Take a segment of the population prone to poor impulse control and judgment, who, biologically, are at the peak of risk-taking and pleasure-seeking behavior, put them all in one place – welcome to college. Life on most college campuses includes a vibrant party culture where […]
Seventy-one percent of adults in the United States enjoy an alcoholic beverage on occasion according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The vast majority of them do not suffer from dependence or addiction. A study by the Mayo Clinic, however, found […]
In a move that mystified many researchers, the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) refused yet again, to loosen marijuana restrictions by reclassifying the plant as Schedule II or lower. Designated a Schedule I Drug since the passage of the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, the […]
By mapping human genomes, scientists unlocked a powerful new tool altering the approach many healthcare professionals have in caring for their patients – Genetic Metabolism Testing. Personalized Medicine, discussed in Part 1 of this series, is the treatment of a chronic illness tailored to a […]
The Human Genome Project was completed almost 20 years ago by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Department of Energy and mapped the 3 billion units of DNA that make up the human genome. Such an enormous undertaking took scientists more than […]
Amid the chaos of ongoing presidential campaigns and their nonstop contribution to the 24-hour news cycle, President Obama quietly made history. With nearly eight years in office, Obama has done more than any other president to call attention to the fact that addiction is a […]
Most people assume that anyone who regularly drinks too much is either alcohol dependent or an alcoholic. This is a widely held belief for a number of complex and culturally engrained reasons that there’s simply not enough time to parse out at the moment. […]
For many people, the dividing line between casual, social drinking, and alcoholism is the ability to stop consuming alcohol before it becomes too much. Addiction experts might suggest that’s an oversimplified version of addiction and they’d be right. There are other factors, such as genetic […]
Just one year after executives at Purdue Pharma, the makers of OxyContin, pleaded guilty in federal court and paid $635 million in fines for misleading doctors about the addictive properties of its bestselling painkiller, a tiny medical clinic opened near the Los Angeles neighborhood of […]
Dr. Deborah Serani, a licensed psychologist, professor and award-winning author made a stark confession to her audience at New York’s Adelphi University. “Dad’s gun is in the left hand side of his dresser drawer. When everybody leaves, go in and get it,” she said, narrating […]
