WeightWatchers combined with weight loss medications may alter alcohol consumption, study finds

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain Researchers at Henry Ford Health, collaborating with WeightWatchers International, report that more than 40% of individuals using popular weight loss medications while participating in a WeightWatchers…

Finger Lengths May Reveal Insights Into Drinking Habits

Summary: The relative lengths of your fingers might be linked to your alcohol consumption patterns. Researchers found that individuals with longer 4th (ring) fingers relative to 2nd (index) fingers, indicating…

Alcohol Use Predicts Escalating Cannabis Vaping Among Youth

Summary: A recent study highlights alcohol as the strongest predictor of cannabis vaping initiation and experimentation among youth and young adults, regardless of demographic factors. Conducted over three years, the…

Stop-smoking pill varenicline to be offered by the UK’s NHS

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain For the first time since 2021, a pill used to help people quit smoking—varenicline—will again be available from the NHS. Varenicline is one of the most…

US overdose deaths are down, giving experts hope for an enduring decline

A container of Narcan, or naloxone, sits on tree roots at a longstanding homeless encampment in Bellingham, Wash., on Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024. Credit: AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File The decline…

Overdose deaths are rising among Black and Indigenous Americans

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain The recent decline in overdose deaths hides a tremendous disparity by race: Deaths have fallen only among white people while continuing to rise among people of…

Individual Reward-Seeking Predicts Nicotine Response

Summary: A new study finds that individualistic reward-seeking behaviors in mice can predict their responses to nicotine. Conducted in a semi-natural environment called Souris-City, the research observed how male mice…

UK plans to ban disposable vapes next year

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Disposable vapes will be banned in the UK next year to protect children’s health and tackle “throwaway” culture, ministers said on Thursday. Public Health and Prevention…

Addiction treatment found to decrease suicide risk among people with opioid dependence

Crude suicide mortality rates over time, by opioid agonist therapy (OAT) exposure. Credit: Addiction (2024). DOI: 10.1111/add.16680 Treating opioid use disorder significantly lowers the very high rate (eight times the…

Vaping rates hit record lows for U.S. high school students

Is vaping finally losing its coolness for American teens? The latest tally of federal data finds that 550,000 school kids, mostly high schoolers, quit using e-cigarettes in 2024. Vaping rates…