Acting on the nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, varenicline (Chantix) is an FDA-approved treatment for smoking cessation. These receptors are implicated in both nicotine and alcohol reward pathways, so could varenicline also be helpful for treating alcohol use disorder (AUD)?

Recent guidelines published by the American Society of Addiction Medicine and nationally in Australia provide support for transferring patients from methadone to buprenorphine-naloxone (BNX). Patients may switch, thinking BNX is easier to discontinue or because of methadone side effects.

The post-test for this issue is available for one year after the publication date to subscribers only. By successfully completing the test you will be awarded a certificate for 2 CME credits.

After reading these articles, you should be able to…

Over the last few decades, doctors have done a better job at convincing their patients to stop smoking. But much of this improvement has been relegated to patients without mental illness.

A large focus of my career has been on doing National Institutes of Health–sponsored research into better understanding substance use disorders in young people. So, that would include adolescents and young adults.

You’ve probably read about internet gaming disorder (IGD), and even heard about a man in Taiwan who died while continuously playing online games for 3 straight days. There’s still debate over how to classify and treat pathological gaming: Is it its own disorder, or just a symptom of another underlying mental illness?

Considering them less lethal than traditional cigarettes, many adolescents are turning to electronic cigarettes as a “safer” alternative to tobacco products.

It’s well established that long-term, heavy alcohol use can damage the brain and can cause problems such as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome and alcohol-related dementia. But what about the vast majority of our patients, who drink moderately?

After reading these articles, you should be able to…