Task Force Recommends Screening All Adults for Alcohol Misuse
Jimmy Anderson / Getty Images Questions about alcohol use should be a part of regular physical checkups, according to a panel of experts. About 21% of American adults admit that they engage in risky drinking behaviors, from overindulging, which can lead to physical and mental harm, to alcohol dependence. And it remains the third leading [...]
Brain Scans Can Predict Which Alcoholics Are Most Likely to Relapse
Getty Images/Flickr RF / Getty Images/Flickr RF For any addiction, external cues and stress can trigger cravings that are hard to resist, and the latest research points to an area of the brain that might be responsible for sabotaging recovery. The study, which was published in JAMA Psychiatry, found that those with elevated activity in [...]
Vitamin E May Boost Return to Healthy Hearts in Former Smokers
Design Pics/Chris Knorr / Getty Images/Design Pics RF Smoking can harm the heart, and while quitting is the most powerful way to avoid heart disease, taking vitamin E after putting out the cigarettes may speed the process along. Studies show that it can take a decade or more after smokers stop lighting up for their [...]
Beadman’s long road back from addiction
Mitchell Beadman with his father Darren. Picture: Phil Hillyard THE terrible come down from drugs would drive Mitchell Beadman back to bed for three days at a time. With the curtains drawn, he would lie under the sheets frozen by depression and fear. “I would go to ground for however long it would take for [...]
More Sex Partners Linked to Higher Risk of Drug Addiction, Alcoholism
Getty Images/Blend Images / Getty Images/Blend Images – Close up of couple’s feet in bed And the risk is especially great for women, according to new research. Researchers explored the relationship between addictions and risky sexual behavior in a report published in the journal Archives of Sexual Behavior. They followed virtually all of the 1037 [...]
Study: Internet Addicts Suffer Withdrawal Symptoms Like Drug Users
REUTERS – People use computers at an Internet cafe in Changzhi, north China’s Shanxi province June 20, 2007. A new study shows that when heavy Internet users go offline, they undergo withdrawal symptoms similar to those experienced by drug users. The study, carried out by researchers at Swansea and Milan Universities, is the first into [...]
Can a Brain Tumor Turn You Into a Gambler?
Peggy Peattie / ZUMAPRESS.com Former San Diego mayor Maureen O’Connor appeared in federal court to plead guilty on a money laundering charge on Feb. 14, 2013. Former San Diego mayor Maureen O’Connor’s attorneys argued this week that a tumor contributed to her betting more than $1 billion and losing $3 billion over a decade. Appearing [...]
Addiction and Gambling and Other Peccadillos
Robyn Williams: Gambling – I did it last at the Casino in Monte Carlo when I was15. I won about a dollar’s worth of francs. And that was it. It was a slot machine outside the casino of course, but I was nonetheless thrilled to some glitterati pass by: Princess Soraya of Iran and Maria [...]
Science Isn’t Sure Yet If Gaming Addiction Is A Real Mental Disorder
What is gaming addiction, exactly? There is an easy answer to that question, but there is also, naturally, much debate about whether or not it is even a thing. Psychology can at times be an inexact science, and it seems as though there is always room for debate within that world. As of today, gaming [...]
Why Personality May Matter in Preventing Alcoholism
Jill Sabella / Getty Images A program that takes personality into account may help to identify and reduce teen-drinking rates. Researchers studied 2,643 ninth-graders in England, ages 13 or 14 years old, for a project known as the Adventure trial. Teachers were trained to provide alcohol-abuse interventions to children with four personality traits that put [...]
