Canada’s Prison Needle Exchange Program, a syringe distribution program in nine federal correctional institutions, faces major limitations and low participation rates, according to a new report. Based on interviews with people who were formerly incarcerated, the independent report points out barriers to access and outlines recommendations to ensure that the program works as intended. Emily … Read more
Medications that help smokers quit appear to have another benefit: reducing heavy drinking. Researchers in the United States and Russia have found that a variety of therapies to reduce the craving for nicotine ― including prescription and over-the-counter medications ― cut smoking and drinking levels in tandem. People who stopped smoking entirely reduced their drinking … Read more
A 10-minute visit with a therapy dog leads to clinically significant reductions in pain and anxiety and improved well-being in patients attending the emergency department (ED), results of a randomized controlled trial show. “This did not occur among those that did that not visit with a therapy dog. This gives us confidence in the intervention,” … Read more
“People don’t think about schizophrenia when they think about HIV,” Christina Mangurian, MD, professor of clinical psychiatry and vice chair for diversity and health equity at the University of California-San Francisco (UCSF), told Medscape Medical News. The problem is complicated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health, … Read more