Editorial: Addiction - Character Defect or Chronic Disease? Richard G. Soper, MD, FASAM, DABAM, Editor-in-Chief Recently, numerous media sources have implied that addicts ought to make better choices; addiction science cautions that is not always possible. Addiction as a reflection of moral character and choice takes us back to an earlier time. Science now shows that addiction, including alcoholism, is not a simple phenomenon.
Smoking Cessation and Psychiatric Inpatient Smokers with Depression Journal of Addiction Medicine (free ASAM member resource) Although smoking is a major health issue among depressed psychiatric inpatients and interest in quitting is high, successful quit rates remain low among this population. This study seeks to understand preferences that depressed inpatient smokers may have for cessation treatments.
NIAAA Welcomes Dr. George F. Koob as New Director NIAAA Spectrum ASAM fellow George F. Koob, PhD, is NIAAA’s new director. Dr. Koob joins NIAAA from The Scripps Research Institute, where he was chairman of the committee on the neurobiology of addictive disorders and director of the Alcohol Research Center. He will join NIDA’s Dr. Wilson Compton and CSAT’s Dr. H. Westley Clark for “Federal Agency Perspectives” at Med-Sci 2014.
Evidence-based Narratives to Improve Recall of Opioid Prescribing Guidelines Academic Emergency Medicine Physicians adopt evidence-based guidelines with variable consistency. Narratives, or stories, offer a novel dissemination strategy for clinical recommendations. The study objective was to compare whether evidence-based narrative versus traditional summary improved recall of opioid prescribing guidelines from the American College of Emergency Physicians.
Medication-Assisted Treatment with Methadone: Assessing the Evidence Psychiatric Services Detoxification followed by abstinence has shown little success in reducing illicit opioid use. Methadone maintenance treatment helps individuals with an opioid use disorder abstain from or decrease use of illegal or nonmedical opiates. This review examined evidence for its effectiveness.
Recovery Outcomes: Youth Participating in Texting Aftercare Pilot Program Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment Findings from this pilot aftercare study suggest that mobile texting could provide a feasible way to engage youth in recovery after substance abuse treatment to aid with reducing relapse and promoting lifestyle behavior change.
Opioid Utilization in Pregnancy in Commercial Insurance Beneficiaries Anesthesiology Is NAS iatrogenic? One in seven pregnant women were prescribed opiates. The study looked at a large database of over half a million pregnant women enrolled in an insurance plan. Opioid use also varied by region, ranging between 6.5% and 26.3%, with the lowest rates in the Northeast and the highest in the South...
At Least 6 More States Considering “Good Samaritan” Laws for Overdose At least six states are considering joining the 17 states that have passed “Good Samaritan” laws, designed to prevent drug overdose deaths. The laws grant limited immunity to people who seek help for someone who has overdosed...
Is Integrated Treatment Working? The Fix Statistics don’t lie: co-occurring mental disorders and addiction - also called dual diagnosis - go hand in hand. In fact, according to several epidemiological studies, 50% of general psychiatric patients also have a substance use disorder. That's a harrowing 8.9 million adults, with only 7.4% of individuals receiving treatment for both.
Team Creates Picture of Protein Linked to Learning, Memory, Brain Disorders Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) and Vanderbilt University have created the most detailed 3-D picture yet of a membrane protein (mGlu1 receptor, which helps regulate the neurotransmitter glutamate) that is linked to...
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommends Primary Care Interventions ASAM On March 10th, the Task Force published a final recommendation statement on primary care behavioral interventions to reduce illicit drug and nonmedical pharmaceutical use in children and adolescents. ASAM submitted comments which expressed concerns about unintended consequences that may result from the Task Force’s recommendations.
What’s New at Med-Sci: A Course on the ASAM Criteria ASAM Many addiction specialists know of The ASAM Criteria (previously titled the ASAM Patient Placement Criteria, PPC) but have never been trained on the real spirit and content of The ASAM Criteria. A pre-conference course on April 10 in Orlando, FL offers an opportunity to hear directly from the authors on the content and intent of The ASAM Criteria.
Richard G. Soper, MD, JD, MS, FASAM, Editor-in-Chief, ASAM Weekly
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The views and positions of any content published in ASAM Weekly are not necessarily endorsed by ASAM nor a reflection of ASAM's beliefs and policies. The features are presented as a summary of the contemporary issues being represented and expressed in scientific, governmental, commercial, and media sources across the specialty field of addiction medicine. Contact ASAM Weekly with any comments or feedback.