October 31st, 2013
Staying Safe This Halloween
October is the fourth-booziest month of the year, following the libation-heavy holidays of July, November, and December. Of course, the vast majority of October’s alcohol consumption falls on Halloween and its surrounding weekend nights, when many teens and adults venture out for tricks ...
May 2nd, 2013
Sugar High: Latest CDCP Report Warns Us To Slow Our Jelly Roll
The latest report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows alarming dietary behavior among young Americans. Though the CDCP advises us to limit our total intake of added sugars, fats and other “discretionary calories” to between 5% and 15% of our daily calories, that ...
April 18th, 2013
Life on the Pharm: Antibiotic Abuse Leads to Disconcerting Data at the Market
The National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) has discovered shocking rates of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in meats found in supermarkets across the US. In 2011, federal researchers tested 480 samples each of ground beef, ground turkey, pork chops, and chicken breasts, wings ...
April 12th, 2013
Harm Reduction: A New Cure For Alcoholism?
In a recent study published in Biological Psychiatry, a potential new treatment for alcoholism called nalmefene was found to be effective and safe for reducing alcohol consumption in alcohol-dependent individuals. Unlike most addiction treatments, the goal of nalmefene is not total abstinence, ...
September 11th, 2012
Internet Addiction is Genetic, They Say…
Last week a German study at the University of Bonn revealed a genetic variation “essential” to the formation of internet addiction therapies. This gene, CHRNA4, is also linked to nicotine addiction and the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors associated with the brain’s reward pathways. Now ...
August 14th, 2012
OxyContin Reformulation Fails to Curb Abuse
In an attempt to counter the sharp increases in opiate painkiller abuse, researchers came out with a new formulation of OxyContin in August 2010 that’s less soluble and harder to crush. OxyContin would then be more difficult to inject and inhale, the two most popular methods of administration ...
July 21st, 2011
Illegal Drug Use Statistics
A national survey conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration revealed Alaska to be the most drug-loving state, with Utah and Iowa ranking as the most abstinent. 11.5% of Alaska residents ages 12 and older used marijuana in the last month and 13.5% had used some ...
March 25th, 2011
More Ecstasy-Users Checked Into Hospitals
According to a recent study published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, more people have been checked into Hospital Emergency Rooms in recent years due to complications from MDMA, otherwise known as Ecstasy. The rate of such incidents have been climbing at a ...
