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Public health
The intersection of substance use with broader public health concerns.
Should you Recommend Acupuncture to Patients with Substance Use Disorders?
Acupuncture is an ancient therapeutic tool known to be the core of traditional Chinese medicine. Two theories suggest positive outcomes in patients treated with acupuncture:
- The oxidative stress reduction theory states that a “large body...
Sport Participation and Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use in Adolescents and Young Adults
ABSTRACT
Sport participation can play an important and positive role in the health and development of children and youth. One area that has recently been receiving greater attention is the role that sport participation might play in...
Non-Medical Prescription Opioid & Heroin Use among Adolescents Who Engage in Sports
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Previous research has found that adolescent athletes may be at increased risk of non-medical prescription opioid use (NPOU) due to injuries. Although adolescent athletes are at an increased risk of engaging in NPOU...
Pain Management and the Opioid Epidemic: Balancing Societal and Individual Benefits and Risks of Prescription Opioid Use
Drug overdose, driven largely by overdose related to the use of opioids, is now the leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States. The ongoing opioid crisis lies at the intersection of two public health challenges...
Helping Patients Who Drink Too Much: A Clinician’s Guide
Introduction
This Guideis written for primary care and mental health clinicians. It has been produced by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA),a component of the National Institutes of Health, with guidance from...
Cannabis and Schizophrenia: Systematic Review of the Last 15 Years
ABSTRACT
After the recent enactment in Uruguay of Law 19172 regarding the regulation of cannabis market and use, many questions arise about the impact of this law on psychiatric patients with comorbid cannabis use disorder, with specific...
Systematic Review of Screening Instruments for Psychosocial Problems in Children and Adolescents with Long-Term Physical Conditions
Abstract
Children and adolescents with long-term physical conditions (LTPCs) are at greater risk of developing psychosocial problems. Screening for such problems may be undertaken using validated psychometric instruments to facilitate...
Acculturation and Drug Use Disorders among Hispanics in the U.S.
Abstract
The authors’ objective was to examine the relationship between degree of acculturation across five different dimensions of acculturation and risk of drug use disorders (DUD) among US Hispanics.
Data were derived from a large...
The Burden of Binge and Heavy Drinking on the Brain: Effects on Adolescent and Young Adult Neural Structure and Function
Introduction: Adolescence and young adulthood are periods of continued biological and psychosocial maturation. Thus, there may be deleterious effects of consuming large quantities of alcohol on neural development and associated cognition...
New Data on Opioid Use and Prescribing in the United States
The United States is in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic. Between 1999 and 2010, prescription opioid–related overdose deaths increased substantially in parallel with increased prescribing of opioids.
In 2015, opioid-involved drug...
Contrasting Trends of Smoking Cessation Status
Abstract
Objective
The World Health Organization recommends that smokers be offered help to quit. A better understanding of smokers’ interest in and commitment to quitting could guide tobacco control efforts. We assessed temporal...
Tobacco Use in Top-Grossing Movies — United States, 2010–2016
Summary
What is already known about this topic?
The Surgeon General has concluded that there is a causal relationship between depictions of smoking in the movies and the initiation of smoking among young persons. The more frequently...
The 'Explosion’ That Never Happened: Crack and Cocaine Use in Britain
In 1989 a whirlwind of concern was stirred up by a US drug enforcement officer who predicted for Britain a US-style “explosion” of violence associated with the ‘almost instantly addictive’ crack version of cocaine. That did not happen - but...
Contextual Factors Associated with Marijuana Use in School Population
ABSTRACT
Introduction: Marijuana use among the student population has increased in Mexico and Latin America. There are social, interpersonal and individual factors associated with the onset and continuation of marijuana use. These...
How Economic Recessions and Unemployment Affect Illegal Drug Use
ABSTRACT
Background: Economic recessions may influence illegal drug use via different mechanisms, for example increased use due to more psychological distress or decreased use due to lower income and purchasing power. This paper reviews...
An Approach to the New Psychoactive Drugs Phenomenon
ABSTRACT
Background: The new psychoactive drugs (NPD) are those that represent a danger to public health and are not prohibited by conventions on international narcotics. The concept also includes new contexts and new routes of...
World Health Statistics: Monitoring Health for the Sustainable Development Goals
The World Health Statistics series is the World Health Organization's (WHO) annual compilation of health statistics for its member states. The latest World Health Statistics provides data on 21 health-related Sustainable Development Goals...
Financial Incentives for Reducing Smoking and Promoting Other Health-Related Behavior Change in Vulnerable Populations
ABSTRACT
Substantial reductions in U.S. cigarette smoking and associated chronic diseases over the past 50 years have benefited health. Unfortunately, those reductions have distributed unevenly throughout the population. Smoking remains...
Hepatitis C ‘Giant’ Still Growing
Half of all surveyed UK injectors infected, a quarter within three years of starting to inject - for a time it seemed impossible to reverse the epidemic of hepatitis C infection. Now we know that aided by new treatments which clear the...
Sexual Orientation and Estimates of Adult Substance Use and Mental Health
Abstract
Background: Research suggests that sexual minorities (e.g. people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual) are at greater risk for substance use and mental health issues compared with the sexual majority population that...