms of addiction. Every year, alcoholism and drug addiction contribute to the deaths of more than 100,000 Americans.   Alcoholism and drug addiction are chronic conditions characterized by changes in the brain that cause a person to have an...

Researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have identified unhealthy substance use as a risk factor for not receiving all appropriate preventive health services. The findings, which currently appear in BMJ Open, identify unhealthy substance use as a barrier to completion of mammography screening and influenza vaccination. Cancer and influenza are among the leading causes of mortality in the United States. Influenza is preventable, in part, through vaccination, and mortality from cervical, breast and colorectal cancer can be reduced through routine screening. Nevertheless, many eligible U.S....

People with depression may turn to drugs or alcohol to medicate their pain.   Mood disorders like depression and substance abuse go together so frequently that doctors have coined a term for it: dual diagnosis. People who have suffered recent episodes of major depression have higher rates of alcoholism and drug addiction compared with the rest of the population, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. More than 21 percent of adults who experienced a depressive episode within the previous year engaged in substance abuse, compared with 8 percent of those not dealing with depression. But it isn’t always...

Young adults undergoing addiction treatment arrive ready and willing to make the personal changes that bring about recovery, but it’s the help and guidance received during treatment that build and sustain those changes, according to a longitudinal study published electronically and in press within the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. The study was conducted collaboratively by the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School and the Butler Center for Research at Hazelden.   “This study suggests that strong motivation to change may exist from the get-go among young adults with...

The researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Southern California have revealed that there is a link between increased cases of drug abuse and internet. They have also linked the growing problem of prescription drug abuse to high-speed internet. Goldman, the author of the study said, “our findings suggest that Internet growth may partly explain the increase in prescription drug abuse, since it is well known that these drugs are easily available online”. It has come to light that the growing number of online pharmacies has led to rise in prescription narcotic painkiller abuse. These internet pharmacies are in...