A new online training course will help health care professionals conduct fast, evidence-based alcohol screening and brief intervention with youth. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, produced the course jointly with Medscape, a leading provider of online continuing medical education. “Just in time for back-to-school physicals, physicians, physician assistants, and...

NIH scientists identify possible treatment target for type 2 diabetes Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have clarified in rodent and test tube experiments the role that inflammation plays in type 2 diabetes, and revealed a possible molecular target for treating the disease. The researchers say some natural messenger chemicals in the body are involved in an inflammatory chain...

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory report in the current Journal of Neurochemistry (Volume 78, Number 5) that they used gene therapy techniques to increase levels of dopamine D2 (DRD2) receptors and reduce drinking in rats previously trained to self-administer alcohol. Panayotis Thanos, Ph.D., Nora Volkow, Ph.D., and colleagues used a partially inactivated virus as a...

Marijuana-like substances (endocannabinoids) intrinsic in animals and humans act at specific receptors on the blood vessel wall to produce vasodilation, the generalized blood vessel dilation seen in many patients with advanced liver cirrhosis, according to an article by George Kunos, M.D., Ph.D., and colleagues in the July 1 issue of Nature Medicine (Volume 7, Number 7; Endocannabinoids acting at vascular...

Principal investigator Cheryl L. Perry, Ph.D., co-principal investigator Carolyn L. Williams, Ph.D., and colleagues at the University of Minnesota report in the July 18 American Journal of Public Health initial findings from Project Northland, a 3-year test in 24 Minnesota school districts of combined classroom and community interventions to prevent alcohol use by young adolescents. The researchers found that Project...

AUDs often untreated Alcohol use disorder, or AUD, is the medical diagnosis for problem drinking that causes mild to severe distress or harm. A new study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, reports that nearly one-third of adults in the United States have an AUD at some time...

Two to three brief training sessions can significantly increase pediatricians’ use of techniques for identifying and treating young people with potential alcohol, substance use, and mental health problems, according to a new study in a large pediatric primary care clinic. Collectively known as screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT), such techniques could be important tools for preventing and...

Deaths dropped by 4.2 percent community-wide over six years A criminal justice program that requires offenders convicted of alcohol-related offenses to stop drinking and submit to frequent alcohol testing with swift, certain, and modest sanctions for a violation was linked to a significant reduction in county-level mortality rates in South Dakota. These results came from a study funded by the...

A new online resource is now available to help people recognize and find high quality care for alcohol use disorder, which affects more than 15 million adults in the United States. The Alcohol Treatment Navigator, designed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, is a comprehensive, yet easy-to-use tool to...

What: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, announces that Kenneth J. Sher, Ph.D., will deliver the 22nd Annual Mark Keller Honorary Lecture. Dr. Sher is a nationally renowned scholar, researcher, and mentor whose work has greatly advanced our understanding of the etiology and course of alcohol use disorder (AUD), particularly...

Mouse study advances knowledge of habitual behavior pathophysiology Daily activities involve frequent transitions between habitual behaviors, such as driving home, and goal-directed behaviors, such as driving to a new destination on unfamiliar roads. An inability to shift between habitual and non-habitual behaviors has been implicated in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), addiction, and other disorders characterized by impaired decision-making. In a new...

Research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has identified brain patterns in humans that appear to underlie “resilient coping,” the healthy emotional and behavioral responses to stress that help some people handle stressful situations better than others. People encounter stressful situations and stimuli everywhere, every day, and studies have shown that long-term stress can contribute to a broad...

Media Advisory: Dr. Michael E. Charness to Deliver 21st Annual Mark Keller Honorary Lecture at the National Institutes of Health WHAT: The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, announces that Michael E. Charness, M.D., will deliver the 21st Annual Mark Keller Honorary Lecture. Dr. Charness is an internationally recognized neurologist and...

Dysregulated cellular response to estrogen and progesterone suspected. National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers have discovered molecular mechanisms that may underlie a woman’s susceptibility to disabling irritability, sadness, and anxiety in the days leading up to her menstrual period. Such premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) affects 2 to 5 percent of women of reproductive age, whereas less severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS)...

Note: This document is an archived feature. View the Strategic Plan: Fiscal Years 2024-2028 at https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/about-niaaa/strategic-plan-fiscal-years-2024-… As scientific advances continue to expand our understanding of how alcohol affects human health and point to new ways to address alcohol-related harm, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has released its 2017-2021 strategic plan for research. The new plan serves...

To listen to this discussion, visit https://nih.webex.com/nih/onstage/g.php?MTID=ec32f727d4423c79ab62e1aac9… Hosted by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Taking Stock of Advancing Technology for the Treatment and Prevention of Alcohol Use Disorder Chair - Ian Colrain 9:00 - 9:15 Introductions Discussions 9:15 - 9:40 Alcohol success stories. A good place to start is to review some of the progress that...

Scientists have been developing astounding new tools for exploring neural circuits that underlie brain function throughout the first five years of the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies ® (BRAIN) Initiative. Now, the NIH has announced its continued support for these projects by funding over 180 new BRAIN Initiative awards, bringing the total 2019 budget for...

New preclinical research reported in animal models shows that exposure to compounds found in marijuana called cannabinoids (CBs), which includes cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), during early pregnancy can cause malformations in the developing embryo. The research also demonstrated that co-exposure to CBs and alcohol increased the likelihood of birth defects involving the face and brain. The study, funded by...

Registration is now open for the 12 th annual National Drugs & Alcohol Chat Day, a live web chat between high school teenagers and addiction and mental health scientists. Chat Day will be held on January 24, during National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week ®, which runs from January 22–27, 2019. Registrations are confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis and...

Assessing the patterns of energy use and neuronal activity simultaneously in the human brain improves our understanding of how alcohol affects the brain, according to new research by scientists at the National Institutes of Health. The new approach for characterizing brain energetic patterns could also be useful for studying other neuropsychiatric diseases. A report of the findings is now online...