Keeping you in-the-know about addiction and recovery.
Mental Health Drugs Leading Cause of Teen and Young Adult Overdoses
Reviewed by: gbaumbach According to a study recently published in the journal Pediatrics by researchers from Rutgers University, benzodiazepines (BZD), like Xanax, or psychostimulants, like Adderall, drugs commonly prescribed to treat mental health issues, are increasingly the cause of overdoses among teens and young adults. How big is the problem?
Alcohol Abuse and Suicide Risk
Reviewed by: gbaumbach A new study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry finds those suffering from alcohol abuse syndrome have a significantly higher risk of suicide. How much higher? Fifty percent. A research team from the Department of Population Health in New Zealand reached this conclusion
Adolescents and Life Lost to Opioids
Reviewed by: gbaumbach Researchers at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine have just published a study calculating the years of life lost in years by young people who have died from a drug overdose. The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, looked at 3,296 teens ages 10-19
Fentanyl Death of Seventh Grader Leads to Calls for Change
Reviewed by: gbaumbach In early January 2022, a 13-year-old seventh-grader in Hartford, Connecticut, died from a fentanyl overdose. Some 40 bags of fentanyl were later found at the school. His death is being blamed in part on the fact that school officials in Hartford are poorly trained to identify the
Surprising New Data on Opioid Abuse in America
Reviewed by: gbaumbach It has long been reported that the problem of opioid abuse is an equal opportunity employer. It strikes the rich and the not so rich, those who are white and those of color, the well educated and the not so well educated. It also strikes the young
Can Artificial Intelligence Predict the Next Dangerous Street Drug?
Reviewed by: gbaumbach Addiction specialists, medical providers, and law enforcement are constantly on the lookout for the next new and dangerous designer drug. They maintain this vigilance, hoping that catching it soon after its release onto the streets will save lives. Researchers at the University of Alberta are trying to
Intoxicated Driving… Underestimating How Drunk We Are
Reviewed by: gbaumbach Drunk driving accounts for close to 30% of all fatal car accidents in the U.S. Researchers at Cambridge University in the U.K. recently sought to understand why so many people drive when intoxicated. Could it be that humans are generally unable to determine their level of intoxication
Disturbing New Data on COVID and Alcohol Consumption
Reviewed by: gbaumbach It’s well documented that alcohol consumption in the U.S. jumped by more than 20% in 2020, driven in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers at Mass General have just published research in the journal Hepatology[i] that looks at the long-term health consequences of that single-year increase.
Childhood Trauma and Opioid Abuse
Reviewed by: gbaumbach Research has pointed to the connection between opioid abuse and childhood trauma for some time. One study, published in 2009 in the Journal of Addictive Diseases found that among those seeking treatment for opioid abuse (a consecutive sample of 113 participants) “20.4% reported having experienced sexual abuse,
Alcohol’s Impact on the Human Fetuses Examined
Reviewed by: gbaumbach For years, medical professionals have been aware of the negative impacts of alcohol consumption during pregnancy on childhood development. Now researchers from the Medical University of Vienna have released data from an MRI study of the brains of fetuses whose mothers admitted to consuming alcohol while pregnant.
Has the Availability of Naloxone Changed Perceptions of Opioid Dangers?
Reviewed by: gbaumbach Naloxone is a drug that, when used appropriately, can save lives in instances of an opioid overdose. When given to someone suffering an overdose, it quickly restores normal breathing in those whose breathing has slowed or stopped. Is it so effective that it might make opioid use
Stunning and Tragic
Reviewed by: gbaumbach One hundred thousand three hundred six (100,306) people in the United States died of drug overdoses between April 2020 and April 2021. 100,306 That’s 275 people every single day. The rate of overdose deaths in America is now four times higher than any other country per 100,000