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The committee that conducted the study and wrote the report looked at the results of U.S. campaigns related to HIV/AIDS and at anti-stigma campaigns in England (Time to Change), Canada (Opening Minds), and Australia (beyondblue). It found that all successful national anti-stigma programs were supported by government at the federal level and took place over decades, relied on long-term funding, were evaluated and monitored on an ongoing basis, and had a multifaceted strategy to address the full range of relevant needs. "Mental health and substance use disorders are prevalent and among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they remain barriers to full participation in society in areas as basic as education, housing, and employment," said committee chair David Wegman, professor emeritus in the department of work environment at the University of Massachusetts in Lowell. "Changing stigma in a lasting way will require coordinated efforts, ...

The Arkansas Mississippi Delta, the place this photograph was taken, is a area characterised by strained race relations, a stagnant economic system, excessive unemployment, low incomes and excessive emigration. Credit score: Ann Cheney, UC Riverside Cocaine use has elevated considerably amongst African Individuals in a few of the most underserved areas of the USA. Interventions designed to extend connection to and help from non-drug utilizing household and pals, with entry to employment, the religion group, and schooling, are one of the best methods to scale back substance use amongst African Individuals and different minorities in low-income, resource-poor communities, concludes a examine led by a medical anthropologist on the College of California, Riverside. The examine, which analyzed substance-use life historical past interviews carried out from 2010 to 2012, targeted on city and rural areas inside the Arkansas Mississippi Delta -- a a...

HI in RA is multifactorial. Mechanism of injury and predisposing factors are not clearly understood. Sensorineural hearing loss is the most common type in RA patients with a prevalence of 25-72%. Possible pathologies are including: Synovial destruction of incudostapedial and incudomalleolar joints, rheumatoid nodules, auditory neuropathy, destruction of the cochlear hair cells and drug-induced ototoxicity . "Elderly Patients and those with long disease duration, active disease, seropositivity, elevatedacute phase reactants and rheumatoid nodules are more likely to have HI," demonstrated a recent study by Amir Emamifar, Kristine Bjørndal and Inger Marie Jensen Hansen. Environmental factors for instance smoking, alcohol and noise can deteriorate the condition. Passive smokers are also at risk of HI. Long-term exposure to alcohol affects hearing in RA, causing harmful effects on the cochlear function. Results of pure tone audiometry revealed that RA patients have high prev...

The study is the largest trial to date looking at the safety and efficacy of three first line smoking cessation treatments -- varenicline, bupropion and nicotine patches -- compared to placebo in smokers with and without psychiatric disorders, and finds than smokers who took varenicline achieved higher abstinence rates than smokers on bupropion, nicotine patches, or placebo. The study involved more than 8000 people and was requested by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) following concerns about the neuropsychiatric safety of varenicline and bupropion. "Given that an estimated 6 million people worldwide die as a result of tobacco smoking every year, we need to be able to provide maximum support for people to stop smoking. Our study shows that all three first-line smoking cessation medications are effective in helping people stop smoking, with varenicline being the most effective," says lead author Professor Robert M. Anthenelli, University of California, San Diego...

Writing in the journal  Addiction , published online April 25, the researchers synthesize much of the evidence published to date on e-cigarettes, and suggest that use of these products can lead to reduced cigarette smoking overall with a potential reduction in deaths from cigarette smoking. The investigators include lead author David T. Levy, PhD, of Georgetown University; K. Michael Cummngs, PhD, MPH, of the Medical University of South Carolina; Andrea C. Villanti, PhD, MPH, Ray Niaura, PhD, and David B. Abrams, PhD, from Truth Initiative; Geoffrey T. Fong, PhD, of the University of Waterloo in Canada; and Ron Borland, PhD, of Cancer Control Victoria, in Australia. "We're concerned the FDA, which has asserted its right to regulate e-cigarettes, will focus solely on the possibility that e-cigarettes and other vapor nicotine products might act as gateway to cigarette use," says Levy, a professor in the department of oncology at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive C...

Video game addiction is more prevalent among younger men, and among those not being in a current relationship, than others," says, Cecilie Schou Andreassen, doctor of psychology and clinical psychologist specialist at Department of Psychosocial Science, University of Bergen (UiB). Schou Andreassen has carried out a study with more than 20 000 participants who answered questions related to videogame addiction. The study is published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, of the American Psychological Association. Escape from psychiatric disorders The study showed that video game addiction appears to be associated with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression. "Excessively engaging in gaming may function as an escape mechanism for, or coping with, underlying psychiatric disorders in attempt to alleviate unpleasant feelings, and to calm restless bodies," Doctor Andreassen says. According to Doctor Andreas...