Carbohydrates may be difficult to resist - but are they as addictive as cigarettes and alcohol? Researchers from Auckland Regional Public Health Service believe that this could be the case.

Dr. Simon Thornley concluded that the "sugar rush" some people get after eating sweets, breads, sugary sodas, syrups, and other simple carbohydrates stimulates the same area of the brain as nicotine and other drugs do. Binge carbohydrate eaters experience a loss of control, need to eat more carbs to get the same effect, and then experience withdrawal symptoms and depression when they try to quit eating them. This is similar to the pattern of other addictions.

Dr. Thornley believes that governments should restrict advertisements for highly refined foods, levy taxes on them, and put warning labels on their packages.

Dr. Thornley's controversial theory appeared in Medical Hypotheses.

Labels: addiction, brain_chemistry, food

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Scientists in Australia gave bees cocaine and found that the insects react in ways that are similar to humans.

The bees became overly excited about routine tasks, suffered from impaired performance, and then withdrawal symptoms when the cocaine was removed.

For example, bees do a "waggle dance" to show other bees the location of flowers with pollen. Under the influence of cocaine, bees danced twice as often and 25 percent faster. When cocaine was withdrawn, the bees had problems performing routine tasks.

Dr. Andrew Barron and his colleagues at Macquarie University dropped liquid freebase cocaine on the backs of bees. The drug easily entered their brains and circulatory systems, changing their behaviors in significant ways.

"What we have in the bee is a wonderfully simple system to see how brains react to a drug of abuse," Dr. Barron said.

This study appeared in the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Labels: cocaine, research, bees

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Religion helps people develop self-control, which at least one psychologist believes may explain why religious people have lower rates of substance abuse and depression, better academic success, lower levels of criminal behavior, better health, and longer lives.

Dr. Michael McCullough of the University of Miami Department of Psychology combed through eighty years of research on religion for a report published in the journal Psychological Bulletin. Among his findings were that religious rituals affect the part of the brain that regulates self-control, which may explain why religious people are less likely to misuse drugs and alcohol or have criminal behaviors.

Dr. McCullough also found that since religious people believe their goals are "sacred," they put more energy into them, and are more likely than others to attain them.

Labels: depression, religion, self-control

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Researchers at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, have identified specific nerve cells in a particular part of the brain that are related to relapses into drug abuse. These nerve cells respond to external stimuli, including smells, sights, and sounds, and play a role in reawakening cravings related to memories of drug use. Rutgers psychology professor Mark West commented on the study findings, and the potential for new addiction treatments related to these findings:

"We've identified a part of the brain that appears to process these memories. ...This might be one of the brain areas that a very skilled pharmacological approach could target."

(Source: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: brain_chemistry, drug_abuse, relapse

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Can drinking as a teenager raise your tolerance for alcohol as an adult? A study from Baylor University found that premise held true for animals.

Researchers found that rats that had been exposed to moderate levels of alcohol in adolescence had higher tolerances five years later.

Author Dr. Douglas Matthews said, "The body and brain are still developing and this shows that even moderate levels of alcohol can have harmful effects."

The study was published in the journal Alcohol.

Labels: alcohol, underage_drinking, tolerance

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Voters in Switzerland approved a measure allowing addicts to obtain heroin every day from government clinics. However, they voted down the legalization of marijuana.

The United States and the United Nations criticized the 14-year-old Swiss program that gives away heroin at 23 centers across that country as one that encourages drug abuse. However, advocates of the program successfully argued that the measure has reduced crime, improved the lives of addicts, and stopped drug users from shooting up in public places.

Labels: addiction, heroin, addicts

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Researchers from the University of Cambridge have found evidence that "erasing" drug-related memories may help recovered drug abusers avoid relapsing. The study showed reduced drug-seeking behaviors in rats by blocking a chemical brain receptor related to memory. Blocking the receptor during drug-related recall seemed to prevent relapse.

Memories exist in different states depending on whether they are being recalled or not. When memories are recalled, they become "unstable" or malleable and can be altered or erased during the process called reconsolidation. Because relapse by drug abusers is often prompted when they recall drug-associated memories, the scientists found that by blocking these memories they could prevent relapse.

Professor Barry Everitt, an author on the study, commented:

"The results suggest that efforts should be made to develop drugs that could be given in a controlled clinical or treatment environment in which addicts would have their most potent drug memories reactivated. Such treatments would be expected to diminish the effects of those memories in the future and help individuals resist relapse and maintain their abstinence."

(Sources: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: behaviors, relapse, memory

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A new study by Vanderbilt University indicates that individuals who have a tendency to take unnecessary risks and/or abuse substances may be influenced by an inability to process the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine allows individuals to experience pleasure. Those who have trouble processing the neurotransmitter may engage in a greater number of dopamine-producing activities in an effort to achieve a normal level of satisfaction. David Zald, associate professor of psychology and lead author of the study, commented on the findings:

"We've found that the density of these dopamine autoreceptors is inversely related to an individual's interest in and desire for novel experiences. ...The fewer available dopamine autoreceptors an individual has, the less they are able to regulate how much dopamine is released when these cells are engaged. Because of this, novelty and other potentially rewarding experiences that normally induce dopamine release will produce greater dopamine release in these individuals."

(Source: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: addicts, risky_behaviors, dopamine

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A study from the United Kingdom found that approximately 25 percent of problem drug users exit treatment early and return to drug use. The study found that young drug users and homeless drug users were most likely to leave treatment programs early.

Researchers hypothesize that drug treatment programs in the United Kingdom may be failing to properly engage these users from the outset, and that programs may not be properly addressing the needs of these two high-risk groups. Young drug users may be turned off by programs that are designed for older working professionals; homeless drug users may not have the means to travel to programs that are outside their immediate area of habitation. Dr. Alex Stevens, who led the study, commented on the findings:

"Whilst it is easy to blame the early exit out rate of problem drug-users on the 'chaos' in their lives and their lack of motivation our data and interviews suggest that there is much that services can do to enhance the rate of retention in the first few days and weeks." (Source: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: treatment, addicts, homless

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According to an Australian study published in July 2008, the United States has the highest levels of illegal use of cocaine and marijuana out of the 17 countries surveyed. This result is surprising to researchers because, of the 17 countries, the U.S. also has some of the harshest legal penalties for illegal use of these drugs.

The study found that approximately 16 percent of people in the U.S. have used cocaine in their lifetime; the next highest rate, in New Zealand, was 4 percent. In addition, approximately 42 percent of Americans have used marijuana in their lifetime, with the next highest rate being 41 percent in New Zealand.

According to the study, drug use "does not appear to be simply related to drug policy," said the authors, "since countries with more stringent policies towards illegal drug use did not have lower levels of such drug use than countries with more liberal policies."(Sources: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: marijuana, cocaine, illegal-drug-use

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According to a study published on the British Medical Journal website, Scotland has a higher mortality rate than either England or Wales, and substance abuse accounts for approximately one-third of the deaths behind this statistic. Traditionally, the higher mortality rates in Scotland have been attributed to poorer living conditions and any unaccounted for deaths were assumed to be the result of conditions related to deprivation. But new research is showing that many previously unaccounted for deaths are actually drug-related deaths. (Source: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: deprivation, death, poverty

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A recent study conducted by the federal Brookhaven National Laboratory found that cocaine-addicted individuals who were given a choice between viewing a variety of other images and viewing pictures of cocaine, showed a clear preference for drug-related images. The group of cocaine-addicted individuals was compared with a group of healthy, non-addicted research subjects. Scott Moeller, a graduate research student who worked on the study, commented:

"This behavioral study demonstrates for the first time that drug-related choice in cocaine addiction extends to abstract, non-pharmacological stimuli, facilitating the study of choice behavior in addiction without using actual cocaine."

(Source: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: cocaine, addicts

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A report published online in the January 2009 issue of Addiction highlights a new phenomenon among young drinkers called "pre-drinking." Pre-drinking is the act of gathering in a private setting (usually someone's home) to drink heavily before going to a public place like a club or sporting event. Pre-drinking is intended to allow young people to get drunk as cheaply as possible and to maximize fun during public outings.

The authors of the report question whether current alcohol policy (banning happy hours at bars, for instance) is reinforcing this behavior and a "new culture of intoxication" in which young people drink with the singular goal of getting drunk. The authors of the report found that pre-drinkers were more likely to ingest large quantities of alcohol more rapidly, and to experience negative outcomes in association with drinking. (Source: sciencedaily.com)

Labels: underage_drinking, pre-drinking, binge_drinking

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