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Varenicline vs. nicotine patches: Similar risks of heart attack and stroke
Smoking cessation medicines varenicline and nicotine patches present similar risks of major cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke, a big data study published today in JAMA Network Open shows.
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Should doctors be prescribing nicotine e-liquids to help their patients quit smoking?
In the absence of guidance from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), authors writing in the Medical Journal of Australia have provided advice to GPs about prescribing e-liquids for e-cigarettes to smokers trying to quit tobacco cigarettes.
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About 12% of patients who receive common cardiac device implants develop persistent opioid use
About 12 percent of patients who receive implantable cardiac devices such as a pacemaker or defibrillator and fill an opioid prescription after surgery will consistently use the pain medication in the months afterward, raising the potential for addiction following these common procedures and identifying another pathway that could contribute to the national opioid crisis, according to a new study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The findings are published in Circulation.
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Revised health guidelines urge much less alcohol consumption
Late in 2020, the National Health and Medical Research Council released its latest Guidelines to reduce health risks from drinking alcohol. These lowered the recommended maximum that health adults Australians should drink over a week from 14 standard drinks to 10. The guidelines also advised pregnant or breastfeeding women, as well as young people aged under 18 years, to avoid alcohol altogether.
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Germany's new govt to legalise recreational cannabis
Amsterdam may soon have a rival as the European capital of cannabis, with Germany's next government planning to legalise recreational use of the drug.
