June 2009

Some Northern Ireland teenagers are experimenting with cocaine. Researchers found that 7.5% of young people who took part in the Belfast Youth Development Survey had tried cocaine at least once by the age of 16.

Frequent binge drinking — having six or more alcoholic drinks at one occasion, at lease once a week — by Korean men was associated with a dramatic increase in hemorrhagic stroke. It is unclear whether the results can be generalized to other populations.

The histamine-3 receptor is important in terms of alcohol-related behavior, and a drug affecting that receptor may have qualities that alter alcohol-related behavior.

Alcohol’s inebriating effects are familiar to almost everyone. But the molecular details of alcohol’s impact on brain activity remain a mystery. A new study brings us closer to understanding how alcohol alters the way brain cells work.

A variation in a gene that is active in the central nervous system is associated with increased risk for obesity, according to a new study. The research adds to evidence that genes influence appetite and that the brain plays a key role in obesity.

Despite recent declines in cigarette use in the US, nicotine dependence has remained steady among adults and has actually increased among some groups. The finding suggests that public health initiatives have been far more successful in preventing Americans from taking up smoking than in persuading hardcore smokers to stop.

Worldwide, one in 25 deaths are directly attributable to alcohol consumption. This rise since 2000 is mainly due to increases in the number of women drinking.

Just one drink can quickly go to your head. Researchers tested this well-known adage. Only six minutes after consuming an amount of alcohol equivalent to three glasses of beer or two glasses of wine, leading to a blood alcohol level of 0.05 to 0.06 percent, changes have already taken place in the brain cells, as the scientists have now shown using magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Childhood physical abuse is associated with elevated rates of cancer in adulthood, according to a new study.

According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, the following are safety tips for you, your family and friends to prevent poisoning:

1. Follow directions on the label when you give or take medicines.  Read all warning labels.  Some medicines are not ok to take with alcohol.
2. Keep medications in their original bottles or containers.
3. Never share or sell your prescription drugs.
4. Keep opioid pain medications, such as methadone and oxycodone, in a safe place that can only be reached by people who take or give them.
5. Be careful when you dispose of drugs that can be abused, such as opioid pain medication and psychotherapeutic drugs.  Drug users may look in the trash for them.  Instead, ask your pharmacist if he or she can take back old or expired medicines as well as any that you don’t need (EPA 2006).