Of Mice and Methamphetamine
Diabetes drug being tested for addiction.
It’s a mouthful: peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (PPAR-gamma).
Peroxisomes are specialized subunits inside cells that help metabolize various substances, including fatty acids and certain toxins. A blockbuster member of this drug family—Avandia—is a much disputed but immensely lucrative diabetes medicine that may cause heart failure.
(Partial Agonist Ppar Gamma Cocrystal)———> [...]
Alcohol: The Genetic Puzzle (3 of 3)
What about other drugs?
Do the same genetic relationships demonstrated in the alcohol adoption studies prove true for other drugs? Was it conceivable that heroin addiction or cigarette smoking could be traits (disorders, really) that men and women inherited?
“There have been a number of animal studies showing genetic differences in sensitivity to nicotine,” said Dr. [...]
Alcoholism: The Genetic Puzzle
Fathers and Sons.
The hunt for genetic influences on alcoholism derives largely from the work of Dr. Donald W. Goodwin, chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Starting in the early 1970s, Dr. Goodwin and co-workers, using computer technology and a detailed database of Scandinavian health records, scrutinized the results [...]
Alcoholism: The Genetic Puzzle (Cont.)
Type 1s and Type 2s
The alcoholics in the Cloninger-Bohman studies fell into two distinct categories. Type 1, the more common form, developed gradually, later in life, and did not necessarily require structured intervention. Type 1 alcoholic men did not always experience the dramatic declines in health and personal circumstances so characteristic of acute alcoholism. These [...]
The Nucleus Accumbens
Final destination for addictive drugs.
The release of dopamine and serotonin in the nucleus accumbens lies at the root of active drug addiction. The pattern of neural firing that results from this surge of neurotransmitters is the “high.” It is the chemical essence of what it means to be addicted. Part of the medial forebrain bundle [...]
A Seaside Story of Love and Junkies
Documentary airs today on VBS.TV
A reminder that drug addiction is always, at bottom, about real people in the real world: The online video service VBS.TV is offering the first of a 6-part documentary on the underreported heroin epidemic in South Wales.
“Swansea Love Story,” according to its promoters, “follows the lives of a community of [...]
Rethinking the Patch
Quitters do better on 6-month regimen.
It may sound like dream propaganda for the makers of nicotine patches. And it is. Moreover, at least one of the study authors has worked in the past as a consultant for GlaxoSmithKline, maker of Nicoderm CQ, one of the best-selling brands of transdermal nicotine patches.
So there is every reason [...]
The Three-Headed Dragon
A symbol of need.
Getting off drugs, or learning to stop drinking, is very often easier than staying off them. As Mark Twain remarked about tobacco, quitting was easy—he’d done it dozens of times. Relapse, the biological imperative, will have its way with most of those abstaining for the first time. Addiction is a psychological disorder [...]
The Low Cost of Drinking
Does cheap liquor encourage excess?
Last year, Sir Liam Donaldson, the Chief Medical Officer in England, touched off a storm of controversy with his call for a government-mandated minimum pricing schedule for the sale of alcohol.
Donaldson’s pricing plan would set a minimum of 50p per unit of alcohol, or roughly 80 cents. This floor on [...]
FAQ about Drug Testing Posted By : Frank Shepard
Drug testing is the process of screening an individual for traces of past drug use, both legal and illegal. Before using your own home drug testing kit on your child or employee, have all your questions answered with the following frequently asked questions about drug testing.