Drug and alcohol dependence
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Mar 2018
Sexual minority youth continue to smoke cigarettes earlier and more often than heterosexuals: Findings from population-based data.
An established body of research documents that sexual minority (i.e., lesbian, gay, and bisexual) populations are at higher risk for several adverse health behaviors and outcomes compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Smoking is one behavior where the gap is especially large, particularly among youth. Researchers have increasingly drawn attention to contextual determinants of health behaviors affecting sexual minority youth. ⋯ Findings may suggest that targeted tobacco control programs in Massachusetts are needed; perhaps shifts in social attitudes toward smoking have affected smoking behaviors in diverse segments of society.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Feb 2018
Randomized Controlled TrialOndansetron does not prevent physical dependence in patients taking opioid medications chronically for pain control.
In this study, we investigated the co-administration of ondansetron with morphine, and whether it could prevent the development of physical dependence in patients taking opioids for the treatment of chronic pain. ⋯ We hypothesized that ondansetron would prevent the development of physical dependence in human subjects when co-administered with opioids, but found no difference in naloxone-precipitated opioid withdrawal scores between ondansetron and placebo treatment groups. These results suggest that further studies are needed to determine if 5HT3 receptor antagonists are useful in preventing opioid physical dependence.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Feb 2018
Substance use patterns associated with recent exposure to fentanyl among people who inject drugs in Vancouver, Canada: A cross-sectional urine toxicology screening study.
Vancouver, Canada is experiencing an opioid overdose crisis where fentanyl, a potent, synthetic opioid contaminating the illicit drug supply, has been detected in the majority of fatal overdose cases. Despite its growing presence throughout North America, few studies have characterized exposure to fentanyl among people who use illicit drugs (PWUD). We sought to identify the prevalence and correlates of fentanyl exposure among PWUD in Vancouver. ⋯ With one in five PWID being exposed to fentanyl, there is an urgent need to design and scale up interventions to reduce overdose risk, including a range of opioid agonist therapies.
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Feb 2018
Performance of cigarette susceptibility index among e-cigarette and hookah users.
Susceptibility to cigarette smoking has been used since the mid-1990s as a measure to identify youth at risk of cigarette initiation. However, it is unclear how well this measure predicts future smoking among electronic (e-)cigarette or hookah users, or among those in tobacco-friendly social environments. ⋯ Our findings suggest that use of the susceptibility to smoking index in cross-sectional studies of older adolescents to identify those likely to begin smoking may be inappropriate for those using alternative tobacco products (e.g., e-cigarettes or hookah).
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Drug Alcohol Depend · Feb 2018
Polygenic risk for alcohol consumption and its association with alcohol-related phenotypes: Do stress and life satisfaction moderate these relationships?
Genetic and environmental factors contribute about equally to alcohol-related phenotypes in adulthood. In the present study, we examined whether more stress at home or low satisfaction with life might be associated with heavier drinking or more alcohol-related problems in individuals with a high genetic susceptibility to alcohol use. ⋯ There were significant main effects of polygenic scores and of stress and life satisfaction on drinking behavior, but there was no support for PRS-by-stress or PRS-by-life satisfaction interactions on alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems.