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Based on the strong evidence of effectiveness, "We should not limit or impede the use and expansion of buprenorphine therapy," write Drs. Xiaofan Li, Daryl Shorter, and Thomas Kosten, of the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas. They propose specific strategies to promote buprenorphine use while ensuring quality of care and reducing the risk of diversion and abuse. Focus on Expanding Buprenorphine Use 'Safely and Effectively' A "partial agonist" of the μ-opioid receptor in the brain, buprenorphine has similar actions to other opioids, but with less potential for abuse and a more favorable safety profile. Because it reduces demand for opioids, buprenorphine therapy is an effective deterrence strategy to combat opioid abuse. The authors cite studies suggesting that access to buprenorphine therapy can sharply reduce heroin mortality--in...

"Loperamide's accessibility, low cost, over-the-counter legal status and lack of social stigma all contribute to its potential for abuse," said lead study author William Eggleston, PharmD, of the Upstate New York Poison Center, in Syracuse, New York. "People looking for either self-treatment of withdrawal symptoms or euphoria are overdosing on loperamide with sometimes deadly consequences. Loperamide is safe in therapeutic doses but extremely dangerous in high doses." The paper outlines two case studies of patients with histories of substance abuse who attempted to self-treat opioid addictions with massive doses of loperamide. Both patients overdosed and emergency medical services were called. The patients were treated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation, naloxone and standard Advanced Cardiac Life Support. Both patients died. Oral loperamide abuse postings to web-based forums increased 10-fold between 2010 and 2011. A majority of user-generated content per...

Researchers from the Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit ( MRC IEU ) at the University of Bristol investigated how the same type of cells as those found in the arteries of the heart, known as human coronary artery endothelial cells ( HCAEC ), responded when they were exposed to both e-cigarette aerosol and conventional cigarette smoke. Their results were published in the journal  Drug and Alcohol Dependence . Professor Marcus Munafò, who was part of the study team, said: "The past few years have seen a rapid growth in the use of e-cigarettes, which deliver nicotine via inhaled aerosol. It's thought that e-cigarettes are unlikely to be as harmful as conventional cigarettes, but little data exists to show their relative harms, or the long term effects of e-cigarette use. Therefore, research into these biological effects is critical. Our study looked at the stress response in heart cells in response to cigarette smoke and e-cigarette aerosol." The...

The research, led by a social policy expert at the University of Kent, also found that people who developed drinking problems were less satisfied with life. Although the effect of alcohol on happiness is often discussed during debates about alcohol policy and regulation, it has rarely been the subject of serious academic study. Instead, governments have simply used the economist assumption that everyone always acts rationally and in their best interests -- even when they are drunk or addicted to alcohol. The study considered how people's happiness and drinking change alongside each other over a period of time. The authors, Dr Ben Baumberg Geiger of the University's School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, and Dr George MacKerron of the University of Sussex , made use of both an iPhone-based app and a traditional cohort study to generate the findings. The results suggested that, after making allowances for other factors such as illness that can effect well...

Respondents who were high at the time of survey were also more likely to agree that "It is OK to drive a little bit stoned," that they might drive high "In certain situations" and that they would not get caught driving while high. "When people are sober, most acknowledge they can't safely drive under the influence of alcohol or marijuana. The problem is, being intoxicated affects our perceptions of risk," said Jane Allen, research analyst at RTI and co-author of the study. "The public health community would do well to address this in campaign planning and development." This study, published in Health Education Research, suggests that campaigns may benefit from understanding how messaging functions within the context of intoxication . A useful area for future research would be to assess whether some messages -- including both content and message characteristics -- are more memorable or more persuasive than others among those who are high...

Obesity is often attributed to an addiction to food and many people believe themselves to be "food addicts." However, until now no studies have looked at whether believing oneself to be a food addict influences how much we eat. Helen Ruddock and colleagues from the University's Institute of Psychology , Health and Society examined the impact of changing participants' personal food addiction beliefs on eating behaviour. Bogus feedback In two separate studies, women completed a series of computer tasks about food. On completion, they were given bogus feedback on their performance which indicated that they had either high-, low-, or average-levels of food addiction. Their intake of unhealthy foods (chocolate and crisps) was then measured in a taste test. Participants who were told they scored highly in food addiction went on to consume fewer calories than those who were told they had a low or average score. Furthermore, participants who were told they scored ...