health 46

Recent trials have suggested high doses of the GABA-b agonist baclofen can be effective in the treatment of alcohol dependent patients. These studies, coupled with individual patient testimonies, have given baclofen a high public profile, prompting the French authorities in 2014 to give permission to physicians to prescribe high doses baclofen for alcohol-dependent patients, pending results from ongoing randomized clinical trials. Even before that permission, more than 200,000 persons had used baclofen "off label" in France alone. Baclofen is licenced for use as a skeletal muscle relaxant for spasms (spasticity). Now researchers from the Netherlands have carried out the largest randomised controlled trial (RCT) on baclofen for alcohol dependence so far. Their report, published in the peer-reviewed journal European Neuropsychopharmacology (December 2016), indicates that the effects of the drug may add little to the effect provided by psychosocial treatment. 151 alcoholi...

There is a common misperception that widespread marijuana use is limited to younger generations. However, the Baby Boomer generation has reported higher rates of substance use than any preceding generation. "Given the unprecedented aging of the U.S. population, we are facing a never before seen cohort of older adults who use recreational drugs," says Benjamin Han, MD, MPH, a geriatrician and health services researcher at the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research (CDUHR) and in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care at NYU Langone Medical Center (NYULMC). "With the increased availability of legalized marijuana, there is an urgent need to understand the prevalence of its use and also its effects among older generations," continued Dr. Han. "The paucity of knowledge in this area constrains the care for a changing demographic of older adults with higher rates of substance use." To address this, Dr. Han and his team led a study, "...

Tobacco smoking is a public health issue around the world, estimated to cause 5 million deaths annually. However, there are few data on the effects of long-term, low-intensity smoking and a perception among some people that such a level can be safe. Maki Inoue-Choi, Ph.D., M.S., of the National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Md., and coauthors examined associations between long-term smoking of fewer than one or 1 to 10 cigarettes per day with the risk of death among current and former smokers. The study included 290,215 older adults (ranging in age from 59 to 82) who completed the 2004-2005 questionnaire in the National Institutes of Health -- AARP Diet and Health Study. The questionnaire assessed lifetime smoking intensity during previous age periods from less than 15 years old to 70 or more. Among the group, there were 22,337 current smokers (7.7 percent), 156,405 former smokers (53.9 percent) and 111,473 never smokers (38.4 percent). Compared with individuals who never smok...