Addiction Research & Therapy

The use of drugs including tobacco and alcohol is among the most important reasons to cause disability, premature mortality and disease-related incapacities. In addition, drug addiction, alcohol use and abuse and smoking account for an incredible load of disease and injury and economic costs. Although no distinct conclusions have been drawn, and no fi nal decision was made, a growing body of evidence shows some striking similarities between food addiction and drug addiction. As shown by research and physicians dedicated to treating and preventing addiction, adopt a broad defi nition of addiction, which include

not only drugs and alcohol but also “process” of addictions such as food, sex and gambling. Google Trends adjusts search data to make comparisons between terms easier. Th e procedure places the most search volume always to be ranked highest. To do this, each data point is divided by the total searches. Th e resulting numbers are then scaled to a range of 0 to 100. Th is information

can be limited to regions or worldwide and can be limited in time. Searching for a term on Google Trends shows the term’s popularity over time in nearly real time. Prediction of how popular the term will be in the near future can be estimated and the forecast is based on a mathematical approximation. With Google Correlate, a data series can be compared with queries whose frequency follows a similar pattern. These research approaches were the theoretical foundation for the implementation of the current study that shows the similarities between drug and food addiction trends. Moreover, a correlation between the two addictions exists and is signifi cant.