Publications by authors named "Veronica Szpak"

Article Synopsis
  • There is increasing interest in using psychedelics for therapy, but there's limited research on how peer recovery coaches feel about using them for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.
  • A survey conducted in Massachusetts gathered data from 146 peer recovery coaches regarding their demographics, substance use history, and attitudes toward psychedelics in addiction treatment.
  • While many coaches showed support for psychedelics in treating SUD, those with 12-step program experience were more cautious about potential risks, while those with personal psychedelic use history were more supportive.
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Introduction: Individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) who inject drugs have an elevated risk of experiencing serious injection-related infections. While such infections can be treated, treatment for the underlying OUD is often limited. One potential strategy for more intensive addiction treatment is to offer a remotely delivered intensive outpatient program (IOP), adapted from an existing remote IOP ("Smart IOP").

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Article Synopsis
  • Dalbavancin is used off-label to treat severe bacterial infections, particularly in high-risk groups like people who use drugs (PWUD), due to its effectiveness against gram-positive bacteria.
  • A study involving 176 patients from three teaching hospitals analyzed the outcomes of PWUD versus non-PWUD after receiving dalbavancin for various infections between 2016 and 2022.
  • Findings showed that while PWUD had higher rates of patient-directed discharges and loss to follow-up, their clinical cure rates at 90 days were comparable to non-PWUD, suggesting dalbavancin's effectiveness across both groups.
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Background: Alcohol use disorder (AUD), associated with significant morbidity and mortality, continues to be a major public health problem. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the impact of AUD, with a 25% increase in alcohol-related mortality from 2019 to 2020. Thus, innovative treatments for AUD are urgently needed.

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Introduction: Opioid use disorder (OUD) continues to be a significant public health concern. Medications for OUD (MOUD) such as buprenorphine reduce overdose mortality, but relapses occur often, leading to adverse outcomes. Preliminary data suggest that cannabidiol (CBD) may be a potential adjunctive treatment to MOUD by attenuating cue-reactivity.

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Unhealthy food marketing, a ubiquitous food stimulus, may impact response inhibition, making it more difficult to maintain healthy eating behaviors. Individuals with disordered eating may be particularly susceptible to altered inhibition responses to food stimuli, making them more vulnerable to unhealthy food marketing, which could perpetuate their disordered eating behaviors. The present study examined response inhibition following exposure to food commercials in young women who reported either high levels of disordered eating (HEC) or low/no disordered eating (LEC) (N = 27; age: M = 19.

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Resting-state EEG reflects intrinsic brain activity and its alteration represents changes in cognition that are related to neuropathology. Thereby, it provides a way of revealing the neurocognitive mechanisms underpinning chronic substance use. In addition, it is documented that some neurocognitive functions can recover following sustained abstinence.

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