Stress
and Addiction Book Published
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UMD Faculty Member Edits Groundbreaking
Book
Stress and Addiction: Biological and Psychological
Mechanisms
 Mustafa
Al'Absi |
Mustafa al'Absi, Ph.D. a University of Minnesota Medical School professor of behavioral sciences, has developed and edited a book to bring together the latest findings on the connection between stress and addiction. The text assembles many of the latest research findings, thereby creating a productive springboard to vital, timely information.
Michael Weaver, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) with certification in addiction medicine, recently reviewed Stress and Addiction: Biological and Psychological Mechanisms for the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Web site. According to Weaver, "there is a wealth of information available in the literature about the intersection of addiction and stress, but it is widely scattered through the neuroanatomical and behavioral fields. [This textbook] brings together this body of literature nicely and concisely in a single volume...and al'Absi presents future directions for consideration." Weaver is the medical director for the VCU Substance Abuse Consult Service and director for the addiction medicine rotation for residents, medical students, and pharmacy students at VCU.
The book was published by Elsevier, an international publisher of science and health information. Thirty-nine researcher/authors contributed to the text including al'Absi and two others from the University of Minnesota Medical School. The chapter, "Assessment of Stress in Research and Clinical Settings", was co-written by al'Absi, Gary L. Davis, Ph.D., L.P, senior associate dean of the Medical School in Duluth who has been chair of the Behavioral Sciences Department on the Medical School's Duluth Campus since 1984, and Jane Hovland, Ph.D., R.N. LP, an associate professor at the Medical School with expertise in mood disorders in adults and adolescents, chemical dependency aftercare, suicide prevention and recovery and family conflict. al'Absi also wrote the concluding chapter, "Current and Future Directions of Research on Stress and Addictive Behaviors."
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Another review on Amazon.com notes that, "Recent research has started to specifically focus on understanding the nature of how stress contributes to addiction - this research has influenced the way we think about addiction and its etiological factors and has produced exciting possibilities for developing effective intervention strategies; to date there has been no available book to integrate this literature. This highly focused work integrates and consolidates available knowledge to provide a resource for researchers and practitioners and for trainees in multiple fields."
al'Absi is nationally known for his research on the links between stress and addiction. His research focuses on: neurobiological mechanisms of stress and risk for heart disease; biological and psychosocial predictors of addiction and relapse; and brain functions associated with pain.
ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MEDICAL SCHOOL -- DULUTH CAMPUS
The mission of the University of Minnesota Medical School -- Duluth Campus
is to educate students who will practice family medicine and other primary
care specialties in rural Minnesota and American Indian communities; to
provide high-quality academic and clinical education programs for professional,
graduate and undergraduate students, and to create distinguished research
programs in health sciences. Located on the UMD campus, the University
of Minnesota Medical School--Duluth Campus is a branch of the University
of Minnesota Medical School, based in the Twin Cities.
http://www.med.umn.edu/duluth/
Posted July 16, 2007
UMD home page editor, Cheryl Reitan, creitan@d.umn.edu
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