Strong cravings for alcohol can be sparked by the mere sight, smell and taste of a person’s favorite drink. Responses to such cues that are associated with the positive effects of drinking are a lead cause of relapse in abstinent alcoholics. Using a behavioral animal model, researchers of a new study, scheduled for publication in….
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The Internet is where we spend more and more of our time. But for a growing number of people, it’s an out-of-control habit instead of a necessary part of life. Internet addiction — an online-related compulsive behavior that interferes with normal living and causes severe stress on family, friends, loved ones and work — is….
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Gambling addiction can leave a person’s life in shambles, but there is a road to recovery. Both nationally and locally, there are support groups, treatment options and assessment tools to help people get through gambling problems, and keep them away from gambling. The first step, though, is finding out if a person is a problem….
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One of the toughest steps for an alcoholic is to shake off the denial. It can fester for years until one day he realizes he’s lost — or is on the verge of losing — his family, his job, even his life. So he takes the plunge and starts to seek a path to recovery…..
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Punitive sentences totalling 85 years, which were passed down last week on three English gang members, are unlikely to stem the tide of transatlantic drug shipments. As he fielded calls last week from people eager to discuss the record prison sentences handed down to four drug smugglers over the €440 million haul of cocaine recovered….
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The Linwood Group today revealed the five most important things to look for when choosing an alcohol rehab clinic. Deciding to seek treatment for alcohol dependency may be one of most courageous and life-changing steps someone will ever take. But not all alcohol rehabilitation programmes are created equal – in fact, they vary a good….
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The effects of fetal alcohol exposure may be more profound than researchers hoped. Results of a new study reveal the prenatal damage to peptides in the fetal brain may endure into adulthood despite environmental enrichment provided in a child’s early years. Neurotrophins — a family of peptides produced in the nervous system — are critical….
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Nova Scotia still has a drinking problem. People in the province still drive drunk, still go on benders at bars, still drink underage and some drink while pregnant. To combat this, last August the provincial Department of Health Promotion and Protection launched a strategy called Changing the Culture of Alcohol Use in Nova Scotia. Almost….
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A study in this month’s Anesthesiology found evidence that alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are frequently overlooked in patients undergoing surgery ― but also touts a very simple and effective method to identify patients who may be at risk for alcohol-related perioperative complications. In the AUD study, anesthesiologist Claudia D. Spies, M.D., and her research group….
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The term ‘heroin addiction’ conjures up images of the down and out, malnourished and skeletal, banging up drugs in a backdrop of squalor with a dirty syringe full of god knows what; a tatty piece of cord-turned-tourniquet, clenched between the teeth with its distal end inflating the last surviving veins. An arm ravaged by years….
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