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Showing posts from September, 2017

First atomic-level image of the human 'marijuana receptor' unveiled

The new insights into the human cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) will provide an essential tool for understanding why some molecules related to THC have unexpectedly complex and sometimes harmful effects. The findings also have the potential to guide drug design for pain, inflammation, obesity, fibrosis and other indications. The new study, published by the journal  Cell , was led by a quartet of scientists: TSRI's Laura Bohn, Northeastern University's Alexandros Makriyannis, Shanghai Tech University's Zhi-Jie Liu and Raymond C. Stevens (also of the University of Southern California). At the beginning of the study, the team struggled to produce a crystal form -- needed to obtain data to recreate the high-resolution structure -- of the receptor bound with AM6538, a stabilizing a molecule that blocks the receptor's action. "The CB1 receptor proved as challenging for crystallization as it did for understanding its functional regulation and signaling," said ...

Fake IDs are a red flag for problem behaviors

In a sample of more than 5,000 college students, individuals with a fake ID were systematically matched with individuals without a fake ID. The groups were compared on five outcome measures: frequent binge drinking, alcohol-related problems, arrests, marijuana use, and hard drug use. Results showed that the "fake ID effect" was driven both by traits linked to acquiring a fake ID and the alcohol access associated with having a fake ID. The authors speculate that fake IDs may provide impulsive individuals with additional means and opportunity for problematic behaviors they might not have otherwise engaged in. The authors also suggest that a focus be placed less less on punitive actions taken after the fact and more on preventative measures such as decreasing the likelihood that at-risk students will obtain a fake ID in the first place. for more information visit our product website: Buy Cenforce Professional Online 

New effort aims to prevent surgery-related opioid addiction across Michigan

With a new $1.4 million per year, five-year grant from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, and equal funding from U-M, the team today launches an initiative to help medical teams across the state care for surgical patients' pain -- without setting those patients up for new chronic opioid use, misuse and addiction. Named the Michigan Opioid Prescribing Engagement Network , or Michigan-OPEN, the effort aims to cut in half both the amount of opioids prescribed to Michigan surgical patients, and the number of patients who still use opioids many months after surgery. Michigan-OPEN will tap into existing networks of hundreds of doctors, nurses and hospitals across Michigan that work together to improve surgical care. It's based in the U-M Medical School and Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. The team will help members of 12 such networks understand and use best practices for pain control in their patients, including the wisest use of opioid pain...

Drug use in business bathrooms in New York City surveyed

A previous survey of 440 drug injectors in NYC conducted in 2015 by the Injection Drug Users Health Alliance found nearly two-thirds (60%) of active injectors surveyed reported using public locations, such as public bathrooms, in the last three months for injections. "While there are a growing number of syringe exchange programs (SEP) across the U.S. that provide people who inject drugs (PWID) with sterile injecting equipment," said Dr. Brett Wolfson-Stofko, PhD, the lead author and a post-doctoral fellow at the Behavioral Sciences Training in Drug Abuse Research (BST) program at the New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing (NYU Meyers), "they are not authorized to offer a safe and sanitary space for injection. As a result, many tend to inject in public bathrooms." Public injection has been associated with a variety of health risks and risk behaviors such as syringe sharing, overdose, abscesses, endocarditis, rushed injection, incarceration, and the ...

Mixing energy drinks, alcohol may affect adolescent brains like cocaine

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The variety of extremely caffeinated merchandis e has elevated dramatically previously few years. Amongst these merchandise, extremely caffeinated vitality drinks are essentially the most closely marketed and bought, which has resulted in elevated incidences of co-consumption of vitality drinks with alcohol. Credit score: © Viacheslav Negovskiy / Fotolia Consuming extremely caffeinated alcoholic drinks triggers adjustments within the adolescent mind just like taking cocaine, and the results final into maturity as an altered capability to take care of rewarding substances, in accordance with a Purdue College research. Richard van Rijn, an assistant professor of medicinal chemistry and molecular pharmacology, appeared on the results of extremely caffeinated vitality drinks and extremely caffeinated alcohol in adolescent mice. These alcohol research can't be carried out in adolescent people, however adjustments seen in mouse brains wit...

Teenagers influenced by video games with alcohol, smoking content

Experts from the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies at The University of Nottingham have carried out the first ever analysis of best-selling video games to find out the extent to which the games include this content and to assess the link between playing the games and drinking and smoking behaviour. They found that teenagers who play video games featuring alcohol and tobacco references appeared to be directly influenced because they were twice as likely to have tried smoking or drinking themselves. The research examined the content of 32 UK best-selling video games of 2012/2013 and carried out a large online survey of adolescents playing games with alcohol and tobacco content. An analysis of 'cut scenes' uploaded by gamers to YouTube from the five most popular games was also carried out. All the games studied were from the genres of stealth, action adventure, open world, shooter and survival/horror because they involve avatars that look and act like real people. ...

People trying quit smoking don't always focus on tobacco cessation

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UBC's Heather Gainforth holds a nicotine inhaler, a well-liked software with folks attempting to give up smoking. Credit score: Picture courtesy of College of British Columbia Okanagan campus Fifty per cent of statements made by people who smoke throughout counselling classes designed to assist them cease don't have anything to do with quitting, a UBC research has discovered. The research, which targeted on conversations smoking cessation counsellors in the UK had with their purchasers, additionally discovered the 50 per cent of statements that did relate to quitting largely targeted on medical aids comparable to smoking cessation medicine, nicotine patches or inhalers. "These findings might point out that folks attempting to give up want time to speak about a wide range of matters to really feel comfy speaking with their practitioner about smoking," says Heather Gainforth, an assistant professor of well being and train ...

Study suggests approach to waking patients after surgery

However, some patients can take a considerable amount of time to wake up, holding up the use of expensive operating rooms and occupying medical staff who must keep them under close observation. Now researchers at MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital have moved a step closer to a treatment to rapidly awaken patients after administration of a general anesthetic, following a study of the mechanism that allows people to regain consciousness. In a paper published in the journal  PNAS , the researchers demonstrate that activating dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain causes active emergence from general anesthesia. This is important because the mechanism by which we regain consciousness following general anesthetic has so far been poorly understood, according to Ken Solt, a research affiliate in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT and an anesthesiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. He led the research alongside Emery Brown, ...

Perception of e-cigarette harm growing among US adults

"Although the impact of long-term use of e-cigarettes on health is still unknown," the study stated, "the available scientific evidence indicates that e-cigarettes are less harmful than combustible cigarettes, and that smokers switching to e-cigarettes could benefit from a decrease in health risks related to smoking combustible cigarettes." Researchers looked at data from the Tobacco Products and Risk Perception surveys from 2012 through 2015 to examine changes in how adults in the United States perceived the relative harm and addictiveness of e-cigarettes. The surveys were conducted nationally in 2012, 2014 and 2015 by the Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science (TCORS) at the School of Public Health. Nearly 16,000 adults completed the surveys. The study results are published in the  American Journal of Preventive Medicine  in an article titled "Changing Perceptions of Harm of E-Cigarettes among U.S. Adults, 2012-2015." The study's lead author is ...

Are you addicted to social media? Six questions

"Our devotion to technology and social media has changed how we interact with others, and that's not necessarily a good thing," said James Roberts, Ph.D., The Ben H. Williams Professor of Marketing in Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business. "Yes, there are advantages to technology. But our obsession with smartphones and the lives we live via our social media channels can come at a cost to our real-life relationships." Roberts is known internationally for his research on smartphone addiction and how technology (smartphones, specifically) affects relationships and stress levels. He is the author of the book "Too Much of a Good Thing: Are you Addicted to your Smartphone?" Roberts explained that substance and behavioral addictions have six core components: salience, euphoria, tolerance, conflict, withdrawal symptoms and relapse. He provides six questions and statements people can use to gauge each of those components and help them unders...