Methylphenidate: Abuse in Europe.
Methylphenidate: abuse in Europe.
Prescrire Int. 2013 Feb; 22(135): 47
In Europe, methylphenidate consumption is rising at an alarming rate. Reports of abuse and addiction are also increasing. HubMed – addiction
Factors associated with a negative outcome of medication-overuse headache: A 3-year follow-up (the ‘CARE’ protocol).
Cephalalgia. 2013 Feb 26;
Sances G, Galli F, Ghiotto N, Allena M, Guaschino E, Frustaci A, Nappi G, Tassorelli C
AimTo evaluate factors associated with a negative outcome in a 3-year follow-up of subjects diagnosed with medication-overuse headache (MOH) (revised-ICHD-II criteria).MethodsAll consecutive patients entering the center’s inpatient detoxification program were analyzed in a prospective, non-randomized fashion. All participants were assessed by a neurologist using an ad hoc patient record form. Personality was assessed using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-2, Chi-square test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and odds ratios (OR) were calculated as appropriate.ResultsOne-hundred and fifty patients completed the follow-up (79.3% females, age 46.40?±?11.31 years): 13 never stopped their drug overuse (A), 38 stopped their overuse, but relapsed at least once (B), and 99 stopped and never relapsed (C). The Group A patients differed from those in B?+?C as they were more frequently single (OR 0.134; p?=?0.007) and unemployed (OR 3.273; p?=?0.04), took a higher number of drug doses (p?HubMed – addiction
THC reduces the anticipatory nucleus accumbens response to reward in subjects with a nicotine addiction.
Transl Psychiatry. 2013; 3: e234
Jansma JM, van Hell HH, Vanderschuren LJ, Bossong MG, Jager G, Kahn RS, Ramsey NF
Recent evidence has implicated the endocannabinoid (eCB) system in nicotine addiction. The eCB system also has an important role in reward mechanisms, and nicotine addiction has been associated with aberrant reward processing. Motivated by this evidence, we tested the hypothesis that eCB modulation of reward processing is altered in subjects with a nicotine addiction (NAD). For this purpose, we compared reward-related activity in NAD with healthy controls (HC) in a pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study using ?(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) administration to challenge the eCB system. Eleven HC and 10 NAD participated in a 3-T functional MRI (fMRI) study with a double-blind, cross-over, placebo-controlled design, using a Monetary Incentive Delay (MID) paradigm with three reward levels. Reward activity in the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) and caudate putamen during anticipation and feedback of reward was compared after THC and placebo. fMRI results indicated a significant reduction of reward anticipation activity in the NAcc in NAD after THC administration, which was not present in HC. This is indicated by a significant group by drug by reward interaction. Our data show that THC significantly reduces the NAcc response to monetary reward anticipation in NAD. These results suggest that nicotine addiction is associated with altered eCB modulation of reward processing in the NAcc. This study adds important human data to existing evidence implicating the eCB system in nicotine addiction. HubMed – addiction
Association between a 15q25 gene variant, nicotine-related habits, lung cancer and COPD among 56?307 individuals from the HUNT study in Norway.
Eur J Hum Genet. 2013 Feb 27;
Gabrielsen ME, Romundstad P, Langhammer A, Krokan HE, Skorpen F
Genetic studies have shown an association between single-nucleotide polymorphisms on chromosome 15q25 and smoking-related traits and diseases, such as quantity of smoking, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). A discussion has centred on the variants and their effects being directly disease related or indirect via nicotine addiction. To address these discrepancies, we genotyped the single-nucleotide polymorphism rs16969968 in the CHRNA5/A3/B4 gene cluster at chromosome 15q25, in 56?307 individuals from a large homogenous population-based cohort, the North Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT) in Norway. The variant was examined in relation to four different outcomes: lung cancer, loss of lung function equivalent to that of COPD, smoking behaviour and the use of smokeless tobacco (snus). Novel associations were found between rs16969968 and the motivational factor for starting to use snus, and the quantity of snus used. Our results also confirm and extend previous findings for associations between rs16969968 and lung cancer, loss of lung function equivalent to that of COPD, and smoking quantity. Our data suggest a role for rs16969968 in nicotine addiction, and the novel association with snus strengthens this observation.European Journal of Human Genetics advance online publication, 27 February 2013; doi:10.1038/ejhg.2013.26. HubMed – addiction