Addiction & Recovery

To help boost the physical--and financial--health of Americans, the stimulus bill sent more than $122 billion to Health and Human Services. How much of that is helping to minimize visits to--and dollars spent on--the doctor?

Controversial revision alters diagnostic definitions.

Wanting to die is not enough to trigger suicide. To end their own lives, humans need the guts and the means to carry out their plans

A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that endocannabinoids, compounds naturally found in the body related to pot's active ingredient, could inform the effort to control appetite. Cynthia Graber reports

A study in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research finds that lighter colored spirits, such as vodka, may cause lesser hangovers than darker drinks, such as bourbon. Cynthia Graber reports

An animal study in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience finds that coffee after alcohol consumption might merely make the drinker feel more capable, which could lead to bad decision making. Steve Mirsky reports

As nicotine use spreads across Africa, cancer-fighting groups are advocating for stringent smoke-free laws as tobacco companies lobby to expand in a growing continental market

A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that brain chemicals linked to addiction are in play with a high-sugar diet, and a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that a high-carb diet had lasting mood-elevation effects. Cynthia Graber reports