Relapse usually does not occur suddenly, nor do people plan their return to addictive substance use. From the client’s point of view, it just seems to happen. But there are always indictors that trouble is brewing.

Patients with addiction complain of cravings so frequently that sometimes it’s difficult to make sense of them. They are a common symptom and one that may serve as a predictor of whether a patient will relapse.

Dr. Thomas McLellan discusses how treating addiction with a chronic care model like that used to treat diabetes and asthma may be the key to helping patients stay sober and healthy.

In September, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed safety labeling changes for extended-release and long-acting (ER/LA) opioid analgesics intended to treat pain.

A group of 40 attorneys general from across the country sent a letter in September to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging the agency to regulate electronic cigarettes as it now regulates tobacco products.

Two of the biggest names in addiction treatment—Hazelden in Minnesota and the Betty Ford Clinic in California—plan to merge and will create the largest nonprofit addiction treatment provider in the country.

Alcohol-related diagnoses are bringing more patients—both male and female—to hospital emergency departments (ED).

Alcohol dependence and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often co-occur and prove resistant to treatment. Treatment is complicated by concerns that prolonged exposure (PE) therapy—considered one of the most effective therapies to treat PTSD—may exacerbate alcohol use.

Many college students are mixing alcohol and energy drinks, as well as engaging in hazardous drinking, which puts them at risk for alcohol-related harm. But do the negative consequences that result from consuming alcohol with these energy drinks go beyond just alcohol alone?

The possibility that food can be addicting has been getting some serious attention in recent years (see for example Gearhardt AN et al, J Addict Med 2009;3(1):1–7). The idea isn’t half-baked: food and other natural rewards, like sex, activate the same brain regions that are hijacked by drugs of abuse.