News Releases | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Training module now available for acute pain management in hospitalized adults

June 27, 2018 | A case-based clinician training module designed for the evaluation of acute pain and opioid management for adults is now available through the Centers of Excellence in Pain Education (CoEPE) program...

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Analysis of insurance coverage for back pain shows missed opportunities to prescribe non-opioid medications

June 22, 2018 | A comprehensive analysis of health insurance coverage of non-opioid and opioid medications to treat chronic low back pain concluded that some insurance plans have missed important opportunities to steer patients...

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Methadone and buprenorphine reduce risk of death after opioid overdose

June 19, 2018 | A National Institutes of Health-funded study found that treatment of opioid use disorder with either methadone or buprenorphine following a nonfatal opioid overdose is associated with significant reductions in opioid...

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Special journal issue highlights ABCD brain study

June 11, 2018 | The special issue is an overview of the ABCD Study and includes articles about the rationale for the study, its design and recruitment strategy, assessment protocols and neuroimaging parameters, the...

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Full survey of annual teen drug use now available with additional data

June 1, 2018 | The complete volume of the 2017 Monitoring the Future Survey (MTF) teen drug use and behavior survey results is now available online with never before seen highlights about drug use...

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Higher rate of substance use among Native American youth on reservations

May 31, 2018 | A survey comparing drug use among Native American youth living on or near reservations to a national sample of American youth found that Native American youth report substantially higher use...

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Method to identify undetected drug suicides wins top NIDA Addiction Science Award

May 18, 2018 | A project that identified and tested a bioinformatics program that can help identify underreported suicides linked to drug overdoses was awarded the first-place distinction at the 2018 Intel International Science...

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FDA approves first medication to reduce opioid withdrawal symptoms

May 16, 2018 | Lofexidine, the first medication for use in reducing symptoms associated with opioid withdrawal in adults, has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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Study upends conventional view of opioid mechanism of action

May 10, 2018 | A new discovery shows that opioids used to treat pain, such as morphine and oxycodone, produce their effects by binding to receptors inside neurons, contrary to conventional wisdom that they...

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Nearly half of opioid-related overdose deaths involve fentanyl

May 1, 2018 | An analysis of opioid-related overdose deaths found that synthetic opioids, such as illicit fentanyl, have surpassed prescription opioids as the most common drug involved in overdose deaths in the U.S.

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Dr. Kurt Rasmussen to lead NIDA’s therapeutics and medical consequences division

April 30, 2018 | The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health, welcomed Dr. Kurt Rasmussen today as the Director of the Division of Therapeutics and Medical...

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Understanding the Neuroscience of Addiction: what it means for prevention and treatment

April 25, 2018 | Advances in the understanding of brain development, as well as the role that genes and environment play in addiction, are the focus of a review article published today in The...

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Five million American adults misusing prescription stimulants

April 16, 2018 | Looking at annual averages, approximately 6.6% (or 16 million) of U.S. adults used prescription stimulants in the preceding year; 4.5% (or 11 million) used prescription stimulants appropriately (without misuse); 2.1%...

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Study changes long-held concepts of cell decoding

March 28, 2018 | Scientists at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Intramural Research Program (IRP) have uncovered evidence that shows a more complex and elaborate role for the body's hard-working G protein-coupled...

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E-cigarette ads associated with cigarette smoking initiation among youth

March 26, 2018 | A scientific study finds that receptivity to e-cigarette advertising increases the likelihood of trying conventional cigarettes one year later.

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Non-psychoactive cannabinoid may enable drug addiction recovery

March 26, 2018 | Cannabidiol (CBD), a non-psychoactive chemical found in marijuana, may help reduce the risk of drug and alcohol relapse.

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NIDA's 2018 Avant-Garde awards highlight immune response and killer cells

March 13, 2018 | NIDA’s annual Avant-Garde Award competition, now in its 11th year, is intended to stimulate high-impact research that may lead to groundbreaking opportunities for the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS in...

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Greek life membership associated with binge drinking and marijuana use in later life

February 15, 2018 | A scientific study finds that close to half of residential fraternity members had symptoms of alcohol use disorder (AUD) by age 35, and that living at college is associated with...

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Medication in Prison Associated with Reductions in Fatal Opioid Overdoses After Release

February 14, 2018 | A state-led initiative created within the Rhode Island correctional system showed that offering medication to inmates with opioid use disorders reduced fatal overdoses once the inmates were released.

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NIH releases first dataset from unprecedented study of adolescent brain development

February 13, 2018 | Approximately 30 terabytes of data (about three times the size of the Library of Congress collection), obtained from the first 4,500 participants, will be available to scientists worldwide to conduct...

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Dr. Redonna Chandler selected to lead AIDS Research Program at NIDA

January 8, 2018 | Dr. Redonna Chandler has been named director of the AIDS Research Program at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In this...

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Kappa Opioid Receptor Structure Revealed, A Potential Milestone in Medication Development

January 4, 2018 | New research funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse illuminates the crystal structure of the activated kappa opioid receptor (KOR). The breakthrough could facilitate the development of new medications...

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Study shows association between non-cigarette tobacco product use and future cigarette smoking among teens

January 2, 2018 | Some teens who use e-cigarettes and other non-cigarette tobacco products report smoking cigarettes one year later, according to recent research funded by institutes within the National Institutes of Health and...