Addiction & Health
Volume:11 Issue: 4, Autumn 2019

Among the three pharmacological agents available for alcohol de-addiction, acamprosate and naltrexone are considered anti-craving agents. Among these two, acamprosate is better tolerated, has low abuse potential, and is safe in overdose. But the mechanism of action of acamprosate still remains unclear. Case Report: This case report gives a description of a 46-year-old male patient diagnosed with alcohol dependence syndrome with prior admissions and failed treatments with naltrexone and baclofen. He developed skin reaction after relapsing with alcohol use while receiving acamprosate therapy. The severity of the adverse effects varied with the amount of alcohol consumed by the patient. This suggests the possibility of deterrent-like action of acamprosate in our patient. The symptoms reduced after abstinence from alcohol and the patient was continued on acamprosate and relapse prevention therapy (RPT).

Clinicians should consider the possible deterrent effect of acamprosate and manage such patients accordingly.

Alcohol use and drug injection are prevalent among homeless youths. The aim of this study wasto identify the associated factors of alcohol consumption and drug injection among homeless youths aged18-29 years.

Data on 202 homeless youths (111 males and 91 females) were collected using a standardizedquestionnaire and face-to-face interview. Lasso logistic regression was applied to determine the impact ofassociated factors on alcohol consumption and drug injection.

The mean age of the participants was 26.30 ± 3.19 years. Also, the prevalence of alcoholconsumption and drug injection was 33.0% [95% confidence interval (CI): 30-36] and 4.0% (95% CI: 0-8),respectively; 6 people (3.0%) consumed alcohol and injected drugs at the same time. Correlates of alcoholconsumption and drug injection were male sex [odds ratio (OR)Alc = 5.7], age (ORAlc = 0.96 and ORDI = 0.98),bachelor or higher education level (ORAlc = 1.34), non-Iranian nationality (ORAlc = 0.05 and ORDI = 0.18),food score (ORDI = 0.92), smoking (ORAlc = 2.05), substance use (ORAlc = 1.12), opposite sex relationship(ORAlc = 1.6), homosexual relationship (ORAlc = 3.56 and ORDI = 2.69), and mental disorder (ORAlc = 0.99).

Based on our findings, it seems that the homeless youth are more desired to use alcohol and druginjection, whereas the prevalence of alcohol consumption and drug injection in homeless youth was higherthan general youth population in Iran. Therefore, some suitable solutions are needed to prevent thehomelessness. Also, the effective variables that were identified in this study for alcohol use and drug injectioncan help design and implement beneficial interventions.

Empathy is defined as the ability to simulate the mental states of others. Recent studies havedemonstrated empathy-like behaviors in other animals including rats and mice. The objective of the currentstudy was to evaluate the effect of acute administration of morphine and naloxone on cognition andnociception changes following observing conspecifics undergoing nociceptive stimulus.

Adult male Wistar rats were used (n = 8 for each group). One cagemate received formalin injectioninto the hindpaw five times within a nine-day period and the other cagemate observed the pain while beingpretreated with saline, morphine, or naloxone [10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal (i.p.)]. Pain behaviors, anxiety-likebehaviour, locomotion, balance and muscle strength were evaluated in the observer animals.

Observing a cagemate in pain increased anxiety-like behavior and reduced thermal pain threshold in theobserver animals. Administration of morphine reversed these effects and naloxone did not affect the responses.

Results of the current study reveal an important role for opioid receptors (ORs) in empathy forpain, so that activation of this system dampens the empathy-like responses.

Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are instrumental in controlling opioid misuse,but opioid users have increasingly shifted to cocaine, creating a different set of medical problems. Whileopioid use results in multiple medical comorbidities, findings of the existing studies reported singlecomorbidities rather than a set, and furthermore, those findings are often conflicting because of the lack ofcontrolling for other substances in the analysis when combined use of substance creates synergistic effects.On the other hand, the findings from cocaine use are mainly related to kidney and heart problems, which lackspecificity. Because medical comorbidities from opioid and cocaine use are very different, it is imperative toinvestigate medical comorbidities from opioids and cocaine in order to minimize negative effects fromPDMPs. Therefore, this study attempts to discover sets of medical comorbidities from opioid and cocaine useby controlling for other substances in the analysis.

A data mining technique, association rule mining algorithm, was employed to discover sets ofmedical comorbidities using electronic medical records. This method is ideal to discover co-occurringmedical comorbidities.

Opioid use was associated with a set of [high diastolic blood pressure (DBP), abnormal specificgravity], [high body mass index (BMI), low blood gas] among others. Cocaine use correlated with [highcreatine kinase (CK), high blood urea nitrogen (BUN)], [high CK, cardiopulmonary] among others.

The findings of this study addresses some of the conflicting findings by eliminating multidrugand reports sets of medical comorbidities from opioid and cocaine use

The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of disordered internet use amongadolescent university students and its association with various health complaints and behaviours, and mostimportantly to examine the psychometric properties of 9-item Internet Disorder Scale-Short Form (IDS9-SF)using factor analyses and Rasch analysis.

A total of 1988 university students aged 18 to 25 years were selected via a multi-stage stratifiedrandom sampling technique among university students in Istanbul, Turkey (September 2017 to February2018). Data collected included socio-demographics, lifestyle and dietary habits, and the 9-item IDS9-SF.Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics, multivariate analyses, factor analyses, path analysis, andRasch analysis.

Using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the study investigated the latent structure of the IDS9-SFinstrument and results supported its reliability and validity. The prevalence of disordered internet use was18.3% in the sample. There were significant differences between those who had disordered internet use andthose who did not in gender, family income, school performance, number of bedrooms at home, and numberof people living at home, as well as internet use duration. Using multivariate regression analysis, keypredictors of disordered internet use included (among others): gender, body mass index (BMI), householdincome, number of people living at home, having a computer at home, internet facilities, duration of internetuse, sleeping hours, frequency of eating fast food, watching television, headache, hurting eyes, tired eyes, andhearing problems. Rash analysis demonstrated that four of the nine items (2, 3, 6, and 7) were more difficultfor individuals to endorse compared to other items.

Problems arising from excessive internet use were apparent among the study sample and theIDS9-SF is a valid and reliable measure for assessing disordered internet use among Turkish adolescentpopulation

This study aimed to explore the barriers and enablers to quitting khat from the perspective ofusers and the barriers and enablers to supporting users to quit from the perspective of healthcareprofessionals (HCPs).

The present qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews and the TheoreticalDomains Framework (TDF) to collect and analyse data.

Overall, 10 khat users and 3 professionals were interviewed. Beliefs about the consequences ofcontinued use facilitated user’s decisions to quit. Social influences were both a barrier and an enabler. Forprofessionals, the social influence of other colleagues and working together was key in enabling them tosupport clients. Social/professional role and identity was also an important enabler, as professionals sawsupporting users to quit as an integral part of their role. A range of behaviour change techniques wasidentified as potential ways in which quitting attempts could be more successful, from the perspective ofusers and professionals.

The study reveals the complexity of khat chewing and quitting from the perspective of khat users,such as the varied influence of family and friends. It also identifies the many barriers and enablers thatprofessionals experience when supporting individuals to quit, such as working with other professionals.There is little evidence for the effectiveness of current services provided for quitting khat or little informationoutlining how they were developed. Current services would benefit from evaluating the effectiveness of theinterventions using established methodology. Recommendations have been provided for practice in the fieldof substance misuse.

Heavy vehicle drivers spend a great deal of time away from their families. This issue and other difficulties around their job may increase risky behaviors among them. The current study aims to investigate the prevalence of opium drugs, stimulants, cannabis, and alcohol use 12 hours before driving among heavy vehicle drivers.

We selected two sites that were in charge of medical examination of drivers and recruited 363 drivers of heavy vehicles (trucks, trailers, and buses). We asked drivers about total number of drivers they knew and number of drivers who experienced use of different types of drugs. The data were analyzed using Network Scale Up Method (NSUM).

Mean of age and job experience was 43.28 ± 10.04 years and 16.07 ± 9.67 years, respectively. The highest and lowest prevalence of drug use related to opium-based drugs at 12.8% to 14.0% and simulants at 1.97% to 2.84%, respectively. The prevalence of alcohol use 12 hours before driving was 4%.

12-hour before driving prevalence of opium-based drugs among drivers was high. This might put them in higher risk of road accidents. There is a need to design appropriate educational programs for them.

Critical analysis of new evidence in medical sciences relies on statistics in terms of correlation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the correlation coefficients among the behavioral features in the offspring of morphine-abstinent parent(s).

The offspring of various types of parental morphine-exposure were divided into 4 groups including offspring of healthy parents (CTL), offspring of paternal morphine-abstinence (PMA), offspring of maternal morphine-abstinence (MMA), and offspring of both morphine-abstinence (BMA). Pain perception, depression-like behavior, and avoidance memory in the offspring were quantified. The logical structure of association was measured using the Pearson correlation analysis.

A strong correlation was observed between pain and depressive-like behavior in female and male offspring of healthy parents. Moreover, in the male and female offspring of healthy parents and BMA, no significant correlation was observed between avoidance memory and pain behavior or depressive-like behavior. However, in the offspring of MMA, a strong correlation was observed between avoidance memory and depressive-like behavior.

The results of the study signified the importance of correlation analysis in addictive behavior. The results revealed that the pattern of correlation of the behavior of the offspring of MMA and PMA differed