A High Old Time in Rhode Island
Feds release annual drug numbers.
[Map: Illicit drug use other than marijuana in the past month among people aged 12 or older based on 2007-2008 figures.]→
It’s time again for the government’s annual state-by-state survey of drug use in America. Assembled by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the yearly numbers are argued over [...]
Choline for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders?
Common supplement may reduce cell death in pregnancies.
A common dietary supplement markedly decreases defects in the skull and brain formation of lab mice born to mothers exposed to alcohol, say researchers at the Medical College of Georgia.
Among the grisly list of potential effects caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy, one involves a relatively obscure [...]
Noteworthy Recent Posts on Drugs and the Brain
A few good articles.
Teasing Out the Effects of Environment on the Brain.
By Moheb Costandi
The Dana Foundation
Antidepressants: Are They Effective or Just a Placebo?
By Maia Szalavitz
Time Magazine
SSRIs and Suicide.
By Neuroskeptic
Neuroskeptic blog
Cannabis and mental health – two new studies give the “wrong” results!
UKCIA Newsblog
Under the Microscope: How does caffeine work?
By Professor Andrew Smith.
UK Independent
Photo Credit: http://degweb.org/
Triple Play for Addicts
Why cigarettes, alcohol and gambling are such a perfect fit.
The newer views of addiction as an organic brain disorder cast strong doubt on the longstanding assumption that different kinds of people become addicted to different kinds of drugs. By 1998, the Archives of General Psychiatry had already flatly stated the reverse: “There is no definitive [...]
Gambling and Parkinson’s Disease
An addendum to the previous post.
Today, a group of Australians taking medications for Parkinson’s Disease have filed a class action suit against makers of the drugs, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Australian newspaper said that “The group includes people who sustained losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars and were involved [...]
X-ed Out.
Another look at MDMA and serotonin.
A study by Canada’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has confirmed earlier findings that chronic users of ecstasy (MDMA) have abnormally low levels of serotonin transporter molecules in the cerebral cortex.
While a decade of research on the effects of ecstasy on brain serotonin has been controversial and [...]
Life After Cigarettes: Book Review
Why Women Smoke.
Women are different from men. Well, maybe you already knew that. But did you know that women smoke differently than men, and quit smoking differently than men?
Dr. Joseph Califano, the U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Jimmy Carter, once said that even though he gained thirty pounds when he [...]
Vicodin - Abuse and Effects Posted By : James Foster
Vicodin is a combination of acetaminophen, and hydrocodone in a tablet form. It is a painkiller used to get relief from moderate to severe pain. According to National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2007, approximately 50 million Americans of age 12 or older abused painkillers at least once in 2006 - 07. Physical consequences [...]
Symptoms of Various Drugs Abuse Posted By : James Foster
Not all the drugs possess potential risks when abused for the first time. The impact of drugs on the brain of the abused makes the addicted more craving for frequent and high doses of the drug. It is then that the abused starts experiencing potentially harmful side effects of the drug.
Myths About Teen Prescription Drug Abuse Posted By : James Foster
The teenage years are times of major transition. Teenage offers an exciting, new, independent life for many kids. They can be vulnerable to many risky behaviors such as abusing prescription drugs. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), about 1.9 million youth aged 12 to 17 years abused prescription drugs in 2008. Abuse [...]