Addiction
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of reducing the nicotine content of cigarettes on cigarette smoking behavior and tobacco smoke toxicant exposure: 2-year follow up.
A broadly mandated reduction of the nicotine content (RNC) of cigarettes has been proposed in the United States to reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes, to prevent new smokers from becoming addicted and to facilitate quitting in established smokers. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether following 7 months of smoking very low nicotine content cigarettes (VLNC), and then returning to their own cigarettes, smokers would demonstrate persistently reduced nicotine intake compared with baseline or quit smoking. ⋯ In smokers not interested in quitting, reducing the nicotine content in cigarettes over 12 months does not appear to result in extinction of nicotine dependence, assessed by persistently reduced nicotine intake or quitting smoking over the subsequent 12 months.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The effectiveness of brief alcohol interventions delivered by community pharmacists: randomized controlled trial.
To undertake the first randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief intervention delivered by community pharmacists to reduce hazardous or harmful drinking. ⋯ A brief intervention delivered by community pharmacists appears to have had no effect in reducing hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption.
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Arrhythmia associated with buprenorphine and methadone reported to the Food and Drug Administration.
To assess the relative frequency of reporting of adverse events involving ventricular arrhythmia, cardiac arrest, corrected QT interval (QTc) prolongation or torsade de pointes to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between buprenorphine and methadone. ⋯ In spontaneously reported adverse events, methadone is associated with disproportionate reporting of cardiac arrhythmias, whereas buprenorphine is not. Although these findings probably reflect clinically relevant differences, a causal connection cannot be presumed and disproportionality analysis cannot quantify absolute risk per treatment episode. Population-based studies to definitively quantify differential incidence rates are warranted.
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Observational Study
Dose-response relationship between methadone dose and adherence to antiretroviral therapy among HIV-positive people who use illicit opioids.
For HIV-positive individuals who use illicit opioids, engagement in methadone maintenance therapy (MMT) can contribute to improved HIV treatment outcomes. However, to our knowledge, the role of methadone dosing in adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART) has not yet been investigated. We sought to examine the relationship between methadone dose and ART adherence among a cohort of people who use illicit opioids. ⋯ Among HIV-positive individuals in methadone maintenance therapy, those receiving higher doses of methadone (≥ 100 mg/day) are more likely to achieve ≥ 95% adherence to antiretroviral therapy than those receiving lower doses.