39 posts · 19,360 views
Dirk Hanson is a freelance science reporter and novelist. He is the author of "The Chemical Carousel: What Science Tells Us About Beating Addiction." He has written two previous books—"The New Alchemists: Silicon Valley and the Microlectronics Revolution," and "The Seventh Level: A Novel." He runs the Addiction Inbox blog, and is senior contributing editor for the online magazine The Fix.
Addiction Inbox
39 posts
Sort by Latest Post, Most Popular
View by Condensed, Full
- January 31, 2012
- 11:20 AM
- 112 views
Reward and Punish: Say Hello to Dopamine’s Leetle Friend
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Dopamine recruits a helper to track drug rewards.
Ah, dopamine. Whenever it seems like researchers have finally gotten a bead on how that tricky molecule modulates pleasure and reward, and the role in plays in the process of drug and alcohol addiction, along come new findings that rearrange its role, deepening and complicating our understanding of brain function.
We know that the ultimate site of dopamine activity caused by drugs is the ventral tegmental area, or VTA, and an associated ........ Read more »
Cohen, J., Haesler, S., Vong, L., Lowell, B., & Uchida, N. (2012) Neuron-type-specific signals for reward and punishment in the ventral tegmental area. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature10754
- November 17, 2011
- 02:10 PM
- 248 views
End of the Line for Prometa?
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Controversial meth treatment program fails in major study.
Prometa—the drug cocktail designed to combat addiction to cocaine and methamphetamine—has fallen flat on its face in a double-blind, placebo-controlled 108-day study just published in the journal Addiction. Dogged all along by a lack of published clinical data as well as major doubts about its success rates, Prometa has been a controversial treatment right from the start. In 2006, marketed heavily by anecdote and personal testimoni........ Read more »
Ling, W., Shoptaw, S., Hillhouse, M., Bholat, M., Charuvastra, C., Heinzerling, K., Chim, D., Annon, J., Dowling, P., & Doraimani, G. (2011) Double-blind placebo-controlled evaluation of the PROMETA™ protocol for methamphetamine dependence. Addiction. DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2011.03619.x
- November 14, 2011
- 01:37 PM
- 212 views
Researchers Eye a Cheap, Organic Alternative to Chantix for Smokers
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Meet cytisine, available in Bulgaria for 25 cents a pill.
A clear majority of American smokers say they want to quit. But each year, only a small percentage of them manage to do it. For individual smokers, the will is there, but what’s sometimes missing is the money.
For many smokers, cessation aids like nicotine patches and anti-craving medication are effective. But they are relatively costly, and insurance coverage for such products varies widely. Chantix, the top-of-the-line smoking ces........ Read more »
West R, Zatonski W, Cedzynska M, Lewandowska D, Pazik J, Aveyard P, & Stapleton J. (2011) Placebo-controlled trial of cytisine for smoking cessation. The New England journal of medicine, 365(13), 1193-200. PMID: 21991893
- November 2, 2011
- 06:33 PM
- 265 views
Marijuana: The New Generation
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
What’s in that “Spice” packet?
They first turned up in Europe and the U.K.; those neon-colored foil packets labeled “Spice,” sold in small stores and novelty shops, next to the 2 oz. power drinks and the caffeine pills. Unlike the stimulants known as mephedrone or M-Cat, or the several variations on the formula for MDMA—both of which have also been marketed as Spice and “bath salts”—the bulk of the new products in the Spice line were synthetic versions of cannabis. ........ Read more »
Fattore, L., & Fratta, W. (2011) Beyond THC: The New Generation of Cannabinoid Designer Drugs. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2011.00060
- October 23, 2011
- 06:42 PM
- 265 views
Decoding Dope
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Why marijuana gets you high, and hemp doesn’t.
Cannabis sativa comes in two distinct flavors—smokeable weed, and headache-inducing hemp. The difference between hemp and smokeable marijuana is simple: Hemp, used for fiber and seed, contains only a tiny amount of THC, the primary active ingredient in the kind of cannabis that gets you high. I am old enough to recall the sad saga of California hippies driving through my natal state of Iowa, and filling their trunks with “ditch weed”—wil........ Read more »
van Bakel H, Stout JM, Cote AG, Tallon CM, Sharpe AG, Hughes TR, & Page JE. (2011) The draft genome and transcriptome of Cannabis sativa. Genome biology, 12(10). PMID: 22014239
- August 5, 2011
- 12:56 PM
- 467 views
Cigarette Sadness
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
The chemistry of sorrow during nicotine withdrawal.
When you smoke a cigarette, nicotine pops into acetylcholine receptors in the brain, the adrenal glands, and the skeletal muscles, and you get a nicotine rush. Just like alcohol, a cigarette alters the transmission of several important chemical messengers in the brain. “These are not trivial responses,” said Professor Ovide Pomerleau of the University of Michigan Medical School. “It’s like lighting a match in a gasoline factory.”
E........ Read more »
Bacher, I., Houle, S., Xu, X., Zawertailo, L., Soliman, A., Wilson, A., Selby, P., George, T., Sacher, J., Miler, L.... (2011) Monoamine Oxidase A Binding in the Prefrontal and Anterior Cingulate Cortices During Acute Withdrawal From Heavy Cigarette Smoking. Archives of General Psychiatry, 68(8), 817-826. DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.82
- July 9, 2011
- 09:11 PM
- 527 views
Teachable Moments in the Life of a Cigarette Smoker
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Child surgery makes smoking parents more likely to try quitting.
Here’s a strange one: Doctors at Mayo Clinic wanted to find out whether children undergoing surgery had any effect on the smoking behavior of their parents. And it did—but the effect appears to be short-lived.
The Mayo researchers began from the already well-tested proposition that smokers who have surgery are more likely to quit smoking. In fact, they quit at twice the rate of smokers who haven’t had surgery. Not hard to........ Read more »
Shi, Y., & Warner, D. (2011) Pediatric Surgery and Parental Smoking Behavior. Anesthesiology, 115(1), 12-17. DOI: 10.1097/ALN.0b013e3182207bde
- July 5, 2011
- 07:42 PM
- 493 views
The Undiagnosed Epidemic of Incarceration
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Prison once again a place for addicts and the mentally ill.
Readers may remember the dark day of January 1, 2008, when the U.S. set an all-time record: One out of every 100 adults was behind bars. That’s more than 2.3 million people. That’s 25% of all the prisoners in the world—and the world includes some very nasty nations. What gives?
You know the answer: drug crimes. Can it really be a coincidence that over the past 40 years, ever since President Richard Nixon first declared war on ........ Read more »
Rich JD, Wakeman SE, & Dickman SL. (2011) Medicine and the epidemic of incarceration in the United States. The New England journal of medicine, 364(22), 2081-3. PMID: 21631319
- June 25, 2011
- 04:46 PM
- 529 views
That Pesky Gambling Question
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
The DSM-V is set to label problem gambling an addiction.
Nobody has ever bet enough on the winning horse.
— Unknown wise person
I used to gamble. Back when I did, I was also an active alcoholic and a chain smoker. Camel filters, if you’re wondering. And we had a running joke, my wife and I, although the humor leaked out of it for her pretty quickly. We would breach the doors of the gambling palace, and plunge into the dark, icy interior of a casino at Las Vegas or Tahoe, and stand on the........ Read more »
Shaffer HJ, & Martin R. (2011) Disordered gambling: etiology, trajectory, and clinical considerations. Annual review of clinical psychology, 483-510. PMID: 21219194
- June 3, 2011
- 08:45 PM
- 562 views
For Smokers, Nowhere to Run and Nowhere to Hide
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
(With love and apologies to Martha and the Vandellas.)
That wonderful song goes on to declare:
'Cause I know
You're no good for me
But you’ve become
A part of me.
The song is not about cigarette addiction, but it could be. Full Disclosure: I smoked cigarettes myself for almost 25 years. And then, after several failed attempts, I quit. I out myself on this subject because a paper from the May 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) decries what the authors call the “denorma........ Read more »
Colgrove J, Bayer R, & Bachynski KE. (2011) Nowhere Left to Hide? The Banishment of Smoking from Public Spaces. The New England journal of medicine. PMID: 21612464
- April 22, 2011
- 04:24 PM
- 200 views
Let’s Get Cellular: Meth Metabolism
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Speedy fruit flies metabolize glucose differently.
We know from the work of Nora Volkow and others that meth abusers have chronically low levels of dopamine D2 receptors in their brains. But what is going on in the rest of the body when methamphetamine addiction is running full force? A study of meth-crazed fruit flies, just published at PLoS ONE by researchers at the University of Illinois, Purdue, and elsewhere, took a whole-body approach, tracing the meth-induced cascade of chemical reactio........ Read more »
Sun, L., Li, H., Seufferheld, M., Walters, K., Margam, V., Jannasch, A., Diaz, N., Riley, C., Sun, W., Li, Y.... (2011) Systems-Scale Analysis Reveals Pathways Involved in Cellular Response to Methamphetamine. PLoS ONE, 6(4). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018215
- April 3, 2011
- 06:26 PM
- 598 views
When Smokers Move
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Is your new house a thirdhand smoke reservoir?
In the first published examination of thirdhand smoke pollution and exposure, researchers at San Diego State University discovered that non-smokers who move into homes purchased from smokers encounter significantly elevated nicotine levels in the air and dust of their new homes two months or more after moving in.
100 smoking households and 50 non-smoking households participated in the study, which was published in Tobacco Control. The researcher........ Read more »
Matt, G., Quintana, P., Zakarian, J., Fortmann, A., Chatfield, D., Hoh, E., Uribe, A., & Hovell, M. (2010) When smokers move out and non-smokers move in: residential thirdhand smoke pollution and exposure. Tobacco Control, 20(1). DOI: 10.1136/tc.2010.037382
- February 24, 2011
- 03:34 PM
- 702 views
Smoking and Adolescent Attention Deficit
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Are young smokers risking cognitive impairment as adults?
Call it “nicolescence.” It’s that time of life when certain 18-and-unders discover cigarettes. Most adult smokers begin their habit before the age of 19, and a majority of adolescents have tried cigarettes at least once. But for some of them—those who were “born to smoke,” in a sense—early exposure to nicotine may influence adolescent cognitive performance in ways that adult exposure to nicotine does not. Furthermore........ Read more »
Counotte, D., Goriounova, N., Li, K., Loos, M., van der Schors, R., Schetters, D., Schoffelmeer, A., Smit, A., Mansvelder, H., Pattij, T.... (2011) Lasting synaptic changes underlie attention deficits caused by nicotine exposure during adolescence. Nature Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1038/nn.2770
- January 30, 2011
- 03:52 PM
- 509 views
Smoking and the Slave Trade
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
To Africa and back again.
[Queen Nzinga (smoking a pipe) with Her Entourage, Kingdom of Kongo, 1670s]--------->
In the 17th Century, tobacco, the prototypical New World stimulant, was introduced to Africa by European traders. By 1607, tobacco was being cultivated in Sierra Leone, and in 1611 a Swiss doctor commented on how the soldiers of the “Kingdom of Kongo” fought hunger by grinding up tobacco leaves and setting them on fire, “so that a strong smoke is produced, which they inhale........ Read more »
Handler, J. (2009) The Middle Passage and the Material Culture of Captive Africans. Slavery , 30(1), 1-26. DOI: 10.1080/01440390802673773
- January 26, 2011
- 02:16 PM
- 544 views
Khat to the Chase
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Of mephedrone, bath salts, and impaired driving.
Automobile accidents are the ninth leading cause of death worlwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). More than a million people are killed on roads annually, and that number could rise to 2.5 million by 2020. WHO estimates that traffic accidents cost developing countries an astonishing 1-2 % of their gross domestic product (GDP).
For years now, police and public health officials have puzzled over the alarming number of tr........ Read more »
Colzato, L., Ruiz, M., van den Wildenberg, W., Bajo, M., & Hommel, B. (2011) Long-Term Effects of Chronic Khat Use: Impaired Inhibitory Control. Frontiers in Psychology. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2010.00219
- January 21, 2011
- 06:08 PM
- 532 views
Personalizing Addiction Medicine
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Gene variants make anti-craving drugs a hit-or-miss affair.
Rather than taking on another broad hunt for the genes controlling the expression of alcoholism, noted addiction researcher Dr. Bankole Johnson and co-workers at the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia took a different tack. The researchers focused, instead, on investigating whether genetic variations among alcoholics might affect their responses to a specific anti-craving medication.
T........ Read more »
Johnson, B., Ait-Daoud, N., Seneviratne, C., Roache, J., Javors, M., Wang, X., Liu, L., Penberthy, J., DiClemente, C., & Li, M. (2011) Pharmacogenetic Approach at the Serotonin Transporter Gene as a Method of Reducing the Severity of Alcohol Drinking. American Journal of Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10050755
- January 18, 2011
- 08:00 PM
- 438 views
Visual Cues and Addiction
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Do smoking scenes in movies make smokers want to light up?
Smokers and former smokers will understand what I mean when I say that an addiction to smoking is like a pilot light that is always lit, always ready to whoosh into full flame with the application of a few milligrams of nicotine. And they will also understand that feeling, like a bolt sliding home, of instant identification that comes from seeing someone else smoking. Especially if you are not smoking, but wish to be.
It makes sense th........ Read more »
Hamilton, A. (2006) Goal Representation in Human Anterior Intraparietal Sulcus. Journal of Neuroscience, 26(4), 1133-1137. DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4551-05.2006
- January 7, 2011
- 02:59 PM
- 581 views
Marijuana and Testicular Cancer
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
NIDA touts controversial 2009 study.
After 50 years of rumor, study, and argument in the research community, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has come out squarely behind the assertion that marijuana use in men “may increase their risk for developing testicular cancer.”
But a problem exists. The evidence just isn’t that good. Especially if you base the conclusion on a single small study, as NIDA is apparently doing.
Writing in NIDA Notes for December, 2010, Lori Whitten high........ Read more »
Daling, J., Doody, D., Sun, X., Trabert, B., Weiss, N., Chen, C., Biggs, M., Starr, J., Dey, S., & Schwartz, S. (2009) Association of marijuana use and the incidence of testicular germ cell tumors. Cancer, 115(6), 1215-1223. DOI: 10.1002/cncr.24159
- November 22, 2010
- 03:32 PM
- 480 views
Drug-Drug Interactions to Watch Out For
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
P450 enzymes and “poor metabolizers.”
The finding, published in Science, is a bit arcane to the layperson. The big secret of how the P450 enzyme family metabolizes drugs turns out to be a critical phase change, where an oxygen molecule temporarily joins the mix, forming “Compound I,” a process the scientists documented by cooling the enzymes at just the right rate.
So what? Well, for starters, “cytochrome P450 enzymes are responsible for the phase I metabolism of approximatel........ Read more »
Rittle, J., & Green, M. (2010) Cytochrome P450 Compound I: Capture, Characterization, and C-H Bond Activation Kinetics. Science, 330(6006), 933-937. DOI: 10.1126/science.1193478
- October 26, 2010
- 01:34 PM
- 557 views
Anandamide Hits the “Hedonic Hot Spot.”
by Dirk Hanson in Addiction Inbox
Marijuana and the munchies.
It’s no secret that marijuana very reliably increases appetite. Recently, research published in Nature has teased out an apparent mechanism by which internal cannabinoids are involved with gut microbiota. This affects inflammation, the metabolism of adipose tissue, and other factors implicated in obesity.
In addition, research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and blogged about by Neuroskeptic, showed that CB1 cannabinoid receptors ........ Read more »
Mahler, S., Smith, K., & Berridge, K. (2007) Endocannabinoid Hedonic Hotspot for Sensory Pleasure: Anandamide in Nucleus Accumbens Shell Enhances ‘Liking’ of a Sweet Reward. Neuropsychopharmacology, 32(11), 2267-2278. DOI: 10.1038/sj.npp.1301376
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
News
Editor's Selections: Programmed cell death in unicellular parasites, a novel gene transfer agent from Baronella, and full-contact herpes gladiatorum
Editor's Selections: Family medical histories, a grave in the Bahamas, medieval malaria, and macaques
Editor's Selections: Blood Tests for Depression, the Axolotl, Dopamine, and The Bachelor
