November, 2009
Tracing the Pattern of Drug Use to Drug Dependence
What makes the difference between a casual drink and alcohol dependence? How do you know when someone goes from trying marijuana now and then to having a serious abuse problem? Scientists still do not know how all of the factors involved in substance abuse work together, but a series of studies provides insight into how age plays a factor in going from using a substance to abusing it.
Three studies provide related information with a glimpse at the patterns of drug abuse. In 1994, Anthony, Warner and Kessler provided information showing probabilities for drug use and drug dependence. A 2002 study by Wagner and Anthony compared the time difference between a first experimentation with a drug or alcohol and the progression to drug dependence. In 2007 Wagner & Anthony explored the gender differences in these patterns. All three studies used data from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) from 1990-1992.
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Diet Can Lead to Depression
The everyday diet can make a tremendous impact on a person’s well-being. Sure, the food a person chooses to ingest can play a part in their physical health, but new research is showing it also plays a role in their mental health as well.
According to a piece in Psych Central, a well-rounded, healthy diet may protect against depression in middle-aged people. This finding is part of a study conducted by researchers at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London (UCL), UK and the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), University of Montpellier, France.
Turn the Lights Out!
Those whose chosen method of relaxation is late-night TV may want to turn in their remotes. Recent research shows that too much light at night can lead to symptoms of depression.
The research was presented October 21 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago and will appear in the December 28 edition of the journal of Behavioural Brain Research.
The researchers found that mice exposed to light 24 hours a day showed more depressive symptoms than mice with a normal light-dark cycle. Mice that lived in constant light but that had the ability to escape to a dark opaque tube showed less evidence of depressive symptoms.
Study Finds Use of Antidepressants with ECT Reduces Memory Loss
Severe depression is an issue that affects millions of people, whether they have the disease or love someone who is suffering from it. As a result, scientists continue to dedicate time to studying the impact that depression has on its victims and how best to treat it.
According to a recent Science Daily report the combination of antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) produces better results in trying to reduce symptoms of severe depression than using ECT alone. At the same time, this method also causes less memory loss.
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Depression as Deadly as Smoking, New Study Finds
A study has found that depression is as much of a risk factor for mortality as smoking, according to researchers at the University of Bergen, Norway, and the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King’s College London.
Utilizing a unique link between a survey of more than 60,000 people and a comprehensive mortality database, the researchers found that over the four years following the survey, the mortality risk was increased to a similar extent in people who were depressed as in people who were smokers.
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Eating Licorice While Pregnant May Affect Child’s IQ and Behavior
A study has shown that expectant mothers who eat excessive quantities of licorice during pregnancy could adversely affect their child’s intelligence and behavior.
The study of eight-year-old children whose mothers ate large amounts of licorice when pregnant found that they did not perform as well as other youngsters on cognitive tests.
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How Sex Addiction Impacts Partners
When one partner in a marriage or relationship is a sexual addict, both partners suffer as a result. The extent to which each partner is impacted by the sexual compulsivity or addiction varies, depending on the type of addiction, how long it has been present, whether it has progressed to more blatant and potentially serious behavior, whether or not there are children in the family, if there are multiple addictions, and other factors. If the partner has a sexual addiction, it is already enough to seriously disrupt the partnership or family unit. Without treatment, the sexual addict will only get worse. So, too, will the relationship.
Drunken Fruit Flies Provide Insight into Alcohol Tolerance
Fruit flies are more than just the pesky bugs that appear in later summer and seem to want to swarm your kitchen. Now, researchers at North Carolina State and Boston universities are using these pests to identify entire networks of genes – which are also present in humans – that play a vital role in alcohol drinking behavior.
Science Daily recently posted a release that examined this study, which provides a crucial explanation of why some people seem to tolerate alcohol better than others. The study also provided a potential target for drugs aimed at preventing or eliminating alcoholism. The discovery helps to shine light on many of the negative side effects of drinking.
“Translational studies, like this one, in which discoveries from model organisms can be applied to insights in human biology, can make us understand the balance between nature and nurture, why we behave the way we do, for better or worse, and what makes us tick,” said Robert Anholt, a Professor of Biology and Genetics at North Carolina State University, Director of the W. M. Keck Center for Behavioral Biology.
To conduct the study, Anholt and his colleagues measured the amount of time it took for the fruit flies to lose postural control after exposure to alcohol. The changes in the expressions of the fliers’ genes were also recorded at the same time. Through statistical analysis, the scientists were able to pinpoint specific genes that played a crucial role in adaptation relating to alcohol exposure.
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Common Reasons Why Those Who Need Treatment Don’t Get It
When you see someone on the street, passed out, clutching a bottle in a paper bag – whether it’s L.A. or Cleveland, New York or Topeka, Dallas or St. Paul – you wonder why they don’t just get help. Ditto the reaction to the co-worker who keeps embarrassing himself at office parties, the constant drunk at bars, the relative who ruins every family gathering, or the loved one on their second or third DUI. Chances are you know someone with a drug and/or alcohol problem, or someone who also has a mental health issue. Surely, you think, this person would want to get treatment. In all these scenarios, what are the reasons why people who need treatment don’t get it?
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Federal Stimulus Grant to Study Anti-Nicotine Vaccine
An American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant of 10-million dollars funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse was awarded to Nabi Biopharmaceuticals for the first pivotal phase II trial of NicVAX, a vaccine that may help people quit smoking and prevent relapse.
NicVAX was given fast-track designation by the United States Food and Drug Administration and has passed initial regularly hurdles. Patients participating in the trial will receive six shots each month. Some earlier results indicated that smokers who were given the vaccine had a higher chance of quitting and were able to stay quit longer than those who were given a placebo.
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