Twenty-percent of Caucasians appear to carry a genetic variant that substantially increases their odds of being susceptible to severe cocaine abuse leading to fatal overdosing, say researchers at Ohio State University. The new study, published in Neuropsychopharmacology, notes that only one-in-eight African Americans are affected by the variant. The variant, characterized by one or both […]
A team of McGill University scientists have discovered important differences between the brains of suicide victims who suffered abuse as children and so-called normal brains. The differences are in their epigenetic marking – a chemical coating on the DNA that is influenced by environmental factors. Epigenetic changes do not involve changes in the actual DNA, […]
Attendees at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society were told that public health officials intend to get more accurate estimates on illegal drug use by analyzing drug residues and metabolites in sewage treatment plants. Estimates of illicit drug abuse in the past were based largely on surveys in which children and adults were […]
