Alcoholism and Alcohol Testing News, Page 2

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Medical News Today Updated : Sun, 6 Jul 2008 13:48:49 MST Help To Change Unhealthy Habits It's one of those weight loss, exercise and health improvement truisms -- it all comes down to willpower.But counting on willpower alone to make a change is inviting failure. A Special Report in the February issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter discusses the essential steps to a healthier life, including how planning and self-control skills -- not willpower alone -- help make healthy behavior changes. [click link for full article] Publ.Date : Mon, 05 Feb 2007 00:00:00 PST Disrupting Brain's Stress System Intensifies Opiate Withdrawal Avoiding the severe pain, nausea, agitation, sweats and other symptoms of opiate withdrawal are among the many reasons addicts are motivated to continue taking drugs. Now, researchers have found that disrupting the brain's stress-response mechanism exacerbates behavioral withdrawal symptoms in mice, and that giving the mice the hormone corticosterone alleviates those symptoms. The researchers said their findings suggest new approaches to reduce withdrawal symptoms. [click link for full article] Publ.Date : Tue, 20 Feb 2007 18:00:00 PST Addiction Study Finds People Underestimate Power Of Drug Cravings A novel experiment conducted by Carnegie Mellon University Professor George Loewenstein and colleagues may explain why people try a drug, such as heroin, for the first time despite ample evidence that it is addictive. The results of the study, which are being published in the Journal of Health Economics, reveal that even longtime addicts underestimate the influence that drug cravings have over their behavior.Almost all drugs produce a craving in their users. [click link for full article] Publ.Date : Fri, 16 Feb 2007 03:00:00 PST Women And Recovery From Alcoholism PhD candidate Ms Janice Withnall, from the UWS School of Education, is carrying out the project in a bid to better understand the experiences of women who have successfully stopped drinking.National statistics show that alcohol-related illness hospitalises 95,000 Australians a year. Of that group, 7 per cent are women who are alcohol dependent. [click link for full article] Publ.Date : Thu, 01 Feb 2007 11:00:00 PST Possible Genetic Link To Schizophrenia, Alcoholism, Parkinson's Disease Identified Several neurological and psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, alcoholism, and Parkinson's disease, are associated with changes in the brain that affect the nerves that communicate with each other through the naturally-produced chemical dopamine. One protein that is crucial for dopamine-mediated neuronal communication in animals is DARPP-32. However, very little is known about the function of this protein in humans. [click link for full article] Publ.Date : Sat, 10 Feb 2007 15:00:00 PST