Drug Addiction Treatment

Archive for the ‘Nicotine’ Category

Researchers point out that environmental signals stimulate craving.

Researchers found that nicotine, the addictive component in cigarettes, “fool” the brain and memory to create associations between environmental cues and smoking behavior. This may explain why former smokers miss when lighting a cigarette in a bar or after eating.

The findings of researchers from Baylor College of Medicine published in the September 10 edition of the journal Neuron.

“Our brain normally establishes these associations between things that give support to our existence and environmental signals so that we have behaviors that lead us to have successful lives. The brain sends a signal of reward when we act in a way that contributes to our welfare “said co-author, Dr. John A. Dani, professor of neuroscience at BCM, in a press release from the university. “However, nicotine usurps this subconscious learning process in the brain, so we started to behave as if smoking was a positive action.” Read the rest of this entry »

A team of researchers from the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) has participated in research that has shown that direct contact with nicotine may produce localized irritation, sources from the institution in Valencia.

Experts have found that nicotine activates a molecular receptor that is involved in the processes of inflammation and pain. This receptor, called TRPA1, is located in the nerve endings in the skin, as explained in the latest issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience.

The work, which has been tested in mice, indicates that activation of this receptor, an excitatory ion channel, may be responsible for the irritation produced by nicotine in anti smoking therapies when applied locally by nasal sprays or using patches over skin.

CSIC researcher Felix Viana of the Church said that “it was thought that the irritation produced by nicotine was due solely to stimulation of nicotine receptors already known.” “We – he continued – we have shown that nicotine can directly activate TRPA1 protein, which acts as a trigger of neuronal signals that transmit sensations of burning and pain.” Read the rest of this entry »

There is no single explanation for why teens start smoking, so concentrate on a single risk factor does not help you better understand why young people smoke, according to a study conducted in Canada.

This is the conclusion of the team of Dr. Jennifer O’Loughlin, who published the results of their study in American Journal of Epidemiology.

O’Loughlin, of the University of Montreal, Quebec, suggests that efforts to prevent smoking should take into account “the individual factors such as age, self-esteem, alcohol use and school performance.”

They should also be considered “contextual factors such as parental smoking and friends, and school smoking policies,” the expert told Reuters Health.

The team investigated how these factors modify the onset smoking in 877 students (half male) who had 13 years at baseline.

Over the next five years, the team interviewed every three months to students on the consumption of snuff and other factors potentially associated with smoking initiation. During this period, 421 (48 percent) began smoking, 87 of them (21 percent), daily. Read the rest of this entry »

A Finnish research was based on 81 previous studies confirmed that snuff addicts are more likely to suffer discomfort in the lower back. Teens, the most affected

After reviewing existing research, Finnish experts concluded that smoking is “modestly” associated with the risk of pain in the lumbar spine and the effects would be “at least partly reversible.”

These findings were published in the January issue of American Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Rahman Shiri, the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, and colleagues wanted to know if smoking increases the risk of low back pain, a problem that affects about 8 out of 10 adults at some point in their lives.

Previous analysis of existing studies has reached different conclusions. While research suggests a relationship between smoking and back pain, another cast “unclear results.”

Finnish researchers identified and reviewed 81 studies conducted worldwide between 1966 and 2009, which included smokers, former smokers and people who had never smoked. They took account of back pain. Read the rest of this entry »

A study by the University of Pennsylvania said that treatments with these products extend over months that the recommended increase the chances of quitting.

Treatment with nicotine patches that are left in patients six months, and not the two recommendations would be much more effective in helping you quit smoking, according to new research published yesterday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study was conducted by the School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Caryn Lerman, the author remarked that these new findings should serve to modify and give a new spin on smoking cessation treatments.

The research involved 568 people who used the nicotine patch Nicoderm Code and after six months, patches inactive. Read the rest of this entry »