"Health & Medical News"

A study by a British market-research firm found that people in their 30s and 40s were more likely to admit drinking too much alcohol than those in their 20s, the BBC reported Dec. 20.

The YouGov survey found that one in three people ages 30-50 said that they had a night ruined by excessive drinking within the past year, and 44 percent said they still don’t make a habit of following moderate-drinking recommendations. The former finding may partly be explained by the fact that the body copes more poorly with alcohol consumption as it ages.

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People who take opioid-based drugs to treat chronic pain can drive about as well as others on the road, according to researchers from Rush University in Chicago.

The New York Times reported Dec. 4 that researchers used a driving simulator to compare the reaction times, weaving and accident rates of subjects taking oral morphine for pain to a control group that was not taking pain medication.

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A new study suggests that providing monetary rewards to cocaine users may not be an effective way to get them to overcome their addictions.

The study by researchers at Brookhaven National Laboratory found that cocaine users have less sensitivity to monetary rewards than nonusers. Moreover, researchers found that the heaviest cocaine users were least able to improve their behavior in response to monetary incentives.

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The U.S. asset-forfeiture laws — designed to intercept proceeds from drug trafficking and prevent money laundering — have an illegal immigrant from Guatemala fighting the government for $59,000 he earned as a dishwasher in South Florida.

The St. Petersburg Times reported Oct. 28 that Pedro Zapeta, 39, was trying to take the earnings home to Guatemala after a decade of working illegally in the U.S. when airport security screeners spotted the cash in his luggage. For the past two years, Zapeta has been trying to recover the cash, which was seized because he failed to declare it to Customs agents.

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