Vulnerability to both alcohol and nicotine abuse may be influenced by the same genetic factor, according to a recent study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
A synthetic substance similar to ones found in marijuana stimulates cell growth in regions of the brain associated with anxiety and depression, pointing the way for new treatments for these diseases, according to University of Saskatchewan medical research published today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
For those 60 and over, memory lapses seem a given; an inevitable consequence of aging. A new study by UC Berkeley neurologists shows that there are indeed changes in the aging brain that affect short term memory. The problem, however, is not with focusing on relevant information, but with filtering out distractions. Also, memory loss is not inevitable. Six of 16 older subjects showed no cognitive impairment.
Can't remember phone numbers, worried about an upcoming exam or desperately want to give up smoking? In future, the answer will be simple: just pop a pill. The idea that an array of easily available and addiction-free drugs could be used to improve memory or increase intelligence is the stuff of science fiction dystopia - in Brave New World, Aldous Huxley created a whole planet under the spell of a pleasure drug called Soma.
Healthy people, including children, might one day take drugs to boost their intelligence, scientists predict. The think-tank Foresight, outlined the scenario in an independent report looking at potential developments over the next 20 years. Such "cognitive enhancers" could become as "common as coffee", they suggest.
Nearly one out of two visits to a doctor's office for help with a sleep disorder result in the prescription of potentially addictive medications, a new study reports. Office visits by older patients and those with publicly funded health insurance plans were nearly twice as likely to result in the prescription of these kinds of medications.
The chemical nicotine--a main ingredient in tobacco--may hold promise in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease, give insight into therapeutic interventions for nicotine addiction and possibly complement the diagnosis of certain forms of lung cancer, according to a study in the January issue of the Society of Nuclear Medicine's Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
By Narayan Bareth BBC correspondent in Jaipur, India
A man in the Indian state of Rajasthan has been collecting a pension for the past 65 years, it has emerged.
Habib Miyan has been drawing pension money since he retired in 1938, and says he is 132.
I have seen British rule and now an independent India According to his pension book he is a mere 125.
