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Daily news - 10th July 2025 |
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UK news
Results from largest review of its kind on antidepressant withdrawal symptoms
The largest review of ‘gold standard’ antidepressant withdrawal studies to date has identified the type and incidence of symptoms experienced by people discontinuing antidepressants, finding most people do not experience severe withdrawal | Imperial College, UK [See also Blogs section below]
Alcohol and Cancer — [Parliamentary debate]
I beg to move, That this House has considered alcohol and cancer. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for granting us the opportunity to debate alcohol and cancer. This issue affects all of us; it affects our constituents, our families and friends, and our local health services. I thank the Alcohol Health Alliance and the World Cancer Research Fund for providing me with detailed figures and materials that helped me to prepare for this debate | They work for you, UK
New Clause 1 - Alcohol at football grounds
“Within one year of the passing of this Act the Secretary of State must consult on lifting the ban on consuming alcohol in view of the pitch in the top five tiers of the men's game in England.”—(Mr French.) | They work for you, UK
Smoking: Advertising
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that cigarette filter tips are included in the definition of relevant products in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill that are not allowed to be advertised or promoted | They work for you, UK
Next steps for Bristol as a harm reduction and inclusive recovery city
Thursday, July 17 · 6:30 - 9pm GMT+1. Discussion hosted by Transform in partnership with the University of Bristol on why Bristol needs an Overdose Prevention Centre | J Slater, UK
Metro vape ban comes into force
Passengers caught vaping on the Tyne and Wear Metro can now be prosecuted and fined up to £1,000 | BBC, UK
HMOs could be used to help rising homeless numbers
Facing "unprecedented demand" on housing services, the local authority said it was reviewing its approach to reducing rough sleeping and homelessness in the city | BBC, UK
Motorhome ketamine smuggler jailed for 22 years
Russell King hid four bin bags full of the Class B drug in compartments within the Fiat vehicle before crossing the North Sea by ferry from Rotterdam to Hull last year | BBC, UK
International news
One in ten people in their 30s are drinking or high at work
People in construction and the service industry are particularly affected | Independent, UK
Social cognition and decision-making in people with methamphetamine use disorder
[Open access] Impairments in social cognition and social decision-making play an important role in the disease burden experienced by individuals with methamphetamine use disorder (MUD). They are also assumed to play a role in the vicious cycle of MUD development and hinder its successful psychotherapy. However, research typically focuses on examining specific types of social cognitive deficits in MUD, rather than profiling the multidimensional social cognition and decision-making impairments that coincide with MUD. Our study, thus, estimated the socio-cognitive and social decision-making profile of people with MUD and compared this profile with a methamphetamine-naïve control group | Addiction, UK
Public Health Can Out-Innovate Big Tobacco
As the tobacco industry continues to innovate to preserve its market appeal, the health sector needs to become even more creative – advocating for new regulations to reduce tobacco’s appeal and increase product costs. Among those: limiting nicotine content, banning filter tips, and joining WHO’s new “3×35 initiative” to raise the price of tobacco products by 50% | Health Policy Watch, Switzerland
Vaping versus smoking’s impact on male fertility
Men who swapped cigarettes for vaping during IVF saw better sperm motility and fewer miscarriages, but experts warn that vaping isn’t risk-free for hopeful parents | News Medical, USA
Dental Care Utilization Among Medicaid-Enrolled Adults With Substance Use Disorder
[Open access] Low-income Medicaid-enrolled adults are likely to have poor oral health and experience substance use disorders. Despite emerging evidence that comprehensive dental care can improve substance use disorder outcomes, there is a lack of evidence about the overlap of substance use disorder and dental care utilization. This study aims to fill that gap | AJPM, USA
Women more susceptible to certain subjective effects of alcohol during binge drinking episodes
A clinical trial led by the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital and Research Institute has found that women experience some of the subjective effects of acute alcohol intake, such as drunkenness and sedation, more intensely than men, when consumed over a short period of time | Medical Xpress, USA
Blogs, comment and opinion
Teen drug use today, mental health struggles tomorrow? What the evidence says
New research from Denmark unpacks how adolescent substance use (even “just” alcohol) can pave a dangerous path to future mental health crises. Clinicians, take note | Mental Elf blog, UK
Antidepressant withdrawal: new review downplays symptoms but misses the mark for long-term use
A new review of antidepressant withdrawal effects – written by academics, many of whom have close ties to drug manufacturers – risks underestimating the potential harms to long-term antidepressant users by focusing on short-term, industry-funded studies | Conversation, UK
Alcohol’s harm is likely underestimated and its benefits inflated: Lessons from recent expert reports
The effects of alcohol on health are a major topic of discussion in both scientific literature and international media, with rival claims about how beneficial or detrimental moderate drinking might be. Recently, two US reports published within weeks of each other by eminent medical experts (NASEM, 2025; Shield et al., 2025) came to polar opposite conclusions | IAS blog, UK
Psychedelics and mental health: Can the field deliver on its promise?
Psychedelics experts across clinical trials, psychotherapy and regulation have been reflecting on the challenges facing the field since a webinar organised by the International Alliance of Mental Health Research Funders (IAMHRF) in late 2024. This commentary looks at the future of psychedelics as mental health treatment and provides recommendations for moving the field forward | Mental Elf blog, UK