1,720,969 research outputs found
Trattamento della dipendenza da alcol e oppiacei in donne in gravidanza: una mini-review
No full textRole of Environmental Factors in Cocaine Addiction
No full textDecades of experimentation with a variety of pharmacological treatments have identified some effective therapies for heroin addiction but not for cocaine addiction. This may be due, at least in part, to our incomplete understanding of the factors involved in the differential vulnerability to these addictions, which are often considered mere variations of the same disorder. Indeed, the preference for one drug or another has been variously attributed to factors such as drug availability or price, to the addict's lifestyle, or even to chance. Yet, there is evidence of substance-specific influences on drug taking. Data from twin registries, for example, suggest that a sizeable portion of the variability in the susceptibility to drug abuse is due to environmental factors that are unique to opiates or to psychostimulants. Very little is known about the nature of these environmental influences. We report here original data, based on retrospective reports in human addicts, indicating that the setting of drug taking exerts a differential influence on heroin versus cocaine use. We also review additional clinical and pre-clinical data pointing to fundamental differences in the way in which the environment interacts with cocaine relative to heroin and other addictive drugs. These findings - as well as other evidence, including the lack of pharmacological treatments effective for both cocaine and heroin addiction - support the notion that much is to be gained by taking into account the substance-specific aspects of drug addiction. At a therapeutic level, for example, it appears reasonable to propose that cognitive-behavioral approaches should be tailored in a substance-specific manner in order to allow the addict to anticipate, and cope with, the risks associated to the various environmental settings of drug use
Polydrug abuse by intravenous use of heroin and tropicamide-containing eyedrops
No full textBACKGROUND: Drug abuse is rarely limited to a single substance; polydrug use is the norm rather than the exception. In many cases, the misuse of potentially psychoactive substances can lead to serious intoxications and results in addictive behavior. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 22-year-old heroin-addicted woman presented in our clinic reporting a 2-year history of intravenous injection of an eyedrop solution containing 1% tropicamide, an antimuscarinic agent. She reported injecting tropicamide because it attenuated symptoms and signs of opiate withdrawal and it also has hallucinogenic and euphorigenic effects. Despite the large amounts (up to 1.5 g), the rapidity of injection, and the long-term use, tropicamide was relatively well tolerated, without life-threatening consequences.An outpatient detoxification program was performed without any sign or symptom caused by discontinuing tropicamide. CONCLUSIONS: The present case claims a role for pharmacological interactions, in addition to rewarding effects, in influencing drug association in polyabuse pattern.Moreover, this case underlines the need for physicians to be aware of the potential emergence of tropicamide as a drug of misuse, to prevent further harm. Copyright © 2013 by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
EFFECTSOF FAAH RS324420 SNP IN CO-MORBID ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE AND POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
No full textFetal alcohol syndrome disorders: Experience on the field. The Lazio study preliminary report
No full textIn Italy, little is known about the problems related to alcohol drinking during pregnancy. In this paper, the Italian literature about this subject is briefly reviewed. This first Italian experience of a field study, aimed to the assessment of the prevalence of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in an area in the Rome province (Lazio region) is reported. This in-field study was performed in the school years 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 in cooperation with American researchers, most from University of New Mexico (Albuquerque), and Italian researchers from University "la Sapienza" of Rome. First grade children (n° = 1086) of primary school were contacted to enter in the in-school study for the detection of FAS and FASD and were examined by the experts team of clinicians, pediatrics, psychologists. Preliminary consideration and the implications of this study for FASD prevention are discussed
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and the study of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. The International Consortium
No full textFetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a large and rapidly increasing public health problem worldwide. Aside the full-blown FAS, multiple terms are used to describe the continuum of effects that result from prenatal exposure to alcohol, including the whole fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The revised Institute of Medicine (IOM) Diagnostic Classification System and the diagnostic criteria for FAS and FASD are reported, as well as the formation of the four-state FAS International Consortium and its aims, as the development of an information base that systematizes data collection that helps to determine at-high-risk populations, and to implement and test a scientific-based prevention/intervention model for at risk women. The Consortium was further enlarged, with the inclusion of some more states (including Italy), leading to the formation of the International Consortium for the Investigation of FASD. The objectives of the Consortium are reported, as well as its previous activities, the South Africa and Italy Projects (active case ascertainment initiatives), and its future activities
Personality study in chronic italian alcoholics: findings about psychopathology and cognitive performances
No full textClinical delineation of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) in Italian children: Comparison and contrast with other racial/ethnic groups and implications for diagnosis and prevention
No full textIn Italy, little is known about the spectrum of adverse fetal effects related to maternal alcohol use during pregnancy. In this paper, we report on the phenotype of Italian children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). These data were gathered as part of a field study assessing the prevalence of FASD in children in an in-school study in a rural area near Rome. The purposes of this paper are: (1) to completely characterize the clinical phenotype of a large cohort of Italian children with FASD; (2) to correlate and contrast the phenotype of this population with that observed in other populations and reported in the medical literature; (3) to discuss the drinking habits of Italian women, before, during and after pregnancy; and (4) to suggest mechanisms for intervention and prevention of FASD based on data gathered from this study
The role of setting for ketamine abuse: clinical and preclinical evidence
No full textDrug abuse is often seen as a unitary phenomenon, partly as a result of the discovery over the past three decades of shared mechanisms of action for addictive substances. Yet the pattern of drug taking is often very different from drug to drug. This is particularly evident in the case of 'club drugs', such as ketamine. Although the number of ketamine abusers is relatively small in the general population, it is quite substantial in some settings. In particular, ketamine abuse is almost exclusively limited to clubs and large music parties, which suggests a major role of context in modulating the reward effects of this drug. This review focuses on recent preclinical and clinical findings, including previously unpublished data, that provide evidence that, even under controlled conditions, ketamine reward is a function of the setting of drug taking
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