Neonatal exposure to nicotine alters the reward circuity in the brains of newborn mice, increasing their preference for the drug in later adulthood, report researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine in a study published “in press” April 24, 2019 in Biological Psychiatry. A UC San Diego School…
Why might smoking and drinking alcohol raise the risk of osteoporosis?
Recent research has uncovered a cell mechanism that could help explain why smoking, alcohol, and other modifiable factors could raise the risk of developing the bone disease osteoporosis. The mechanism spurs a cell type in the immune system to turn into osteoclasts, which are a type of cell that resorbs,…
Different brain areas linked to smoking and drinking
Academics at the University of Warwick have found that low functional connectivity of the lateral orbitofrontal cortex that is associated with the tendency to smoke is associated with increased impulsiveness — which may contribute to the tendency to smoke. The high connectivity of the reward-related medial orbitofrontal cortex in drinkers…
Engineered enzyme eliminates nicotine addiction in preclinical tests
Scientists at Scripps Research have successfully tested a potential new smoking-cessation treatment in rodents. In a study published online in Science Advances on Oct. 17, 2018, the scientists gave nicotine-dependent rats an engineered enzyme that breaks down nicotine in the bloodstream before it can reach the brain. Treatment quickly reduced the animals’…
One e-cigarette with nicotine leads to adrenaline changes in nonsmokers’ hearts
A new UCLA study found that healthy nonsmokers experienced increased adrenaline levels in their heart after one electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) with nicotine but there were no increased adrenaline levels when the study subjects used an a nicotine-free or empty e-cig. The findings are published in Journal of the American Heart Association,…