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Subjects who consumed heavy amounts of alcohol had a peak incidence of suicide at 9PM, and a low around 5PM. In contrast, the peak incidence was around 12 PM for those individuals who did not drink or drank moderately and a low at 4 AM. "The presence of temporal pattern in the incidence of suicides will help us understand the phenomenon from a clinical and a research viewpoint," said Dr. Subhajit Chakravorty, assistant professor of psychiatry , Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. "From a clinical perspective, the results will help us identify patients at higher risk of completing suicide and to allocate our limited resources more efficiently. From a research perspective, future studies should explore the underlying mechanisms of how and why different alcohol doses interact with the time of day and other clinical factors to increase the risk of suicide." The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal  Sl...

The authors say the "results have health implications relevant to people with and at risk for various types of cardiovascular disease." Alcohol is one of the most widely consumed drugs, and heart disease is the most common cause of death worldwide. Previous studies suggest that alcohol consumption may be associated with both a greater risk for some cardiovascular disease and lower risk for others, but these have mostly relied on self reported alcohol use, which is not necessarily reliable, and have generated conflicting results. So a team of researchers based at the University of California, San Francisco investigated the relation between alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease by using differences in Texas county level alcohol sales laws. Texas is the most populous US state to enact laws restricting alcohol sales. A patchwork of counties exists where alcohol sales are allowed, known as 'wet counties', and some where such sales are restricted, known a...

The study found that those with arthritis still had 46% higher odds of suicide attempts than those without arthritis even when adjustments were made for important factors such as age, income, chronic pain, and a history of mental health disorders. "When we focused on adults with arthritis, we found that those who had experienced chronic parental domestic violence or sexual abuse during their childhood, had more than three times the odds of suicide attempts compared to adults with arthritis who had not experienced these childhood adversities. The magnitude of these associations with suicide attempts was comparable to that associated with depression, the most well-known risk factor for suicide attempts," said lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sandra Rotman Endowed Chair at University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work & Institute for Life Course & Aging. "Other factors associated with suicide attempts among those with arthritis include a ...

"Addiction does not happen overnight but develops from behaviour that has been repeated over and over again until individuals lose control," said Dr Karen Ersche from the Department of Psychiatry, who led the research. In a study reported today in the journal  Science,  Dr Ersche and colleagues tested 125 participants, of whom 72 were addicted to cocaine and 53 had no history of drug addiction, on their inclination to develop habits. They found that people with cocaine addiction were much more likely than healthy participants to make responses in an automatic fashion, but only if they had previously been rewarded for responding in the same way. The addicted individuals simply continued repeating the same responses they had previously learned, regardless of whether their actions made sense or not. In a different context, however, where participants had to perform an action to avoid electrical shocks, people with cocaine addiction did not develop habits. In fact, they wer...

The study is published in the  British Journal of Cancer . "Smokers who were treated with aromatase inhibitors had a three times higher risk of recurrence of breast cancer compared with the non-smokers who got the same treatment. The study also showed that the smokers also had an increased risk of dying, either from the breast cancer or from other illnesses, during the time we followed them," says Helena Jernström, associate professor and researcher who, together with trainee physician Mia Persson, is the principal investigator behind the study published in the British Journal of Cancer. The researchers followed 1,016 patients in southern Sweden who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 2002 and 2012. At the time when they were booked in for surgery, they were asked whether they were smokers or non-smokers. Approximately one in five women stated that she was either a regular smoker or a "social smoker." The impacts of smoking were analysed depending on wha...

Once we smoke cigarettes, dozens of genes vital for immune protection are altered within the epithelial cells that line the respiratory tract. Now scientists report that vaping digital cigarettes alters those self same genes and tons of extra which might be vital for immune protection within the higher airway. Credit score: © vchalup / Fotolia Once we smoke cigarettes, dozens of genes vital for immune protection are altered within the epithelial cells that line the respiratory tract. A number of of those adjustments seemingly enhance the danger of bacterial infections, viruses, and irritation. Now, UNC Faculty of Drugs scientists report that vaping digital cigarettes alters those self same genes and tons of extra which might be vital for immune protection within the higher airway. "I used to be actually shocked by these outcomes," stated lead researcher Ilona Jaspers, professor of pediatrics, and microbiology and immunology at UNC . "That is w...

Bulat Idrisov, MD, MSc, and Karsten Lunze, MD, MPH, DrPH, from the Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit at BMC and Boston University School of Medicine, in collaboration with researchers in Canada and Malaysia, assessed global data and found that countries often lack the capacity to treat substance use disorders. This happens because they are not able to offer the diagnostic and therapeutic modalities and providers trained in addiction medicine that are necessary for effective treatment. The authors argue that in order to reach successfully reduced substance use disorder rates, countries should consider implementing approaches that have been shown to be effective in rigorous scientific studies. These strategies include community-based opioid treatment, including methadone and buprenorphine. In addition, they suggest that offering harm-reduction programs like needle exchanges and providing education about overdose medications such as naloxone to people with substance use ...

"We found that both direct (physical and sexual abuse) and indirect (witnessing parental domestic violence) forms of childhood victimization are associated with substance abuse" said lead author, Professor Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sandra Rotman Endowed Chair at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and Institute for Life Course & Aging "We were surprised that chronic parental domestic violence exposure remained significantly associated with both drug and alcohol dependence, even when we adjusted for childhood maltreatment, depression and most of the known risk factors for substance dependency" said lead author, Professor Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sandra Rotman Endowed Chair at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and Institute for Life Course & Aging. "In fact, the odds of alcohol dependency among those who witnessed their parents' chronic domestic violence were about 50% higher than th...

Acting rapidly and without thinking are typical signs of child impulsivity. According to the researchers, this trait, traditionally viewed as negative, could turn into an advantage when combined with a caring family environment. "A Swedish metaphor illustrates this differential susceptibility to the environment," explains Charlie Rioux. "Many children exposed to challenging environments do quite well. They are said to be resilient, and are referred to as "dandelion children," since they are well adjusted even when exposed to harsh conditions. Children more susceptible to their environment, like impulsive ones, are referred to as "orchid children." For if the orchid fades in harsh conditions, it also thrives when given proper care and attention. We observed that when they are raised in a supportive environment, "orchid children" not only do well in adolescence, but can even outperform their less susceptible peers in many respects." The...

LINKAGE is innovative in its use of electronic health records and online patient portals to engage patients in health education and prevention and facilitate communication with their medical providers. "Patients with alcohol and other drug use disorders have high rates of medical and psychiatric conditions requiring complex treatment, but often rely on emergency services and seldom use preventive services, even when they have health insurance," said lead author Constance M. Weisner, DrPH, chief of Behavioral Health and Aging at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research, and a professor at the UCSF Department of Psychiatry. "We know that patients who are more engaged with their health care tend to manage their condition better and our study found that alcohol and drug treatment patients are no different." The study, conducted at the Kaiser Permanente San Francisco outpatient addiction treatment clinic, enrolled 503 participants and assigned...