News on Addiction and Recovery

Scientific advances could help fight drug addiction but new invasive treatments such as inserting electrodes into the brain raise "ethical concerns," the EU's drug monitoring centre said Wednesday. "While research in neuroscience may hold the promise of new treatment possibilities, many of the approaches reviewed today remain untested and raise important ethical concerns," the centre said in a report. The centre warned particularly about the ethics of carrying out neurosurgery on drug addicts and "deep brain stimulation, where electrical stimulating electrodes are inserted into the parts of the brain ...

Nearly twice as many US army soldiers today compared to six years ago are either alcoholic or engage in damaging behavior such as binge drinking, according to army statistics. Data shows more than 11 soldiers per 1,000 were diagnosed as suffering from alcoholism or alcohol abuse problems in the first six months of this year, a jump from 6.1 per 1,000 in 2003. Experts blame the rise on repeated tours in war zones. On Friday, Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, told USA ...

Teenagers who live with alcoholic fathers or even dads who drink in moderation are more likely to have used drugs or had drinks themselves in the past year, a US study showed Thursday. Around one in five children aged 12 to 17 whose fathers were teetotalers in the past year had alcoholic beverages themselves, compared with a third of youngsters whose dads drank in moderation, said the study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Among adolescents whose fathers abused alcohol, nearly four in 10 had drinks ...