Driving Change: Using Emergency Department Data To Reduce Alcohol-related Harm
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,468,026.00
Summary
The proposed project is a system change within partner emergency departments, providing them the information and tools to act on both risky alcohol consumption in individual patients and the sources of alcohol in the community which cause the harm they experience. Most importantly, the proposed public health interventions act as a tool for emergency departments to regularly raise awareness with the public and policymakers regarding the impact of alcohol on patients, clinicians and hospitals.
Increased Vulnerability To Stress During Opiate Dependence: Molecular, Anatomical, And Behavioural Correlates
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$272,640.00
Summary
Heroin addiction is a major health and societal problem in Australia. It is consistently associated with an adverse impact upon individual users, their families, and communities. It is a chronically relapsing condition for which few, if any effective prevention and treatment strategies exist. Moreover, why an individual initiates and maintains heroin taking remains unclear. Stress and negative emotions have a strong impact on heroin use. Stress may drive some individuals to start using heroin, s ....Heroin addiction is a major health and societal problem in Australia. It is consistently associated with an adverse impact upon individual users, their families, and communities. It is a chronically relapsing condition for which few, if any effective prevention and treatment strategies exist. Moreover, why an individual initiates and maintains heroin taking remains unclear. Stress and negative emotions have a strong impact on heroin use. Stress may drive some individuals to start using heroin, stress increases the pleasurable effects of heroin and stress increases the aversive effects of heroin withdrawal. These effects will encourage addiction and discourage addicts from seeking treatment. Stress can also cause an otherwise drug-free individual to relapse to heroin addiction despite having been drug-free for some time. In this project we will study why stress has such a large impact on heroin addicts and heroin addiction. We will test the hypothesis that heroin use actually produces profound alterations in the neural network in the brain which controls responses to stress. This project uses a simple animal model of heroin addiction whereby rats are injected with morphine to study the regulation of several genes which are important in responding to stress. We will also study how this exposure and changes in gene expression alter neurobiological, cardiovascular, and behavioural responses to stress. This project will identify parts of the brain that are altered during heroin addiction, and will also identify why heroin addicts are more vulnerable to stress than the general population. Therefore, this project will help us to identify targets for therapeutic intervention (both psychological and pharmacological) and possibly disrupt the addictive cycle.Read moreRead less
Does Obesity Have The Characteristics Of Addiction?
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$430,832.00
Summary
The number of overweight or obese people in Australia has increased dramatically in recent years, increasing disease risk. The brain responds to palatable food in ways similar to the response to drugs of addiction, and this may explain why people find it hard to resist palatable food. Our work will explore whether obesity in rats has the characteristics of addiction by examining bingeing, craving, withdrawal and brain circuits in animals chronically exposed to palatable food.
PRevention & Early Intervention In Mental Illness And Substance UsE (PREMISE CRE)
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,495,969.00
Summary
Substance use and mental disorders are among the leading causes of burden of disease in young people globally. Effective prevention and early intervention can reduce disease burden by halting, interrupting or delaying the onset and development of disorder. The PREMISE CRE will build the science to move the field from crisis, acute care and containment to prevention and early intervention, achieving a critical aim of the Australian Government’s program of reform in mental health and addiction.
Increasing Uptake Of Evidence-based Management Of Unhealthy Alcohol Use In Aboriginal Primary Health Care Services
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,252,322.00
Summary
Because of ongoing trauma, stress and disadvantage, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians face a greater risk of unhealthy drinking patterns and related harms than other Australians. Yet there is a shortage of specialist alcohol treatment services. This study examines an approach to supporting primary care services which target Indigenous Australians to identify and implement the best possible standard of diagnosis and treatment for unhealthy alcohol use.
Randomised Double-blind Placebo-controlled Study Of Lisdexamfetamine For The Treatment Of Methamphetamine Dependence
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,303,735.00
Summary
Addiction to methamphetamines (‘ice’) is a growing community problem linked to serious disease and death. Current counselling approaches have limited success on their own, and more effective treatments linked to medications are needed. Lisdexamfetamine is a newly licenced stimulant medication with great promise in treating these patients. This trial will examine whether lisdexamfetamine (with counselling) safely reduces methamphetamine use and improves health and wellbeing among heavy users.
A Randomised Stepped Wedge Trial Of The Scaling Up Of A Community Based Alcohol Education Program In Rural Sri Lankan Villages And Its Effects On Alcohol Use, And Associated Harms, Depression And Social Capital.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$825,364.00
Summary
Alcohol use is major problem in much of rural Asia. In addition to direct effects on health it is major contributor to suicide, domestic violence and poverty. Much of the alcohol consumed is illicit and so consumption is not influenced by regulation or taxation. This is a trial of a community intervention in rural Sri Lanka to reduce alcohol use and alcohol related disorders that uses participatory drama in conjunction with previously trialed educational materials.
An RCT Of Cannabinoid Replacement Therapy (Sativex®) For The Management Of Treatment-resistant Cannabis Dependent Patients
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$788,133.00
Summary
This project is the first-ever outpatient RCT to test if the pharmaceutical cannabinoid Sativex can safely and cost-effectively deliver better treatment outcomes for patients seeking treatment for chronic cannabis dependence. Sativex is a mouth spray with equal parts THC and cannabidiol, and appears to have a safer pharmacological profile than illicit cannabis or synthetic THC alone. Thus Sativex may lead to lower rates of psychiatric adverse events and increased cannabis abstinence rates.