TEXAS RESEARCH SOCIETY ON ALCOHOLISM – 18TH ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETINGFriday, June 27, 2008
TEXAS RESEARCH SOCIETY ON ALCOHOLISM – 18TH ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC MEETINGThe following abstracts were presented, either as oral presentations or posters, at the TRSA’ Annual Scientific Meeting, held February 29, 2008 at the University of Texas Club, Austin, Texas.
ALCOHOL/DRUG DEPENDENCY IN HOMELESS YOUTH
SUBSTANCE USE AMONGST FEMALE SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS RESIDING AT SHELTERS
RESEARCH TO PRACTICE: THE VALUE OF ENGAGING YOUTH IN ADAPTING SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS
BINGE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN ADOLESCENT AND ADULT MICE DIFFERENTIALLY REMODELS THE BRAIN TRANSCRIPTOME
THE IMPACT OF PERPETRATORS' ALCOHOL AND DRUG USE DURING AND AFTER SEXUAL ASSAULT
THE IMPACT OF ACCULTURATION AMONG HISPANICS ON DRINKING OUTCOMES FOLLOWING BRIEF INTERVENTION IN THE TRAUMA CARE SETTING
COMMUNITY TREATMENT OF SUBSTANCE DEPENDENCE IN BEXAR COUNTY: A CASE STUDY OF UNMET NEED
INTERMITTENT HYPOXIA CONDITIONING PREVENTS OXIDATIVE BRAIN INJURY IN ETHANOL WITHDRAWN RATS
GENDER COMPARISON OF BREATH-ALCOHOL CONCENTRATIONS FOLLOWING BOLUS AND HOURLY ALCOHOL DOSING PROCEDURES USING MULTIPLE ALCOHOL DOSES
THE ROLE OF N265 OF THE GABAA RECEPTOR β2 SUBUNIT IN THE ACTIONS OF ALCOHOLS AND ANESTHETICS
PSYCHIATRIC DISTRESS AND OTHER CORRELATES ASSOCIATED WITH BEING A VICTIM OF PHYSICAL ABUSE IN FEMALE INMATES
NEUROPROTECTION AGAINST ETHANOL MEDIATED OXIDATIVE STRESS AND APOPTOSIS VIA NRF2/ARE.
News Release - New Report Details Innovative Ways to Help Teens Struggling With Drugs, Alcohol and CrimeJune 26, 2008
A national group of project directors today called on communities across the nation to better help teens beat drugs, alcohol and crime using a groundbreaking approach tested at 10 pilot sites. They have issued a national report which shares a six-step model to bring about change, reveals a road map for communities to plan for innovation, and offers step-by-step instructions and examples on how to implement this new way of helping teens in trouble.
The project directors oversee Reclaiming Futures initiatives funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Together, they have authored the report, How to Implement a Model to Get Youth Off Drugs and Out of Crime, based on six years of creating and testing new ways to help teens that enter the juvenile justice system and previously received little or no care for their drug or alcohol problems. The report describes how judges, probation officers, treatment specialists, families and community members can take steps right now to improve the future of these youths.
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Anheuser to stop selling alcoholic energy drinks Thu Jun 26, 2008
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Anheuser-Busch Cos (BUD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) will stop selling energy drinks that contain alcohol in the United States under an agreement with 11 state attorneys general who had alleged that the brewer was marketing the products to underage drinkers.
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News Release - Anheuser-Busch Supports Federal Government’s Teen Summer Safety Campaign Ads and Retail Signage Reinforce Responsibility Message
ST. LOUIS (June 10, 2008) – Anheuser-Busch, the nation’s largest brewer, is helping the federal government spread an important public service message about underage-drinking prevention. The company will place ads in national publications to support the government’s “We Don’t Serve Teens” campaign aimed at fighting underage drinking. The initiative is part of an industry-wide effort timed for summer when many teens have increased freedom, are attending parties, and may, potentially, find themselves in situations where they are tempted to drink alcohol. The campaign, which launches today, also includes outdoor billboards and signs in convenience and grocery stores.
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Generalizability of clinical trials for alcohol dependence to community samples Drug and Alcohol Dependence Article in Press, 24 June 2008
There is a growing concern that results of tightly controlled clinical trials of individuals with alcohol use disorders may not generalize to broader community samples.
To assess the proportion of community-dwelling adults with alcohol dependence who would have been eligible for a typical alcohol dependence treatment study, we developed a new, simple method: we applied a standard set of eligibility criteria commonly used in alcohol outcome studies to a large (n = 43,093) representative US adult sample interviewed face-to-face, the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC).
We found that approximately one-half (50.5%) of all individuals with a DSM-IV diagnosis of alcohol dependence (n = 1484) and 79.4% of those who sought treatment (n = 185) were excluded by one or more study criteria. Individual study criteria excluded from 0.9% to 48.2% of the overall sample and 0.8% to 43.7% of the treatment-seeking sample. For the overall sample, the lack of motivation/compliance and financial situation criteria excluded the largest percentage of individuals. In the treatment-seeking subsample, comorbid medical conditions and legal problems excluded the largest proportions of individuals.
Our study provides a new method to assess the generalizability of clinical trials, and gives further evidence that typical clinical trials for alcohol dependence likely exclude most adults with the disorder in the community and under care, and support the notion that clinical trials recruit “pure” rather than “typical” patients.
Clinical trials should carefully evaluate the effects of the selected eligibility criteria on the generalizability of their results.
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Request Reprint E-Mail: cb255@columbia.edu
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Electrophysiological correlates of the disrupted processing of anger in alcoholismInternational Journal of Psychophysiology Article in Press, 22 May 2008
Recent studies have shown that alcoholism is characterized by a deficit in the processing of emotional facial expressions (EFE), and that this deficit could be "emotion specific".
The present study explored the hypothesis that there is a specific deficit for the EFE of anger compared to another negative emotion (disgust). Moreover, on the basis of event-related potentials (ERPs), this study aimed at determining the locus of this deficit in the information-processing stream.
Behavioural data showed an absence of categorical perception effect for anger (but not for disgust) stimuli among alcoholic patients. Moreover, electrophysiological data revealed that alcoholism is associated with an impaired processing of anger at the attentional level (N2b/P3a complex), extending to the decisional level (P3b).
This study demonstrated disturbed processing of anger in alcoholism, at behavioural and electrophysiological levels. These preliminary results strengthen the proposition of a specific deficit for anger, and localize its possible origin to the attentional level (N2b/P3a complex) of the information processing stream. The clinical implications of these results are discussed.
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Request Reprtint E-Mail: pierre.maurage@uclouvain.be
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Thursday, June 26, 2008
The role of acetaldehyde outside ethanol metabolism in the carcinogenicity of alcoholic beverages: evidence from a large chemical surveyFood and Chemical Toxicology Article in Press, 6 June 2008
Acetaldehyde is a volatile compound naturally found in alcoholic beverages, and it is regarded as possibly being carcinogenic to humans (IARC Group 2B). Acetaldehyde formed during ethanol metabolism is generally considered as the source of carcinogenicity in alcoholic beverages. However, no systematic data is available about its occurrence in alcoholic beverages and the carcinogenic potential of human exposure to this directly ingested form of acetaldehyde outside ethanol metabolism.
In this study, we have analysed and evaluated a large sample collective of different alcoholic beverages (n=1555). Beer (9+/-7mg/l, range 0-63mg/l) had significantly lower acetaldehyde contents than wine (34+/-34mg/l, range 0-211mg/l), or spirits (66+/-101mg/l, range 0-1159mg/l).
The highest acetaldehyde concentrations were generally found in fortified wines (118+/-120mg/l, range 12-800mg/l). Assuming an equal distribution between the beverage and saliva, the residual acetaldehyde concentrations in the saliva after swallowing could be on average 195muM for beer, 734muM for wine, 1387muM for spirits, or 2417muM for fortified wine, which are above levels previously regarded as potentially carcinogenic.
Further research is needed to confirm the carcinogenic potential of directly ingested acetaldehyde. Until then, some possible preliminary interventions include the reduction of acetaldehyde in the beverages by improvement in production technology or the use of acetaldehyde binding additives.
A re-evaluation of the 'generally recognized as safe' status of acetaldehyde is also required, which does not appear to be in agreement with its toxicity and carcinogenicity.
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Request Reprint E-Mail: DWLachenmeier@gmx.de
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News Release - New Nationwide Report Estimates that 40 Percent of Underage Drinkers Received Free Alcohol from Adults Over 21 Survey reveals that 650,000 underage drinkers in the past month were given alcohol by their parents or guardians
More than 40 percent of the nation’s estimated 10.8 million underage current drinkers (persons aged 12 to 20 who drank in the past 30 days) were provided free alcohol by adults 21 or older, according to a nationwide report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The study also indicates that one in 16 underage drinkers (6.4 percent or 650,000) was given alcoholic beverages by their parents in the past month.
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Substance abuse treatment linked with prenatal visits improves perinatal outcomes: a new standardJournal of Perinatology advance online publication 26 June 2008
To evaluate the impact of Early Start, an obstetric clinic-based prenatal substance abuse treatment program, on perinatal outcomes.
Subjects were 49 985 women who completed Prenatal Substance Abuse Screening Questionnaires at obstetric clinics between 1 January 1999 and 30 June 2003, had urine toxicology screening tests and either live births or intrauterine fetal demises (IUFDs). Four groups were compared: women screened/assessed positive and treated by Early Start ('SAT', n=2073); women screened/assessed positive without treatment ('SA', n=1203); women screened positive only ('S', n=156); controls who screened negative (n=46 553). Ten neonatal and maternal outcomes were studied.
SAT women had either similar or slightly higher rates than the control women on most outcomes but significantly lower rates than S women. SA women generally had intermediate rates to the SAT and S groups. In multivariate analysis, the S group had significantly worse outcomes than the SAT group: preterm delivery (odds ratio (OR)=2.1, 1.3 to 3.2), placental abruption (OR=6.8, 3.0 to 15.5) and IUFD (OR=16.2, 6.0 to 43.8).
Substance abuse treatment integrated with prenatal visits was associated with a positive effect on maternal and newborn health.
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Request Reprint E-Mail: nancy.goler@kp.org
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News Release - FTC Reports on Alcohol Marketing and Self-RegulationJune 26, 2008
Study Finds High Levels of Compliance with Voluntary Placement Standard
A new Federal Trade Commission report on alcohol marketing and youth examines industry efforts to reduce the likelihood that alcohol advertising will target those under the legal drinking age of 21. It also announces a new system for monitoring alcohol industry compliance with self-regulatory programs. The report explains where alcohol suppliers spend their promotional dollars, provides data on compliance with the industry's advertising placement standard, discusses the status of external review of advertising complaints, and provides information about the Commission's education program to reduce teen access to alcohol.
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Alcohol and suicide in eastern Europe Drug and Alcohol Review, Volume 27, Issue 4 July 2008 , pages 361 - 373
The aim of this paper was to estimate how suicide rates in seven eastern European countries are affected by changes in population drinking and to put the results into a comparative perspective.
All countries obtained positive alcohol effect estimates. The effects on the overall population were largest in the spirits countries, where a 1-litre increase in per capita consumption was associated with an increase in overall suicide rates of 5.7-7.5%. The effects were somewhat smaller in the non-spirits countries, 2.7-4.7%. The estimates for males were larger, but showed the same national variations as the overall population estimates. The female estimates were generally smaller than for men and did not differ between the two country groups.
The results suggest that per capita consumption matters for suicide mortality in these eastern European countries, but that the strength of the relationship is contingent upon the drinking culture, so that it tends to be stronger in countries with detrimental drinking patterns.
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Request Reprint E-Mail: jonas.landberg@sorad.su.se
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Ready to drinks are associated with heavier drinking patterns among young females Drug and Alcohol Review, Volume 27, Issue 4 July 2008 , pages 398 - 403
To report patterns of use of ready to drinks (RTDs) and to assess if RTD consumers have heavier drinking patterns. RTDs were introduced in 1995.
Nineteen per cent of respondents consumed RTDs. Respondents aged 14-17 and 18-24 years and females were the largest consumers of RTDs. Compared to beer, wine or spirits, being an RTD consumer predicted (1) higher typical occasion quantities for respondents aged 14-17, 18-24 and 25+ years and (2) heavier drinking for those aged 14-17 and 18-24 years. When amounts of beverages consumed were modelled, quantity of RTDs predicted higher typical occasion quantities among females of all ages. Among males beer was more predictive. Similar results were found for the heavier drinking measure. For 14-17-year-old females, RTDs consumption predicted higher annual frequency, but for the other females and males the amount of wine or beer consumed predicted higher frequency.
RTDs were most popular among young people aged 14-17 years, and females. RTDs predicted higher typical occasion alcohol consumption and heavier drinking better than any other beverage for females aged 14-17 years. For the other age and gender groups, other beverages predicted higher quantity and frequency consumption
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Inquiry into Ready-to-Drink Alcohol BeveragesTerms of Reference
Download this document (PDF 21KB)
On 15 May 2008 the Senate referred to the Community Affairs Committee for inquiry and report by 24 June 2008:
- the effectiveness of the Government's proposed changes to the alcohol excise regime in reducing the claims of excessive consumption of ready-to-drink alcohol beverages;
- the consumption patterns of ready-to-drink alcohol beverages by sex and age group;
- the consumption patterns of all alcohol beverages by sex and age group;
- the impact of these changes on patterns of overall full strength spirit consumption, including any increased consumption of standard drinks of alcohol;
- the evidence underpinning the claims of significant public health benefit in the increase of excise on this category of alcohol;
- applicability of incentives to encourage production and consumption of lower alcohol content beverages;
- the modelling underpinning the Government's revenue estimates of this measure;
- the effectiveness of excise increases as a tool in reducing the levels of alcohol related harm;
- the empirical evidence on which the government's decision to increase the excise on ready-to-drink alcohol beverages was based; and
- the effect of alternative means of limiting excessive alcohol consumption and levels of alcohol related harm among young people.
New materials about Faces & VoicesThanks to recovery advocates Cheryl Floyd, PRO-A; Walter Ginter, National Alliance of Methadone Advocates; Lisa Mojer-Torres; Bev Haberle, PRO-ACT; Tom Hill, Altarum Institute; Andre Johnson, Detroit Recovery Project; Carol McDaid, Capitol Decisions; Jane Pressly, FAVOR South Carolina Greenville chapter; Phillip Valentine, Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery; Tonya Wheeler, Advocates for Recovery Colorado; and Faces & Voices Tom Coderre for their help in developing some new materials about Faces & Voices and recovery advocacy.
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Recovery-based care projectFaces & Voices is partnering with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), the National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors (NASADAD) and the State Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS) in a project to educate state legislators and legislative staff about recovery-based care for addiction.
On June 20 th Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR) Executive Director Phillip Valentine participated in a briefing for legislators in Washington, DC. The next part of the project is a series of three web-assisted audio conferences. On July 11th, Bev Haberle from PRO-ACT will join Philadelphia’s Dr. Arthur Evans to discuss the transformation to recovery-oriented care in that city. The audioconferences will be recorded and can be listened to online. We'll let you know when they're available.
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Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Effects of Clozapine on Ethanol Withdrawal Syndrome in RatsAlcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on June 25, 2008
Co-morbid substance use in schizophrenic patients is common, and an important factor affects the outcome of disease. On the other hand, drug dependence is a predictive factor for psychosis. Alcohol is one of the most frequently abused psychoactive substances and may contribute psychotic symptoms in several conditions, such as withdrawal syndrome.
The present study was designed to investigate the effects of clozapine on ethanol withdrawal syndrome (EWS) in rats.
Clozapine significantly and dose-dependently inhibited the EWS-induced locomotor hyperactivity, wet dog shake, stereotyped behaviour, tremor and tail stiffness. However, it did not produce any significant effect on agitation and audiogenic seizures. Doses of clozapine used in the present study did not produce any significant change on locomotor activities of naïve rats.
Our results suggest that clozapine had some significant beneficial effects on EWS in rats. Thus, this drug may be helpful for controlling some withdrawal signs in ethanol-dependent patients.
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Request Reprint e-Mail: tuzbay@gata.edu.tr
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'Binge' drinking in the UK: a social network phenomenonIn this paper, we analyse the recent growth of ‘binge’ drinking in the UK. This means
the rapid consumption of large amounts of alcohol, especially by young people, leading
to serious anti-social and criminal behaviour in urban centres. This phenomenon has
grown very rapidly.
British soccer fans have often exhibited this kind of behaviour abroad, but it has become
widespread amongst young people within Britain itself. Vomiting, collapsing in the
street, shouting and chanting loudly, intimidating passers-by and fighting are now
regular night-time features of many British towns and cities. A particularly disturbing
aspect is the huge rise in drunken and anti-social behaviour amongst young females.
Increasingly, policy makers in the West are concerned about how not just to regulate but
to alter social behaviour. Smoking and obesity are obvious examples, and in the UK
‘binge’ drinking has become a focus of acute policy concern.
We show how a simple agent based model approach, combined with a limited amount of
easily acquired information, can provide useful insights for policy makers in the context
of behavioural regulation.
We show that the hypothesis that the rise in binge drinking is a fashion-related
phenomenon, with imitative behaviour spreading across social networks, is sufficient to
account for the empirically observed patterns of binge drinking behaviour.
The results show that a small world network, rather than a scale-free or random one,
offers the best description of the data.
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Longitudinal trends in hospital admissions with co-occurring alcohol/drug diagnoses, 1994–2002Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment Volume 35, Issue 1, July 2008, Pages 1-12
In this observational study, longitudinal trends (1994–2002) in hospital admissions with co-occurring alcohol/drug abuse and addiction (ADAA; N = 43,073) were examined to determine prevalence and hospital costs by payer group and type of drug used.
Four primary drug types were reported: 49% used a combination of two or more drugs, 25% used alcohol only, 11.8% used opioids only, and 6.5% used cocaine only. Costs of admissions increased significantly for those using two or more drugs (119%, from US$12.7 to US$27.8 million), alcohol (120%, from US$9 to US$19.8 million), and opioids (482%, from US$1.7 to US$9.9 million).
Medicaid/Medicare represented 70% of the overall number of admissions and also paid 70% of hospital costs. Among Medicaid/Medicare and uninsured admissions, illicit drug use was more common, whereas among private payer admissions, alcohol abuse was more common.
Hospital admissions with co-occurring ADAA must be considered when estimating the scope of ADAA and its financial burden.
Request Reprint E-Mail: psantora@jhmi.edu
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Alterations in the levels of heterotrimeric G protein subunits induced by psychostimulants, opiates, barbiturates, and ethanol: Implications for drug dependence, tolerance, and withdrawalSynapse 62:689-699, 2008
| Neuronal adaptations have been found to occur in multiple brain regions after chronic intake of abused drugs, and are therefore thought to underlie drug dependence, tolerance, and withdrawal. Pathophysiological changes in drug responsiveness as well as behavioral sequelae of chronic drug exposure are thought to depend largely upon the altered state of heterotrimeric GTP binding protein (G protein)-coupled receptor (GPCR)-G protein interactions. Responsiveness of GPCR-related intracellular signaling systems to drugs of abuse is heterogeneous, depending on the types of intracellular effectors to which the specific G  protein subtypes are coupled and GPCR-G protein coupling efficiency, factors influenced by the class of drug, expression levels of G protein subunits, and drug treatment regimens. To enhance understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie the development of pathophysiological states resulting from chronic intake of abused drugs, this review focuses on alterations in the expression levels of G protein subunits induced by various drugs of abuse. Changes in these mechanisms appear to be specific to particular drugs of abuse, and specific conditions of drug treatment. Read Full Abstract Request Reprint E-Mail: kitanaka-hyg@umin.net ___________________________________________________________________ |
Koreans Turn to Mild Alcoholic Beverages2008-05-06
By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
More Koreans are turning to mild alcoholic beverages instead of hard liquors, reflecting a growing interest in healthy lifestyles, statistics showed.
According to the National Tax Service (NTS), Koreans consumed 3.3 million kiloliters of beer, soju, and other alcoholic beverages in 2007, up 3.8 percent from the previous year. The alcoholic consumption has been rising each year except for 2005, when the consumption fell to 3.1 million kiloliters from 3.2 million kiloliters of the previous year.
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Self-medication of anxiety disorders with alcohol and drugs: Results from a nationally representative sampleJournal of Anxiety Disorders Article in Press 22 Mar 2008
Self-medication – the use of alcohol or drugs in an attempt to reduce anxiety – has often been invoked as an explanatory mechanism for the high co-occurrence of anxiety and substance use disorders (for reviews, see Allan, C. A. (1995). Alcohol problems and anxiety disorders—A critical review. Alcohol & Alcoholism, 30(2), 145–151; Kushner, M. G., Abrams, K., & Borchardt. (2000). The relationship between anxiety disorders and alcohol use disorders: A review of major perspectives and findings. Clinical Psychology Review, 20(2), 149–171).
The current study expands upon previous self-medication research by: (1) examining prevalence and comorbidity of self-medication for anxiety disorders (panic disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, and generalized anxiety disorder); (2) using a nationally representative sample (National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions; N = 43,093) to do so; and (3) by differentiating self-medication with alcohol from self-medication with drugs.
Prevalence rates ranged from 18.3% (self-medication with alcohol for generalized anxiety disorder) to 3.3% (self-medication with both alcohol and drugs for specific phobia and panic disorder without agoraphobia). Multiple logistic regression analyses determined that self-medication with alcohol was associated with increased likelihood of any mood or personality disorder diagnosis, while self-medication with both alcohol and drugs further increased these associations over and above self-medication with alcohol alone.
Findings remained significant after adjusting for sociodemographic and substance use disorder variables, which suggests that independently of substance use disorders, self-medication can be viewed as a marker of severity.
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Request Reprint E-Mail: sareen@cc.umanitoba.ca
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Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Reasons for substance use in dual diagnosis bipolar disorder and substance use disorders: A qualitative studyJournal of Affective Disorders Article in Press, 20 June 2008
Few systematic studies have examined the reasons why patients with bipolar disorder and substance use disorders misuse alcohol and drugs of abuse. Such reasons may depend heavily on context so qualitative research methods that made no prior theoretical assumptions were employed.
We explored the reasons patients give for misusing drugs and alcohol and how these relate to their illness course.
Qualitative semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis with a purposive sample of 15 patients with bipolar disorder and a current or past history of drug or alcohol use disorders.
Patients based their patterns of and reasons for substance use on previous personal experiences rather than other sources of information. Reasons for substance use were idiosyncratic, and were both mood related and unrelated. Contextual factors such as mood, drug and social often modified the patient's personal experience of substance use. Five thematic categories emerged: experimenting in the early illness; living with serious mental illness; enjoying the effects of substances; feeling normal; and managing stress.
The prevalence of these underlying themes was not established and the results may not apply to populations with different cultural norms.
Patterns of substance use and reasons for use are idiosyncratic to the individual and evolve through personal experience. Motivating the patient to change their substance use requires an understanding of their previous personal experience of substance use both in relation to the different phases of their bipolar disorder and their wider personal needs.
Request Reprint E-Mail: Chealey@liverpool.ac.uk
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More Thinking About DrinkingTuesday, June 24, 2008; Page HE02
I'm delighted that the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is interested in the detection and treatment of alcohol abuse through primary care medicine ["How Much Is Too Much?" June 17].
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Coping in male partners of female problem drinkers Journal of Substance Use, Volume 13, Issue 3 June 2008 , pages 193 - 203
Despite a wealth of literature looking at how families cope when a member has a drinking problem, little is known about the experiences of male partners. This study sought to redress this balance by exploring coping behaviours in male partners of female problem drinkers.
Contrary to what was expected, male partners reported using engaged coping behaviours most frequently and withdrawal coping behaviours least frequently. Significant positive correlations were found between the males' coping behaviours, and both the length of the problem drinking and the extent to which they saw their partners' drinking as problematic.
The results gave little support to the idea that males withdraw from females with drinking problems, and the males reported to be engaged in both an active and controlling way in trying to cope with their partner's drinking. The results reinforce the need to include a female's significant others in the treatment of her alcohol problem.
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Request Reprint E-Mail: helen.philpott@derbysmhservices.nhs.uk
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Press release - Alcohol Advertisements Seen by Youth on TV on the Rise12-20 Year Olds' Exposure Increased 38% From 2001-2007
Washington, DC - A comprehensive review of television advertising practices by alcohol companies from 2001-2007 finds an increase in youth exposure to alcohol advertising and relatively few industry-sponsored "responsibility" ads. The new study, released today by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University, evaluated advertising trends and identified the best and worst brands with regard to youth exposure to alcohol.
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Monday, June 23, 2008
Czechs spend more on tobacco, alcohol than on health - report23 June 2008
Prague- Czechs spend more on tobacco, alcohol and other unhealthy habits than on the protection of their health, according to a report on health care worked out within the Round table project and released.
Czechs do not like cash payments in health care apart from their health insurance.
"People expect that all their health problems to be solved by somebody else and desirably for free if they pay health insurance," Stanislav Vachek, analyst of the Round table on the future of the health care system's funding project.
In EU countries, households spend two to five percent of their budget on health.
Czech households spent 1.5 times more on tobacco, alcohol and other unhealthy habits than on health.
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Substance Use Among Women: Associations with Pregnancy, Parenting, and Race/EthnicityMaternal and Child Health Journal Online First 20 June 2008
To examine the association of pregnancy and parenting (0- to 2-year-old child) statuses with past 30-day use of alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana, psychotherapeutics and cocaine among American women aged 18–44, overall and by race/ethnicity.
Five years of data (2002–2006) from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) were pooled. Binary logistic regression analyses stratified by race/ethnicity were performed to examine the relationships adjusting for age, marital status, education and family income.
Overall, past 30-day alcohol, cigarette, marijuana, psychotherapeutic or cocaine use was substantially lower among pregnant women, particularly in their second or third trimesters, than among their parenting or non-pregnant counterparts. Logistic regression analysis suggested a strong negative association between pregnancy status and substance use, with no considerable variations in the magnitude of the relationship by race/ethnicity for most measures. The relationship between parenting status and substance use was in the same direction, but relatively weak, and not statistically significant for non-Hispanic (NH) blacks for any measures except for alcohol use. Regardless of pregnancy and parenting statuses, NH white women reported substance use at the highest rates, followed by Hispanics and NH blacks.
There is indirect evidence of postpregnancy resumption in substance use. Pregnant and parenting women, regardless of race/ethnicity, could benefit from prevention efforts focusing on cessation rather than temporary abstinence from substance use.
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Alcohol policies must target majority to reduce the toll of death and disease Monday, 23rd June 2008
With alcohol-related deaths in Scotland almost doubling in the past decade and one of the fastest growing alcoholic liver disease rates in the world, it's hard to believe that some people still argue that harmful alcohol use in Scotland is a minority problem (Platform, 20 June).
The truth is that many of us, young and old alike, are drinking at levels that put our health and wellbeing at risk. More harm is associated with the much bigger group of risky drinkers than the smaller group of dependent drinkers. Policies need to target the whole population rather than just the heaviest drinkers.With alcohol-related deaths in Scotland almost doubling in the past decade and one of the fastest growing alcoholic liver disease rates in the world, it's hard to believe that some people still argue that harmful alcohol use in Scotland is a minority problem (Platform, 20 June).
Effective action to reduce alcohol consumption in the population means controls on price and availability. . . . . . . .
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Sunday, June 22, 2008
French police to fine "Le binge drinkers"22/06/2008
Paris police have imposed an acohol ban in the park surrounding the Eiffel Tower because it has become a drunken "battlefield".
Selling or drinking alcohol is now forbidden from 4pm to 7am in the Champ-de-Mars, the green area around the tower leading up to the Trocadero. Drinkers face a £30 fine, while anyone caught selling alcohol must pay £595.
The French are increasingly worried about the rise of "le binge drinking," particularly among the younger generation, in a country long proud of avoiding Anglo-Saxon "drink-to-get-drunk" culture.
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A framework for studying the neurobiology of value-based decision makingNature Reviews Neuroscience 9, 545-556 (July 2008)
Neuroeconomics is the study of the neurobiological and computational basis of value-based decision making. Its goal is to provide a biologically based account of human behaviour that can be applied in both the natural and the social sciences.
This Review proposes a framework to investigate different aspects of the neurobiology of decision making. The framework allows us to bring together recent findings in the field, highlight some of the most important outstanding problems, define a common lexicon that bridges the different disciplines that inform neuroeconomics, and point the way to future applications.
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A survey of local health promotion initiatives for older people in WalesBMC Public Health 2008, 8:217
As the demographic profile of the UK changes, policy makers and practitioners have to respond to health challenges presented by a progressively ageing population. The health promotion plan for older people, aged over 50 years, in Wales included eight key areas: physical activity, healthy eating, home safety and warmth, emotional health, health protection, smoking, alcohol and sexual health. The aim of this study was to describe the extent, content and regional variation of existing health promotion initiatives for older people in Wales, provided by statutory, voluntary and private sector agencies.
A questionnaire was sent to senior health promotion specialists employed in the 22 local authority areas in Wales to ascertain details of all projects promoting health and wellbeing in the eight key areas where the priority population was aged over 50, or the majority of users were older people. Additional information was sought from project leads and websites.
Eighteen questionnaires were returned; not all were fully completed. Four areas did not return a questionnaire. Additional information was obtained from internet searches but this mainly concerned national initiatives rather than local projects. In all, 120 projects were included, 11 were throughout Wales. Best provision was for physical activity, with 3 national and 42 local initiatives, but local provision was patchy. Healthy eating, and home safety and warmth had far fewer initiatives, as did health protection, which comprised two national immunisation campaigns. Smoking and alcohol misuse were poorly provided for, and there was no provision for older peoples sexual health. Evaluation arrangements were poorly described. Half of those who responded identified unmet training needs.
The reasons for patchy provision of services were not clear. Increased efforts to improve the coverage of interventions known to be effective should be made. Rigorous evaluation of projects is needed to ascertain the most effective and appropriate interventions, especially for alcohol misuse and sexual health. These conclusions are relevant to the other countries of the United Kingdom (UK), and more widely across Europe.
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Alcohol dose effects on brain circuits during simulated driving: An fMRI studyHuman Brain Mapping Published Online: 20 Jun 2008
Driving while intoxicated remains a major public health hazard. Driving is a complex task involving simultaneous recruitment of multiple cognitive functions.
The investigators studied the neural substrates of driving and their response to different blood alcohol concentrations (BACs), using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a virtual reality driving simulator.
GLM analysis revealed significant dose-related functional differences, complementing ICA data. Driving behaviors including opposite white line crossings and mean speed independently demonstrated significant dose-dependent changes. Behavior-based factors also predicted a frontal-basal-temporal circuit to be functionally impaired with alcohol dosage across baseline scaled, good versus poorly performing drivers.
We report neural correlates of driving behavior and found dose-related spatio-temporal disruptions in critical driving-associated regions including the superior, middle and orbito frontal gyri, anterior cingulate, primary/supplementary motor areas, basal ganglia, and cerebellum.
Overall, results suggest that alcohol (especially at high doses) causes significant impairment of both driving behavior and brain functionality related to motor planning and control, goal directedness, error monitoring, and memory.
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Request Reprint E-Mail: smeda01@harthosp.org
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Driving while intoxicated remains a major public health hazard. Driving is a complex task involving simultaneous recruitment of multiple cognitive functions.
The investigators studied the neural substrates of driving and their response to different blood alcohol concentrations (BACs), using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a virtual reality driving simulator.
GLM analysis revealed significant dose-related functional differences, complementing ICA data. Driving behaviors including opposite white line crossings and mean speed independently demonstrated significant dose-dependent changes. Behavior-based factors also predicted a frontal-basal-temporal circuit to be functionally impaired with alcohol dosage across baseline scaled, good versus poorly performing drivers.
We report neural correlates of driving behavior and found dose-related spatio-temporal disruptions in critical driving-associated regions including the superior, middle and orbito frontal gyri, anterior cingulate, primary/supplementary motor areas, basal ganglia, and cerebellum.
Overall, results suggest that alcohol (especially at high doses) causes significant impairment of both driving behavior and brain functionality related to motor planning and control, goal directedness, error monitoring, and memory.
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Request Reprint E-Mail: smeda01@harthosp.org
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Chronic Alcohol Consumption Increases the Severity of Murine Influenza Virus InfectionsThe Journal of Immunology, 2008, 181: 641-648.
Respiratory infections with both seasonal as well as potential pandemic Influenza viruses represent a significant burden on human health. Furthermore, viruses such as Influenza are increasingly recognized as important etiologic agents in community acquired pneumonia. Within the U.S. alone,
12.9 million people are heavy drinkers and chronic abuse of alcohol is known to increase the risk and severity of community acquired pneumonia.Given the lack of knowledge regarding Influenza disease in this population, we determined the effects of chronic alcohol consumption on Influenza virus infection.
Herein, we report that mice exposed to chronic ethanol have sharp increases in morbidity, mortality, and pulmonary virus titers relative to controls. These increases in influenza severity correspond with inhibited pulmonary influenza-specific CD8 T cell responses. Further, chronic ethanol consumption results in an enhanced pulmonary lesion severity, similar to that recently described for pandemic influenzas.
Together, our results suggest that chronic alcohol consumption may increase the risk for severe influenza virus infections by altering the pulmonary inflammatory environment and CD8 T cell response.
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Request Repint E-Mail: kevin-legge@uiowa.edu
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Michael Bachelard
June 22, 2008
A WEEK after the National Health and Medical Research Council said its "definition of binge drinking will drop" to the equivalent of four pots of beer, or three glasses of wine, the group issued a statement saying new alcohol-consumption guidelines "do not use the term 'binge drinking'".
Alcohol experts have accused the NHMRC of a "stuff-up", saying its handling of the guidelines debate has threatened the credibility of health researchers and obscured a crucially important message.
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Abstinence following Alcohol Drinking Produces Depression-Like Behavior and Reduced Hippocampal Neurogenesis in MiceNeuropsychopharmacology advance online publication 18 June 2008;
Alcoholism and depression show high degrees of comorbidity. Clinical evidence also indicates that depression that emerges during abstinence from chronic alcohol use has a greater negative impact on relapse than pre-existing depression. Although no single neurobiological mechanism can account for the behavioral pathologies associated with these devastating disorders, converging evidence suggests that aspects of both alcoholism and depression are linked to reductions in hippocampal neurogenesis.
Here, we report results from a novel preclinical behavioral model showing that abstinence from voluntary alcohol drinking leads to the emergence of depression-like behavior and reductions in neurogenesis.
After 14 days, but not 1 day of abstinence from alcohol drinking, mice showed a significant increase in depression-like behavior. The significant increase in depression-like behavior during abstinence was associated with a reduction in proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and doublecortin (DCX) immunoreactivity in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus indicating that both the number of proliferating neural progenitor cells (NPC) and immature neurons were reduced, respectively.
The number of NPCs that were labeled with bromo-deoxyuridine (BrdU) at the beginning of alcohol exposure was not altered indicating that survival of NPCs is not linked to abstinence-induced depression.
Chronic treatment (14 days) with the antidepressant desipramine during abstinence prevented both the emergence of depression-like behavior and the reduction in hippocampal neurogenesis indicating that abstinence-induced depression is associated with structural plasticity in the hippocampus.
Overall, the results of this study support the conclusion that profound functional (ie behavioral) and structural changes occur during abstinence from alcohol use and suggest that antidepressant treatment may alleviate some of these pathological neurobehavioral adaptations.
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Request Reprint E-Mail: chodge@med.unc.edu
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Enhanced Negative Emotion and Alcohol Craving, and Altered Physiological Responses Following Stress and Cue Exposure in Alcohol Dependent IndividualsNeuropsychopharmacology advance online publication 18 June 2008;
Chronic alcohol abuse is associated with changes in stress and reward pathways that could alter vulnerability to emotional stress and alcohol craving.
This study examines whether chronic alcohol abuse is associated with altered stress and alcohol craving responses.
Alcohol patients showed significantly elevated basal heart rate and salivary cortisol levels. Stress and alcohol cue exposure each produced a significantly enhanced and persistent craving state in alcohol patients that was marked by increased anxiety, negative emotion, systolic blood pressure responses, and, in the case of alcohol cue, behavioral distress responses, as compared to SDs. Blunted stress-induced cortisol responses were observed in the AD compared to the SD group.
These data are the first to document that stress and cue exposure induce a persistent negative emotion-related alcohol craving state in abstinent alcoholics accompanied by dysregulated HPA and physiological arousal responses.
As laboratory models of stress and negative mood-induced alcohol craving are predictive of relapse outcomes, one implication of the current data is that treatments targeting decreases in stress and alcohol cue-induced craving and regulation of stress responses could be of benefit in improving alcohol relapse outcomes.
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Request Reprint E-Mail: rajita.sinha@yale.edu
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SNP alcohol policy could give UK government a Brussels hangoverBy Colin Donald, Business Editor
Minimum pricing branded a competition law minefield
MEASURES PROPOSED by the Scottish government to establish minimum prices for alcohol carry a "significant risk" of exposing the UK government to a European legal challenge, lawyers have warned.
English and Scottish competition law specialists say that proposals for minimum retail pricing contained in the SNP government's alcohol strategy document contain potential legal snares, infringement of which would make a Westminster government answerable to European law courts.
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Our booze bluesJune 22, 2008
We know it brings chaos to our city streets, we know it destroys families, we know it's responsible for violence and domestic abuse, we know it's killing us, so why do we still love to drink? Ian Bell looks at our love affair with alcohol
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There are certain cherished sayings we could probably live without. And by "live" I mean exactly that. Here's one redolent, supposedly, of the Scottish national character: Freedom and whisky gang thegither. What's wrong with that sentiment? Perhaps the fact that it is only slightly less egregious, muddled and downright dangerous than asserting that alcopops and human dignity combine nicely.