Alcohol use disorder, also known as alcohol addiction, is a long-term medical condition that affects millions of people ...

Many people are wired to seek and respond to rewards. Your brain interprets food as rewarding when you are hungry and water as rewarding when you are thirsty. But addictive substances like alcohol and ...

Remarkable scientific progress over the past five decades has helped us develop knowledge of how drugs of abuse induce pleasure, reinforce use, and lead to the compulsive self-administration we call ...

A doctor may prescribe opioid medications to manage pain after surgery or traumatic injury. They may also prescribe them for longer than several weeks to manage chronic conditions, such as ...

To learn more about our editorial approach, explore The Direct Message methodology. A class of drugs designed to manage blood sugar and shrink waistlines appears to be doing something researchers say ...

Opioid medications treat pain associated with surgery, cancer, chronic illness, and traumatic injury. The short-term effects of taking opioids are well-studied, but the long-term effects are less ...

There’s no formal diagnosis (yet). But experts say there’s growing recognition of this problem — and some work on solutions. Can the word “addiction” — typically associated with drugs, alcohol, ...

Medicare has expanded access to GLP-1 weight-loss medications. These drugs may also help treat addiction. Primary care ...

Xanax, generic name Alprazolam, can be used to treat short-term anxiety, but due to its highly addictive nature is not recommended for long-term use. Its effects kick in relatively quickly, about one ...