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The study reveals a significant gap between the number of local, pregnant mothers who report smoking during pregnancy and the number who test positive for nicotine exposure. "This is extremely important new information for us as we work to better understand risk factors for preterm birth," said Jim Greenberg, MD, director of the Perinatal Institute at Cincinnati Children's and senior author of the study. "We have long suspected that smoking status during pregnancy is under-reported, but now we know just how many women struggle to quit smoking when they are pregnant." The study, published online in the  Journal of Perinatology , detected high-level nicotine exposure for 16.5 percent of women in the study and low-level exposure for an additional 7.5 percent. Only 8.6 percent, however, admitted to using cigarettes. The study suggests that tools researchers use to estimate nicotine use do not accurately capture all means of nicotine exposure, including e-cigar...

The information counsel that no less than a number of the teenagers who're vaping wouldn't have smoked cigarettes. Credit score: USC Youngsters's Well being Research (https://healthstudy.usc.edu/) A brand new USC research debunks the favored perception that digital cigarettes are merely an alternative choice to cigarettes amongst teenagers. As a substitute, the research means that some teenagers who by no means would have smoked cigarettes at the moment are vaping. E-cigarettes, which entered the U.S. market in 2007, vaporize liquids which will or might not include nicotine. In 2011, about 1.5 p.c of excessive schoolers had vaped up to now 30 days, in line with the Nationwide Youth Tobacco Survey. 4 years later, that quantity skyrocketed to 16 p.c. A USC research of 5,490 highschool juniors and seniors reveals tobacco use amongst teenagers in Southern California is on the rise. In 2014, about 14 p.c of 12th-graders mentioned they'd both smoked ...

The researchers point out in a commentary published in  Annals of Family Medicine  that existing treatments are more effective than e-cigarettes to help people quit smoking, there are professional ethics concerns about providers who recommend them, and there is no strong evidence that e-cigarettes are safe. "Providers should not routinely recommend e-cigarettes to patients until we have far more data on their safety and effectiveness compared to established, FDA -approved medications," said Adam O. Goldstein, MD, MPH, a UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center member and professor in the UNC School of Medicine. "There are very few therapeutic devices that we recommend that aren't regulated, that have potential and real side effects, and that are addictive. There are safer and more effective smoking cessation products for the same condition." The researchers described notable safety and health concerns about e-cigarettes. Batteries inside e-cigarettes hav...

The study, "Sex Differences in Smoking Cessation Pharmacotherapy Comparative Efficacy: A Network Meta-analysis," which reviewed and analyzed evidence from over 14,000 cigarette smokers participating in 28 clinical trials for nicotine patch, varenicline and bupropion, found that across the trials women who were given varenicline were much more likely to quit smoking than women who were given nicotine patch or bupropion. By contrast, among men there were no differences in the likelihood of successfully quitting smoking when given varenicline , bupropion or nicotine patch. While the study found that all three medications helped both women and men quit when compared to placebo, the difference was in the relative benefit of the three medications. Clinical trial data consistently show that taking medications can help smokers quit. Some may help more than others, and for women the best choice may be varenicline. "Before our study, research had shown that among the choices...

Research has shown that stimulant users often find it difficult to identify other people's emotions, particularly fear, and to show empathy. These aspects play an important role in moral decision making. Other studies have pointed to structural and functional abnormalities in especially the frontal regions of their brains among stimulant users. These areas are engaged when moral judgments have to be made. There is strong link between drug use and criminal behavior, and up to 75 percent of inmates in the US have substance abuse problems. It is not known whether the criminal behavior is in part a result of the drugs' effects on brain function. Kiehl's team is the first to examine how the neural networks and brain functioning of chronic cocaine and methamphetamine users in US jails relate to their ability to evaluate and decide about moral situations or scenarios. Poor judgment about moral situations can lead to poor decision making and subsequent antisocial behavior. ...

"We've learned a lot about the nervous system from understanding how drugs work in the brain--both therapeutic and illicit drugs," says Robert Malenka, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at Stanford University. "If we start understanding MDMA's molecular targets better, and the biotech and pharmaceutical industries pay attention, it may lead to the development of drugs that maintain the potential therapeutic effects for disorders like autism or PTSD but have less abuse liability." MDMA is described as an "empathogen," a compound that promotes feelings of empathy and close positive social feelings in users. The drug is a strictly regulated Schedule I compound, along with drugs such as heroin and LSD. However, MDMA's regulated status shouldn't discourage researchers from studying its effects, argue Malenka and coauthor Boris Heifets, also at Stanford. Researchers still don't know exactly how MDMA works in humans, what regions of the...

The study, published in  Nicotine & Tobacco Research , suggests that "recent claims by some scientists that e-cigarettes are likely to act as a gateway to the use of tobacco products are overstated," says the study's lead author, population scientist David Levy, PhD, a professor of oncology at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center . If used instead of smoking, e-cigarettes provide the potential to reduce harm and improve public health, Levy says. But they also have the potential to increase harm if youth who would not have otherwise smoked become cigarette smokers as a direct consequence of first trying e-cigarettes -- the so-called "gateway" hypothesis that has gained favor by some, he says. "Our study indicates that, considering a broad range of reasonable scenarios, e-cigarettes are likely to reduce cigarette smoking and not lead to offsetting increases in harm from the use of e-cigarettes and more deadly cigarettes," Levy says. ...

Researchers invited 26 adult social drinkers (13 males, 13 females) to attend six double-blind sessions that involved drinking alcohol and energy drinks, alone and in combination. On each test day, participants received one of six possible doses: 1) vodka + decaffeinated soft drink, 2) vodka + medium energy drink, 3) vodka + large energy drink, 4) decaffeinated soft drink, 5) medium energy drink, and 6) large energy drink. After each session, the participants rated their desire for alcohol and their breath alcohol concentration was measured. Results showed that alcohol alone increased the subjective "desire for more alcohol" compared to placebo doses. AmEDs increased the desire for more alcohol beyond that observed with alcohol alone. In summary, this study provides laboratory evidence that AmEDs lead to a greater desire to drink alcohol than the same amount of alcohol consumed alone, and are consistent with animal studies showing that caffeine increases the rewarding an...

Researchers recruited two groups of participants for this study: 51 older (55-70 years of age; 29 women, 22 men), and 70 younger (25-35 years of age; 39 women, 31 men) moderate drinkers living in the community. Participants were given either a placebo or an active dose designed to produce a breath alcohol concentration of 0.04 or 0.065 g/dL. Following absorption, participants completed a visual working-memory task in which they were required to remember briefly-shown images during a nine-second delay period. FTP and PAP were recorded during this delay. During working memory maintenance, PAP was lower in the older than the younger adults. In addition, active alcohol doses increased PAP in younger adults but decreased PAP in older adults. These results support a small but growing body of evidence that older adults are more sensitive than younger adults to the neurobehavioral effects of moderate alcohol use, and further demonstrate that PAP activity may help to identify alcohol's...

"Alcohol misuse and substance use are exceedingly common in this country, and parents' or caregivers' substance use may affect their ability to consistently prioritize their children's basic physical and emotional needs and provide a safe, nurturing environment," says co-author Vincent C. Smith, MD, MPH, a neonatologist at BIDMC and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School (HMS). "Because these children are at risk of suffering physical or emotional harm, pediatricians need to know how to assess a child's risk and to support the family to get the help they need." An estimated one in five U.S. children grows up in a home in which someone misuses alcohol or has a substance use disorder, the authors write. Whether from the toxic effects of exposure to these substances or from the neglect of their basic needs by parents or caretakers struggling with substance use disorders, children in these households commonly experience developme...