May 4th, 2021 - Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which accounts for 85% of all lung cancers, is divided histologically into adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and large cell carcinoma. In the United States, Canada, and many European countries, squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common histologic subtype of lung c...

May 2nd, 2021 - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a higher-dose naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray (Kloxxado) for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose, as manifested by respiratory and/or central nervous system depression. Kloxxado delivers 8 mg of naloxone into the nasal cavity, which is twice as much as the 4 mg of naloxone contained in Narcan nasal spray. When a...

May 2nd, 2021 - (Reuters) - The three largest U.S. drug distributors are facing trial on Monday in West Virginia in a lawsuit accusing them of fueling the opioid crisis that has resulted in 500,000 overdose deaths in the United States over two decades. The suit claims that AmerisourceBergen Corp, McKesson Corp and Cardinal Health Inc ignored red flags that opioids were being diverted to illegal channels, flood...

May 2nd, 2021 - For gay and lesbian individuals, consistency in parents' attitudes toward their child's sexual orientation, even when they are negative, is an important factor in positive mental health outcomes, new research shows. Matthew Verdun Study investigator Matthew Verdun, MS, a licensed marriage and family therapist and doctoral student at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology at Los Angeles, ...

May 2nd, 2021 - Primary care for LGBTQ+ patients should focus on early identification and management of unique health risks, according to a leading expert. Patients who are transgender, for instance, are nine times more likely to commit suicide than the general population (2015 U.S. Transgender Survey (USTS). Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. 2019 May 22. doi: 10.3886/ICPSR37229.v1...

Apr 28th, 2021 - The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that within a year it will ban menthol in cigarettes as well as all flavors including menthol in cigars. Menthol makes it easier to start smoking, and also enhances the effects of nicotine, making it more addictive and harder to quit, said the FDA in a statement Thursday. Nineteen organizations — including the American Academy of Pediatric...

Apr 28th, 2021 - Over the past year, a Philadelphia nonprofit, Safehouse, has been making headlines with its controversial plan to open the U.S.'s first supervised injection site. The proposed facility would allow Philadelphians with opioid addiction to inject drugs like heroin under the watchful eye of nurses equipped to intervene in accidental overdoses. The clients would provide their own opioids, but the no...

Apr 27th, 2021 - Editor's note: Find the latest COVID-19 news and guidance in Medscape's Coronavirus Resource Center. Covid survivors are at risk from a separate epidemic of opioid addiction, given the high rate of painkillers being prescribed to these patients, health experts say. A new study in Nature found alarmingly high rates of opioid use among covid survivors with lingering symptoms at Veterans Health Ad...

Apr 26th, 2021 - New practice guidelines released by the US Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) remove long-time barriers to buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). Specifically, the Practice Guidelines for the Administration of Buprenorphine for Treating Opioid Use Disorder exempts eligible physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and others from federal certificatio...

Apr 21st, 2021 - Schizophrenia is a serious and persistent brain disorder that causes significant alterations in thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and behavior. It is characterized by heterogeneous positive and negative symptom constellations that interfere with a patient's daily life. The hallmark symptom is psychosis, encompassing hallucinations (false sensations) that are most frequently auditory, such as hea...

Apr 20th, 2021 - (Reuters) - Four drugmakers helped cause the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing their drugs and downplaying their addictive risks, a lawyer for several California counties argued on Monday at the start of closely-watched trial. Fidelma Fitzpatrick, the lawyer, told a California judge that Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Endo International PLC and AbbVie'...

Apr 18th, 2021 - (Reuters) - Four drugmakers are set to face trial on Monday in a lawsuit by several large counties in California that are seeking more than $50 billion over claims the companies helped fuel an opioid epidemic by deceptively marketing addictive painkillers. The case against Johnson & Johnson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, Endo International PLC and AbbVie's Allergan unit is one of the thou...

Apr 14th, 2021 - Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by a persistent decline in lung function that is associated with progressive symptoms, functional impairment, and a propensity for respiratory infections or exacerbations. Data from the Global Burden of Disease Study suggest that 328 million individuals are living with COPD globally, and it is already the third leading cause of death...

Apr 13th, 2021 - In certain circles of San Francisco, a case of syphilis can be as common and casual as the flu, to the point where Billy Lemon can't even remember how many times he's had it. "Three or four? Five times in my life?" he struggles to recall. "It does not seem like a big deal." At the time, about a decade ago, Lemon went on frequent methamphetamine binges, kicking his libido into overdrive and sile...

Apr 5th, 2021 - CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin on Monday submitted a congressional inquiry with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding an HIV outbreak in West Virginia's largest county. The West Virginia Democrat asked for the inquiry on behalf of the Kanawha County Commission two months after a CDC official warned that the county's outbreak was " the most concerning in the Un...

Apr 1st, 2021 - More adolescent girls than boys experienced nonfatal opioid overdose and reported baseline levels of anxiety, depression, and self-harm, according to data from a retrospective cohort study of more than 20,000 youth in the United States. Previous studies have identified sex-based differences in opioid overdose such as a higher prevalence of co-occurring psychiatric disorders in women compared wi...

Mar 30th, 2021 - In 1967, when the United Nations Convention on Drugs classified psychedelics as Schedule I substances, it effectively ended research into these agents as potential therapeutics for psychiatric disorders. Psychedelics induce altered states of perception. They bind to the 5-hydroxytryptamine 2A (5-HT2A) receptor and include psilocybin, which is derived from "magic mushrooms"; N,N-dimethyltryptami...

Mar 28th, 2021 - WASHINGTON (AP) — A year after COVID-19 upended life for millions of Americans, there are troubling signs that the coronavirus may have also slowed progress against another deadly health threat: smoking. Fewer smokers called quit-smoking hotlines last year and some smoked more, contributing to an unusual bump in cigarette sales — all in the middle of the stress, anxiety and uncertainty from the...

Mar 28th, 2021 - MADRID (Reuters) - Spaniards cut back on alcohol and almost halved their binge-drinking during the pandemic as the lockdown shuttered bars and nightclubs, a survey by Spain's Observatory for Drugs and Addiction found on Friday. At the same time, the consumption of unprescribed sedatives increased and internet use jumped, as people spent more of their leisure time browsing, and more youngsters t...

Mar 24th, 2021 - Abuse or misuse of the over-the-counter (OTC) nasal decongestant propylhexedrine can cause serious harm that can lead to hospitalization, disability, or death, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns in a safety communication. "Major issues" that may have to be managed in the context of acute intoxication with propylhexedrine include severe agitation, tachycardia, hypertension, myocardi...