A combination of strategies boosts the odds of success.

More than 46 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes, cigars, or pipes, and a few million use snuff or chewing tobacco. Although 70% of smokers say they'd like to stop, nicotine is so addictive that only 3% successfully quit each year.

Smoking sends nicotine straight to the lungs, where it is absorbed by oxygenated blood, delivered to the heart, and pumped into the arteries and to the brain. The nicotine in snuff and chewing tobacco, which is absorbed mainly through the mucous membranes of the mouth, reaches the brain ...

Benefits of currently approved drugs are limited, but research continues.

Thanks to longer life expectancy, the senior population is steadily growing in the United States. A 2010 report from the Alzheimer's Association estimates that, by 2030, the 65+ population will be 71 million — double what it is today. By then, the number of people with Alzheimer's disease will be 7.7 million, more than a 50% increase from the 5.1 million people ages 65 and over currently suffering from the disease.

Because age is the most significant risk factor for Alzheimer's, efforts to develop effective therapies are more important than ...

Emerging data show medication and cognitive behavioral therapy may help some patients.

Under severe enough stress, any normally calm and collected person might become angry, even to the point of violence. But some people lose their temper repeatedly — tension mounts until there is an explosive release.

Since the early 1980s, this condition has been called intermittent explosive disorder (IED). It is characterized by disproportionate rage responses, leading to serious harm through violent words or deeds. By definition, the behavior can't be explained by another diagnosis (for example, antisocial or borderline personality disorder, attention deficit disorder, conduct disorder, substance abuse, ...

A study of nurses found that those who had both diabetes and depression had a much higher risk of premature death from cardiovascular disease, compared to those who had only one, or neither.

Researchers are exploring the possibility that certain antidepressant medications may alleviate hot flashes in some women.

The story of PTSD is still being written. Sadly, traumatic experiences continue to be intrinsic to human life, even outside the context of war. The continued presence of the U.S. armed services in Afghanistan and Iraq has broadened the sense of urgency about the disorder. Up to 13% of soldiers develop it, while the lifetime prevalence of PTSD in the United States is under 8%.

Since in wartime the experience of trauma is relatively easy to detect, much research has focused on preventing the illness from developing after a trauma occurs. Studies have shown what doesn't work — so-called "debriefing" ...