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77-Drug Blood Screen Found Benzodiazepines in 37.9% of Detections

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A 2026 clinical-lab study tested a 77-drug liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry serum screen in 1,021 patients and found that benzodiazepines accounted for 37.9% of all detections, ahead of antidepressants and antipsychotics.1 Emergency-department cases were a small slice of the sample, but they were positive more often than outpatients: 85.2% vs. 59.5%. Research Highlights Benzodiazepines dominated …

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Risperidone in Dementia Raised Stroke-Related Events 4.11x by Week 4

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A 2026 individual participant data meta-analysis of 1,721 dementia trial participants linked risperidone to cerebrovascular adverse events, HR 4.11 (95% CI 1.77 to 9.51), and major cardiovascular adverse events, HR 2.00 (95% CI 1.23 to 3.26).1 The timing signal is the practical warning: median first cerebrovascular event appeared at 4.3 weeks, and median first major …

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Clomipramine Improved Alzheimer’s Mouse Memory by Blocking Itch in 45 Days

Editorial card showing clomipramine, Itch signaling, and Alzheimer's mouse-memory rescue with a molecular neuroscience background.

A 2026 iScience study found that 45 days of clomipramine improved spatial, working, and reference memory in female APP/PS1 Alzheimer’s-model mice, apparently by blocking the E3 ubiquitin ligase Itch rather than by clearing amyloid plaques.1 Research Highlights 45-day clomipramine signal: 6-month female APP/PS1 mice received 25 mg/kg clomipramine every other day for 45 days, then …

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Caffeine Intake and Sleep Quality: 428 Working Adults, Source by Source

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A 2026 cross-sectional study involving 428 employed adults found that poor sleepers reported a median 292.8 mg/day of caffeine, compared with 176.1 mg/day among good sleepers, and total caffeine intake still predicted higher Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores after adjustment (β = 0.147, p = 0.003). The source breakdown is the useful part: black coffee, …

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GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs Triggered Effort-Based Stigma in 4 Studies

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A 2026 Scientific Reports paper involving 1,205 participants found that people using GLP-1-style weight-loss medication were judged as less effortful, less moral, less competent, less warm, less deserving, and less attractive as cooperation partners after the same 20 kg weight loss described for a diet-and-exercise-only comparator. Research Highlights Same weight loss, harsher judgment: Tissot et …

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Teen Substance Use in South Africa: 30-Study Meta-Analysis

A 2026 PRISMA-compliant systematic review and meta-analysis in Drug and Alcohol Review consolidated 30 publications covering 202 prevalence estimates from 120,041 South African adolescents: pooled lifetime prevalence was 35.09% for alcohol use, 25.47% for tobacco use, and 10.47% for cannabis use.1 Research Highlights 30 publications, 202 estimates: pooled data covered 120,041 South African adolescents. Alcohol …

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Statins and Dementia Risk: No Long-Term Signal in 322,358 Patients

Statins do not look like a dementia-prevention drug, but they do not look like a dementia hazard either. In 322,358 Kaiser Permanente Northern California patients followed for an average of 11.8 years, dementia diagnoses rose right after statins were started, then flattened: after the first year, the hazard ratio for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias …

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