** Latest News ** - The Office of Minority Health

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	Alcohol Ads Affect Black Women A study out of Columbia University’s School of Public Health has found that outdoor ads for alcoholic beverages in New York City, increased survey participants’ drinking by about 13 percent.
	Study Finds Teens Susceptible A study appearing in the journal BMC Pediatrics found that teens who did not use drugs, but who smoke, drank alcohol and were sexually active were more likely to use methamphetamines.
	Mizzou Study Pinpoints Effective Messages Researchers from the University of Missouri-Columbia have found that anti-smoking ads are more effective if they either disgust or scare viewers. If ads do both things, researchers found, messages do not stick with viewers as strongly.
	Addiction at 15-year High Researcher presented at this year’s 74th annual international scientific assembly of the American College of Chest Physicians found that nicotine addiction among Americans is at a 15-year high. They also found that the severity of addiction has also increased.
	Side Effects of Bipolar Disorder Scientists at the University of Granada have found that people with bipolar disorder not just have issues with mental health, but that their overall health tends to be compromised.
	Smell doesn’t Trigger Relapse Researchers found that after smokers, who find the smell of cigarettes pleasant, abstain from cigarettes, the smell of someone else’s cigarette doesn’t increase the likelihood of relapse.
	Study may Offer Hope for Emphysema Patients An experimental trial for people with emphysema has used stents to create and maintain pathways for air to move freely, in order to curb symptoms.
	Early Drug Exposure Leads to Health Risks Research out of Duke University has found a connection between drug use during a person’s teen years and health factors when that person is in their thirties. Although this may be considered common knowledge, the authors of the study classified their survey participants as “good” or “bad” kids and found that both groups incurred similar results, such as pregnancies, criminal convictions and sexually transmitted diseases, at similar rates.
	Marijuana’s effect on teenage brain Researcher presented at the annual American Academy of Pediatrics meeting on Oct. 12 revealed that brains of teens who use marijuana are working harder than teens who abstain from the drug. The effects were even more noticeable in females and resulted in a compromise of the prefrontal cortex, which is in charge of concentration, planning and decision making.
	Meth’s on the Brain Results of a study at Brookhaven Labs show that the effect of methamphetamines on the brain is similar to that of cocaine, but meth lingers longer in the brain while traces of cocaine clear the brain about 90 minutes after taking the drug.
	Nicotine Addiction May be Dictated by Genes Researchers at the University of Virginia have found that people who are genetically sensitive to bitter tastes, are less likely to develop an addition to nicotine, according to an article in Oct. 10 issue of American Journal of Human Genetics.
	Effects of Alcohol on Unborn Scientists at the Medical College of Georgia are looking to find out what quantity of alcohol and how the timeframe of the drinking leads to malformations of the face of babies born with fetal alcohol syndrome and other lifelong disabilities.