Latest Stimulants Stories

DENVER, Nov. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP) is sad to learn of the death of Bubba Smith. Our condolences go out to his family, friends and fans. The recent news reports regarding the fact that the medication phentermine was a contributing factor to his death are concerning and bring to the forefront the importance of using such medications as prescribed. While the specific details of Bubba Smith's overdose have not been released, we feel that...

Canadian scientists also confirm previous research showing possible link between cannabis dependence and schizophrenia In the first worldwide study of its kind, scientists from Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found evidence that heavy methamphetamine users might have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia. This finding was based on a large study comparing the risk among methamphetamine users not only to a group that did not use drugs, but also to heavy users of...

Canadian scientists also confirm previous research showing possible link between cannabis dependence and schizophrenia TORONTO, Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - In the first worldwide study of its kind, scientists from Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found evidence that heavy methamphetamine users might have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia. This finding was based on a large study comparing the risk among methamphetamine users not only to a group that...

Amphetamine use in adolescence can cause neurobiological imbalances and increase risk-taking behaviour, and these effects can persist into adulthood, even when subjects are drug free. These are the conclusions of a new study using animal models conducted by McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) researcher Dr. Gabriella Gobbi and her colleagues. The study, published today in The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, is one of the first to shed light on how long-term amphetamine...

Cigarettes and alcohol serve as gateway drugs, which people use before progressing to the use of marijuana and then to cocaine and other illicit substances; this progression is called the "gateway sequence" of drug use. An article in Science Translational Medicine by Amir Levine, MD, Denise Kandel, PhD; Eric Kandel, MD; and colleagues at Columbia University Medical Center provides the first molecular explanation for the gateway sequence. They show that nicotine causes specific changes in the...

The poor safety profile of the smoking-cessation drug varenicline (Chantix™) makes it unsuitable for first-line use, according to a study published in the Nov. 2 edition of the journal PLoS One, an online publication of the Public Library of Science. Varenicline, which already carries a "black box warning" from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), showed a substantially increased risk of reported depression or suicidal behavior compared to other smoking-cessation treatments,...

According to a new study, the smoking-cessation drug varenicline (Chantix) carries too many risks and should be a last-resort option for trying to quit the habit. Researchers said that varenicline showed a substantially increased risk of reported depression or suicidal behavior compared to other smoking-cessation treatments. The team said varenicline was eight times more likely to result in reported case of suicidal behavior or depression than other stop-smoking-aids. "Our study...

NIDA-funded research in mice shows that nicotine primes the brain to enhance cocaine's effects A landmark study in mice identifies a biological mechanism that could help explain how tobacco products could act as gateway drugs, increasing a person's future likelihood of abusing cocaine and perhaps other drugs as well, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health. The study is the first to show that nicotine might prime the brain to...

GENEVA, Switzerland, November 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- In an article published today in the European Respiratory Journal, results from a study on electronic cigarettes show users get as much nicotine from this product as smokers usually get from tobacco cigarettes. The study, by researchers from the Universities of Geneva and Auckland, reports levels of cotinine (a product of the degradation of nicotine by the liver) in users of electronic cigarettes. This is the...

A research team led by investigators at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute has demonstrated the first rapid measurements of dopamine release in a human brain and provided preliminary evidence that the neurotransmitter can be tracked in its movement between brain cells while a subject expresses decision-making behavior. "In an experiment where we measured dopamine release while a subject made investment decisions in a stock market trading game, we showed that dopamine tracks...