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Addiction Editor's Picks

Parallels between decline in alcohol use and mortality rates in Russia

Since the early 2000s, Russia has seen significant declines in overall alcohol consumption, and a review published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol...

Exploring psychology’s role in responding to opioid addiction

The literature on addictive substances such as alcohol and tobacco has developed consistently over decades of study within the field of psychology, writes Bert...

Data shows e-cigarettes effective for stopping smoking – Economist

In the United States a sharp drop in cigarette smoking from 2013 to 2017 coincided with a steep increase in the use of e-cigarettes. In...

MDMA (ecstasy) treatment for alcoholism could reduce relapse

The first study looking into the use of MDMA – commonly known as ecstasy – to treat alcohol addiction has shown that the treatment is safe,...

Social media stress can lead to social media addiction

Social network users risk becoming more and more addicted to social media platforms even as they experience stress from their use, reports Lancaster University in the...

Why some people can’t stop running, according to sport psychology

Alex has a problem with running; he has become addicted to it, write Andrew Wood and Martin J Turner of Staffordshire University for The Conversation....

When quitting cigarettes, consider using more nicotine, not less

When delivered through cigarettes, nicotine is considered to be one of the most addictive substances on Earth. So it may seem odd to suggest that...

Asian nations in early tobacco epidemic – Study

Asian countries are in the early stages of a tobacco smoking epidemic with habits mirroring those of the United States from past decades, setting the...

Prison for forced addiction treatment. A parent’s ‘last resort’ ends in suicide

Robin Wallace thought years of working as a counselor in addiction treatment gave her a decent understanding of the system, reports Deborah Becker for NPR....

Young people at risk of addiction show differences in key brain region

Young adults at risk of developing problems with addiction show key differences in an important region of the brain, according to an international team...

Ecstasy users more empathetic than those who take other drugs

If you’ve ever seen someone in a club on MDMA – also known as ‘ecstasy’ or ‘molly’ – it may not surprise you to...

Studies underestimate effects of alcohol consumption on younger people

Studies of the health effects of alcohol consumption may underestimate the risks of imbibing, particularly for younger people, according to a US study. This...

JUUL raises nicotine levels in e-cigarettes, sparking ‘arms race’

Popular US e-cigarette manufacturer Juul is one of the fastest growing vaping companies around. It has been targeting youngsters and adolescents with flavoured e-cigarettes. The company has...

Vicious cycle of pain and substance abuse

Pain and substance use interact in a vicious cycle that can ultimately worsen and maintain both chronic pain and addiction, according to a research...

Women's hormones play role in drug addiction, higher relapse rates

Women’s hormonal cycles may not only make them more prone to drug addiction but also more affected by triggers that lead to relapse, a...

New data suggests nicotine while pregnant alters genes

The Akay Lab biomedical research team at the University of Houston reveals in the journal Nature Scientific Reports that a possible cure for addiction may be found by...

Trying to quit smoking? Research suggests higher levels of nicotine may help

Allowing smokers to determine their nicotine intake while they are trying to quit is likely to help them kick the habit, according to an...

Dental painkillers may put young people at risk of opioid addiction

Dentists who prescribe opioid painkillers to teenagers and young adults after pulling their wisdom teeth may be putting their patients at risk of addiction,...

Excessive social media use is comparable to drug addiction

Bad decision-making is a trait often associated with drug addicts and pathological gamblers, but what about people who excessively use social media? Michigan State...

E-cigarettes – Friend or Foe?

The health effects of ‘vaping’, or inhaling the aerosol generated by e-cigarettes, are largely unknown, writes Jenna Flogeras for Advanced Science News. Researchers from...

Smoke-free policies associated with lower blood pressure

Non-smokers who had access to smoke-free restaurants, bars and workplaces had lower systolic blood pressure readings than those who lived in areas without smoke-free...

Study finds that 'ecstasy' could help with PTSD treatment

The recreational drug known as ecstasy or molly may help people regain trust in others after being betrayed, suggests results of a controlled laboratory...

Online gaming addiction in men affects brain's impulse control

Researchers using functional MRI (fMRI) have found differences in the brains of men and women who are addicted to online gaming, according to a...

How LSD changes perception

LSD changes the communication patterns between regions of the brain, a study by researchers of the University of Zurich and Yale University shows. The study also...

One month of cannabis abstinence improves memory in adolescents, young adults

A US study has found that one month of abstaining from cannabis use resulted in measurable improvement in memory functions important for learning among adolescents and...

Cannabis addiction linked to altered connectivity in the brain’s striatum

New neuroimaging research published in Human Brain Mapping suggests that cannabis use disorder is associated with specific changes in the functional connectivity of the...

Traces of an ancient virus in our genes may play a role in addiction

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, our ancestors were infected by a retrovirus. Now, international researchers think that that virus' ancient genetic traces still...

Cure for cocaine addiction in reach, say scientists

A radical gene therapy for drug addiction has been shown to dampen down cravings for cocaine and protect against overdoses of the substance that...