Restarting smoking after quitting is a problem that plagues those trying to kick the habit. Research into nicotine addiction and withdrawal in a mouse model is helping scientists understand the biological basis for the urge to restart. They have found that the signaling molecule dopamine, which is involved in feelings of reward, plays a key… [Continue Reading]
Dopamine Levels Involved in Withdrawal Symptoms and Relapse After Quitting Smoking
February 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Quitting Smoking Improves Quality of Life
December 13, 2011 By 1 Comment
Quitting smoking may a difficult process, but those who are successful have a significantly higher quality of life in the long-term, new research reports. Those who have quit have more positive evaluations of their satisfaction with life, health, stress levels, and emotions of those who still smoke. Life without cigarettes is not all doom and… [Continue Reading]
Drug Improves Treatment Success for Addiction to Painkillers
November 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A new study examining the drug Suboxone has found that it can help people beat their addiction to prescription opioid painkillers. According to researchers, approximately half of the addicts examined in the study were helped by the drug. Individuals addicted to prescription painkillers are more likely to succeed in treatment with the aid of the… [Continue Reading]
Amphetamine Use in Teens Causes Permanent Changes in Behavior
November 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A new study suggests that teens using amphetamines may be causing permanent changes to their brain and behavior. The research, performed in a rat model or addiction, showed that chronic amphetamine use caused changes in brain chemistry and and increase in risky behaviors that were still present in adulthood. Amphetamine use in adolescence can cause… [Continue Reading]
Individual Differences in Addictive Behavior Predicted by Response to Caffeine
October 10, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Why some people have much different responses to drugs is a key issue in addiction research. A new study examining this problem has found that people have very different responses even to a mild drug, caffeine, and show a different likelihood of addictive-like behavior: choosing to consume additional caffeine. Researchers say those with a propensity… [Continue Reading]
Pathway That Regulates Addiction Identified
August 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Understanding how the brain responds to rewards and causes feelings of pleasure is essential to understand how the process of addiction works, when harmful rewarding stimuli, such as drugs, change the normal system. New research on the cells of the brain linked to rewarding feelings has discovered a new role for a specific signaling pathway… [Continue Reading]
Protein Discovered to Regulate Rewarding Feelings of Nicotine
August 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A protein that regulates the reward effect of nicotine has been identified in recently published research. The protein binds nicotine and sends a signal to the brain. Mice generated that lack the protein in a certain subtype of brain cells show reduced addictive behaviors. Understanding the molecular pathways involved in addiction could lead to the… [Continue Reading]
Doctors Raise Questions about Electronic Cigarette Safety and Regulation
July 26, 2011 By 2 Comments
Alternate methods of delivering nicotine, like gum and the patch, have been used to help smokers kick the habit. Doctors, however, are raising questions about electronic cigarettes, saying they haven’t been adequately tested for safety and can be used illicitly for other drugs. Devices marketed as “electronic cigarettes” are in reality crude drug delivery systems… [Continue Reading]
Drug Developed that Blocks Heroin’s Effect on the Brain
July 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In what could be a major advance in the treatment of addiction, a vaccine has been developed that blocks the effect of heroin on the brain, preventing the addictive high. The vaccine causes the body to make an antibody that blocks the function of heroin and its metabolites, which also have psychogenic effects. Only tested… [Continue Reading]
Stress Changes Response to Alcohol, and Alcohol Changes Response to Stress
July 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
A new study shows that the link between stress and drinking behavior is more complex than previously realized. In a careful study of the body’s reaction to stress and alcohol, researchers have found that while stress changes the body’s response to alcohol, which may precipitate addictive behavior, alcohol consumption also changes the body’s reaction to… [Continue Reading]