Recent comments in /f/science

TheBraindonkey t1_jad29rv wrote

for how smart scientists are, and how often they are bored just waiting and waiting for results, I am always shocked at how infrequently they nail an opportunity like that.

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nexusgmail t1_jacwie7 wrote

Imagine if those cells were even somewhat aware, and were forced into repetitive number crunching with no means to understand the cause of it's bondage or to ever escape, or even die? Would make for quite the horrific reveal for a horror movie ending.

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chrisdh79 OP t1_jacs7it wrote

From the article: Importantly, the study found no evidence that the results varied based on the presence of a genetic variant associated with alcohol use disorder.

Topiramate is a medication that is commonly used to treat epilepsy and prevent migraine headaches. It works by regulating the activity of certain chemicals in the brain that can contribute to seizures or migraines. In recent years, topiramate has also been studied as a potential treatment for alcohol dependence, as it may help reduce cravings and symptoms of withdrawal. But scientists are not sure if a specific variation in the GRIK1 gene (rs2832407) affects how well topiramate works to reduce drinking.

“My research interests include personalizing substance use disorder treatments for people based on different characteristics, including why they use substances, co-occurring psychological disorders, and biological characteristics (e.g., genetics), among other considerations,” said study author Victoria Votaw, a PhD candidate and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism predoctoral fellow at the University of New Mexico.

“Therefore, I was very interested in research showing that the effect of topiramate, a medication that has shown efficacy for treating alcohol use disorder, on alcohol use outcomes might vary by a type of genetic mutation called a single-nucleotide polymorphism. Upon doing a deeper dive into this literature, I realized the findings were mixed, and my co-authors and I decided to look at daily data reported via telephone from a trial of topiramate to further explore this research question.”

“Using daily data might help clarify how topiramate works for different people and provide more information regarding whether topiramate’s effectiveness depends on the genetic variant we examined.”

The study involved 164 people who wanted to stop or reduce their drinking. They were randomly divided into two groups: one group received topiramate, while the other group received a placebo (a “dummy” medication with no active ingredients). Participants were seen once a week for six weeks and the medication dosage was gradually increased from 25 mg/day to a maximum of 200 mg/day.

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1