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After an 11-minute training session and encouragement to continue practising mindfulness -- which involves focusing on what's happening in the present moment -- heavy drinkers drank less over the next week than people who were taught relaxation techniques, according to the study published in the  International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology . "We found that a very brief, simple exercise in mindfulness can help drinkers cut back, and the benefits can be seen quite quickly," said the study's lead author, Dr Sunjeev Kamboj (UCL Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit). The researchers brought in 68 drinkers, who drink heavily but not to the point of having an alcohol use disorder. Half of them were trained to practise mindfulness, which teaches a heightened awareness of one's feelings and bodily sensations, so that they pay attention to cravings instead of suppressing them. They were told that by noticing bodily sensations, they could tolerate them as tempora...

For centuries, Central American cultures considered  Psilocybe mushrooms to be divine and used them for spiritual purposes. More recently, they have been called magic mushrooms and used for their hallucinogenic effects. These mushroom drugs may soon also be in use as pharmaceuticals that treat the existential anxiety of advanced-stage cancer patients, depression, and nicotine addiction. Their effects stem from tryptamines, which are chemical derivatives of the amino acid L-tryptophan and structural relatives of the neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin. Among these, psilocybin is the primary chemical mushroom component. Psilocybin is an inactive precursor that is rapidly activated when consumed: splitting off a phosphate group results in the actual active ingredient, psilocin. Although the structure of psilocybin has been known for about 60 years, it has not been possible to decode the enzymatic basis of its biosynthesis. Researchers working with Dirk Hoffmeister at the F...

Researchers examined 604 college students recruited from the University of California, San Diego: 214 of Korean ancestry (107 men, 107 women), 200 of European ancestry (106 men, 94 women), and 190 of Chinese ancestry (99 women, 91 men), each with both biological parents having the same heritage. Participants were genotyped for the  ALDH2*2  variant allele and completed a self-report assessment. The effect of ADI as a risk factor for developing AUD symptoms varied with both ethnicity and  ALDH2*2  status. ADI was not associated with AUD symptoms in Korean-Americans with an  ALDH2*2  allele or in Chinese-Americans regardless of  ALDH2*2 status. This indicates that being Korean (and having the protective  ALDH2*2  allele) or Chinese buffered the risk for developing AUD symptoms associated with an early ADI. Although an earlier ADI places some individuals at risk to develop AUD symptoms, the path from ADI to AUD symptoms is complex and ca...

"Our results show an association between cosmetic surgery and smoking cessation at long-term follow-up," comments lead author Aaron C. Van Slyke, MD, MSc, of University of British Columbia, Vancouver. "Surgeons who request preoperative smoking cessation may influence patients' long-term smoking status." Many Cosmetic Surgery Patients Quit or Reduce Smoking The follow-up study included 85 patients who were smokers when evaluated for cosmetic surgery. Like most plastic surgeons, Dr. Van Slyke and colleagues required patients to refrain from smoking for at least two weeks before elective procedures. Those instructions reflect a well-demonstrated increase in wound healing problems and other negative outcomes among smokers after plastic surgery. Five years after cosmetic surgery, 47 patients responded to a follow-up survey. Most of the patients were women; the average age was 40 years. The most common procedures were "tummy tuck" (abdominoplasty), ...