Use of Conventional and Novel Smokeless Tobacco Products Among US Adolescents.

Use of Conventional and Novel Smokeless Tobacco Products Among US Adolescents.

Pediatrics. 2013 Aug 5;
Agaku IT, Ayo-Yusuf OA, Vardavas CI, Alpert HR, Connolly GN

OBJECTIVES:To assess the prevalence and correlates of use of conventional and novel smokeless tobacco products among a national sample of US middle and high school students.METHODS:Data from the 2011 National Youth Tobacco Survey were analyzed to determine national estimates of current use of conventional (“chewing tobacco”, “snuff,” or “dip”), novel (“snus” and “dissolvable tobacco products”), and any smokeless tobacco products (novel and/or conventional products) within the past 30 days.RESULTS:The overall prevalence of current use of any smokeless tobacco product was 5.6% (n = 960). Among all students, 5.0% used chewing tobacco, snuff, or dip; 1.9% used snus; and 0.3% used dissolvable tobacco products. Among users of any smokeless tobacco, 64.0% used only conventional products, 26.8% were concurrent users of novel plus conventional products, whereas 9.2% exclusively used novel products. Approximately 72.1% of current any smokeless tobacco users concurrently smoked combustible tobacco products, and only 40.1% expressed an intention to quit all tobacco use. Regression analyses indicated that peer (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 9.56; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.14-12.80) and household (aOR: 3.32; 95% CI: 2.23-4.95) smokeless tobacco use were associated with smokeless tobacco use, whereas believing that all forms of tobacco are harmful was protective (aOR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.38-0.79).CONCLUSIONS:Conventional smokeless tobacco products remain the predominant form of smokeless tobacco use. Most users of novel smokeless tobacco products also concurrently smoked combustible tobacco products. Smokeless tobacco use was associated with lower perception of harm from all tobacco products and protobacco social influences, indicating the need to change youth perceptions about the use of all tobacco products and to engage pediatricians in tobacco use prevention and cessation interventions. HubMed – addiction

Brief meditation training induces smoking reduction.

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 Aug 5;
Tang YY, Tang R, Posner MI

More than 5 million deaths a year are attributable to tobacco smoking, but attempts to help people either quit or reduce their smoking often fail, perhaps in part because the intention to quit activates brain networks related to craving. We recruited participants interested in general stress reduction and randomly assigned them to meditation training or a relaxation training control. Among smokers, 2 wk of meditation training (5 h in total) produced a significant reduction in smoking of 60%; no reduction was found in the relaxation control. Resting-state brain scans showed increased activity for the meditation group in the anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex, brain areas related to self-control. These results suggest that brief meditation training improves self-control capacity and reduces smoking. HubMed – addiction

Assessment of Therapeutic Potential of Amantadine in Methamphetamine Induced Neurotoxicity.

Neurochem Res. 2013 Aug 6;
Thrash-Williams B, Ahuja M, Karuppagounder SS, Uthayathas S, Suppiramaniam V, Dhanasekaran M

Methamphetamine epidemic has a broad impact on world’s health care system. Its abusive potential and neurotoxic effects remain a challenge for the anti-addiction therapies. In addition to oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis, excitotoxicity is also involved in methamphetamine induced neurotoxicity. The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) type of glutamate receptor is thought to be one of the predominant mediators of excitotoxicity. There is growing evidence that NMDA receptor antagonists could be one of the therapeutic options to manage excitotoxicity. Amantadine, a well-tolerated and modestly effective antiparkinsonian agent, was found to possess NMDA antagonistic properties and has shown to release dopamine from the nerve terminals. The current study aimed to evaluate the effect of amantadine pre-treatment against methamphetamine induced neurotoxicity. Results showed that methamphetamine treatment had depleted striatal dopamine, generated of reactive oxygen species and decreased activity of complex I in the mitochondria. Interestingly, amantadine, at high dose (10 mg/kg), did not prevent dopamine depletion moreover it exacerbated the behavioral manifestations of methamphetamine toxicity such as akinesia and catalepsy. Only lower dose of amantadine (1 mg/kg) produced significant scavenging of the reactive oxygen species induced by methamphetamine. Overall results from the present study suggest that amantadine should not be used concomitantly with methamphetamine as it may results in excessive neurotoxicity. HubMed – addiction

ASAM Magazine: The Voice of Addiction Medicine.

J Addict Med. 2013 Jul-Aug; 7(4): 304-5

HubMed – addiction

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