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Query: UMLS:C0029713 (immaturity)
 4,335 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

This article examines the field of addictions and suggests that it is in the midst of a conceptual crisis. As a result of its immaturity, the addiction's field evidences energy, naivete, curiosity, intensely conflicting and polarized explanations of its identity and purpose, anomalous research findings, and few "facts." From a philosophy of science perspective, these characteristics are considered as indicators of the developmental stages that are associated with the evolution of scientific disciplines. A philosophy of science perspective is applied to the history of the substance abuse field and the consequent implications examined. A discussion of normal science, language, the role of paradigms, and scientific reductionism is included.
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PMID:Conceptual crises and the addictions: a philosophy of science perspective. 329 76

Tobacco abuse is especially a public health problem among children and teenagers in Germany. While the proportion of adolescents smoking regularly was 18% in 1997, this has increased to more than 30% in 2001. The high impact of peer groups in young people aggravates the development of smoking habits. Furthermore, an addiction to nicotine develops mainly before the age of 20 (80% of all adults smokers have started as teenagers). Early and continued damage to health will result in long-term sequelae due to immaturity of the organs. Fortunately, the proportion of smoking adolescents has decreased in the last few years. Besides the well known effects of active smoking, children are especially endangered by environmental tobacco smoke (ETS). Exposure to cigarette smoke during pregnancy is directly correlated to premature rupture of the membranes, premature birth, delayed foetal development, and reduced lung function. Children are suffering from impairments of their health not only due to ETS exposure in utero but also after birth (e. g., diseases of upper and lower airways, delayed physical and mental development). Therefore, the prevention of active and passive smoking must be intensified and should consider the special situation of children and adolescents.
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PMID:[Effects of active and passive smoking on the health of children and adolescents]. 1860 Jun 16

Increasing evidence underscores overlapping neurobiological pathways to addiction and obesity. In both conditions, reward processing of preferred stimuli is enhanced, whereas the executive control system that would normally regulate reward-driven responses is altered. This abnormal interaction can be greater in adolescence, a period characterized by relative immaturity of executive control systems coupled with the relative maturity of reward processing systems. The aim of this study is to explore neuropsychological performance of adolescents with excess weight (n = 27, BMI range 24-51 kg/m(2)) vs. normal-weight adolescents (n = 34, BMI range 17-24 kg/m(2)) on a comprehensive battery of executive functioning tests, including measures of working memory (letter-number sequencing), reasoning (similarities), planning (zoo map), response inhibition (five-digit test (FDT)-interference and Stroop), flexibility (FDT-switching and trail-making test (TMT)), self-regulation (revised-strategy application test (R-SAT)), and decision-making (Iowa gambling task (IGT)). We also aimed to explore personality traits of impulsivity and sensitivity to reward. Independent sample t- and Z Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests showed significant differences between groups on indexes of inhibition, flexibility, and decision-making (excess-weight participants performed poorer than controls), but not on tests of working memory, planning, and reasoning, nor on personality measures. Moreover, regression models showed a significant association between BMI and flexibility performance. These results are indicative of selective alterations of particular components of executive functions in overweight adolescents.
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PMID:Selective alterations within executive functions in adolescents with excess weight. 2005 76

The adolescent consumes products in a festive, convivial or autotherapeutic way. Addictive behaviours have a clear tendency to increase since one to two decades. Since cognitive, bio-psycho-social and neurodevelopmental immaturity characterizes this age transition, the exposure to the more dangerous products can affect the development of the adolescent and induce both psychological and physical problems. The work of the pediatrician, aims to create with the young person as well as with the parents, a relationship of trust that favours the expression of the patient-substance relationship taking account all of the environmental factors. Addiction therapies for the adolescent must consider all of these parameters and should not only focus on the sole product and its somatic effects.
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PMID:[Adolescence and addictions]. 2201 33

Evidence obtained in recent decades has demonstrated that the brain still matures in adolescence. Changes in neural connectivity occur in different regions, including cortical and subcortical structures, which undergo modifications in white and gray matter densities. These alterations concomitantly occur in some neurotransmitter systems and hormone secretion, which markedly influence the refinement of certain brain areas and neural circuits. The immaturity of the adolescent brain makes it more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol and drug abuse, whose use can trigger long-term behavioral dysfunction. This article reviews the action of alcohol and drug abuse (cannabis, cocaine, opioids, amphetamines, anabolic androgenic steroids) in the adolescent brain, and their impact on both cognition and behavioral dysfunction, including predisposition to drug abuse in later life. It also discusses recent evidence that indicates the role of the neuroimmune system response and neuroinflammation as mechanisms that participate in many actions of ethanol and drug abuse in adolescence, including the neurotoxicity and alterations in neurocircuitry that contribute to the dysfunctional behaviors associated with addiction. The new data suggest the therapeutic potential of anti-inflammatory targets to prevent the long-term consequences of drug abuse in adolescence.
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PMID:Impact of neuroimmune activation induced by alcohol or drug abuse on adolescent brain development. 3046 86

Background: Under-5 mortality is an important health indicator of a country's development and every country is committed todecrease it. Children under-5 years are vulnerable to the imbalance of socioeconomic inequality and are dependent on the adults toremain healthy. The aim of this study was to determine the association of socioeconomic factors with under-5 mortality in Zabol. Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was performed on 2001 children younger than 5 years who were under the coverageof Zabol University of Medical Sciences between 2011 and 2015. The data were collected using standard questionnaires on mortality ofinfant and children 1-59 months old, questionnaires determining socioeconomic condition, and health center data files. The analyseswere performed using SPSS software version 21, and significance level was set at 0.05 for all tests. Results: The most common causes of death under 5 years of age included immaturity, congenital defects, and respiratory diseases. Inthe logistic regression model, father's addiction, maternal literacy, socioeconomic level, and household family size were significantlyassociated with under-5 mortality (P<0.05). Moreover, there was a correlation between a congenital defect in the Zahak region andimmaturity in the Hamun region with under-5 mortality. Conclusion: Low socioeconomic status, parental addiction, and low education level were the most probable risk factors for under 5mortality.
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PMID:Association of socioeconomic risk factors with under 5-year mortality in Zabol, Iran, during 2011-2015. 3145 85