Scientists Closer to Finding Inherited Traits in Addiction

Thursday, February 07, 2019

Scientists have concluded that the risk of addiction is a complex combination of both genes and environmental influences. Despite advances in the science of genetics, it has been extremely difficult to identify the possible genetic contributions to addiction because it likely involves a combination of inherited variants in multiple genes. To find answers related to nicotine addiction, for example, scientists must study complex and nuanced questions like, do certain genetic variants play a role in initiation of smoking and others play a role in behaviors leading to heavy smoking? Inherited... (Continue Reading)

NATIONAL DRUG & ALCOHOL FACTS WEEK

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Each week it seems as if a new article is published with emphasis on the detrimental impact caused by consuming some type of drug. In recognition of National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week, the Region 4 Prevention Resource Center (PRC4) at East Texas Council On Alcoholism And Drug Abuse (ETCADA) would like to extend an opportunity to provide a brief synopsis of research and data highlighting the extent of adolescent drug and alcohol use in Northeast Texas.Underage drinking continues to be one of the most serious public health issues within... (Continue Reading)

Odds of dying from accidental opioid overdose in the U.S. surpass those of dying in car accident

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

(CNN) - For the first time on record the odds of accidentally dying from an opioid overdose in the United States are now greater than those of dying in an automobile accident.The grim finding comes from the National Safety Council which analyzed preventable injury and fatality statistics from 2017.The NSC also found the lifetime odds of death for this form of overdose were greater than the risk of death from falls, pedestrian incidents, drowning and fire.Examining a variety of federal and state data the NSC found the lifetime odds of... (Continue Reading)

Surgeon general warns against e-cigarettes, vaping

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. surgeon general is warning against the use of e-cigarettes, declaring Tuesday that any "use among young people is unsafe" and telling parents to be on the lookout for vaping devices that look like computer flash drives.It's a considerably sterner and more specific warning than in 2016, when the same federal office identified vaping as an emerging public health concern. Since then, studies have shown a sharp uptick among young people using the devices and companies that sell the liquid nicotine in flavors that appeal to teens.U.S.... (Continue Reading)

U.S. life expectancy declines again, a dismal trend not seen since World War I

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Life expectancy in the United States declined again in 2017, the government said Thursday in a bleak series of reports that showed a nation still in the grip of escalating drug and suicide crises. The data continued the longest sustained decline in expected life span at birth in a century, an appalling performance not seen in the United States since 1915 through 1918. That four-year period included World War I and a flu pandemic that killed 675,000 people in the United States and perhaps 50 million worldwide. Public health and... (Continue Reading)