Study of Implementation of a Guideline for Brief Alcohol Intervention in Primary Care.

Journal of Nursing Care Quality Publish Ahead of Print, 1 July 2009

Application of research findings to clinical care has been advocated to improve quality of care and patient outcomes. This article discusses a method to evaluate the translation of research findings in support of evidence-based care. An exemplar of a brief intervention in primary care for high-risk drinkers is used.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: zhyman@daemen.edu

_________________________________________________________________

Internationally recognized guidelines for ‘sensible’ alcohol consumption: is exceeding them actually detrimental to health and social circumstances? Evidence from a population-based cohort study

Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on July 2, 2009

In the present study, there was some evidence for a detrimental effect on health and social circumstances of exceeding current internationally recognized weekly and daily guidelines for alcohol intake on selected health and social outcomes.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: david-b@sphsu.mrc.ac.uk

_______________________________________________________________

The Road to Recovery: Where Are We Going and How Do We Get There? Empirically Driven Conclusions and Future Directions for Service Development and Research

Substance Use & Misuse, Volume 43, Issue 12 & 13 October 2008 , pages 2001 - 2020

The term “recovery” is often used in the addiction field. However, we have thus far failed to define the term, to delineate its dimensions, or to elucidate the prerequisite conditions to this outcome. This has hindered service development and evaluation as well as changes in policy.

This paper:

• Reviews empirical findings about how “recovery” is defined and experienced by individuals engaged in the process;


• 
  Examines factors associated with recovery initiation, maintenance, and sustained lifestyle, and review obstacles to recovery; and


• 
  Discusses implications for services and research; implications include the need to adopt a long-term, wellness-centered approach to addressing substance use related problems, the importance for society to address the stigma of former addiction and to offer attractive viable opportunities to promote making significant life changes toward recovery from substance use.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: laudet@ndri.org

_________________________________________________________________

Initial National Priorities for Comparative Effectiveness Research

REPORT BRIEF • JUNE 2009

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 called on the Institute of Medicine to recommend a list of priority topics to be the initial focus of a new national investment in comparative effectiveness research. The IOM’s recommendations are contained in the report, Initial National Priorities for Comparative Effectiveness Research. The list of priority topics is provided below. The topics are listed by quartile (groups of 25). The first quartile is considered the highest priority group and the fourth quartile the lowest. Within each group, however, the order of individual topics does not indicate rank.

The list provides a starting point for what the report says should be a sustained effort to conduct comparative effectiveness research. As this research initiative progresses, the priorities will evolve as well. Ultimately, research on these and future topics will not yield real improvements unless the results are adopted by health care providers and organizations and integrated into clinical practice.

Fourth Quartile

• Compare the effectiveness of traditional behavioral interventions versus economic incentives in motivating behavior changes (e.g., weight loss, smoking cessation, avoiding alcohol and substance abuse) in children and adults.

100 Initial Priority Topics for Comparative Effectiveness Research

_____________________________________________________________

Rethinking Drinking

For anyone who drinks, Rethinking Drinking offers valuable, research-based information. The first part, How much is too much?, answers these questions and more:

• What’s "low-risk" drinking versus "at-risk" or "heavy" drinking?

• Why is being able to "hold your liquor" a concern?

• What are signs that drinking is causing harm?

Many heavy drinkers do not have alcohol-related problems yet and can reduce their risk of harm by cutting back. For the nearly 18 million Americans who have alcoholism or related problems, however, it’s safest to quit.

The second part of this booklet, Thinking about a change?, offers tips, tools, and resources for people who choose to cut down or quit. Success is likely for those who persist in their efforts. Even for those with alcoholism, studies show that most do recover, often without professional treatment

What do you think about taking a look at your drinking habits and how they may affect your health? Rethinking Drinking can help you get started.

Read Full Text (PDF)


Rethinking Drinking website
____________________________________________________________________

Decreased Amygdala Activation during Risk Taking in Non-Dependent Habitual Alcohol Users: A Preliminary fMRI Study of the Stop Signal Task

The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse Published Online 2 July 2009



Habitual alcohol use is prodromal to alcohol dependence. It has been suggested that impairment in impulse control contributes to habitual drinking. Little is known whether neural processes associated with impulse control is altered in non-dependent social drinkers. The current preliminary study combined functional magnetic resonance imaging and the stop signal task (SST) to address this issue.

We showed that moderate/heavy alcohol drinkers were decreased in amygdala activation during risk taking, while indistinguishable in neural measures of inhibitory control, when compared to non/light drinkers.

Altered amygdala activation during risk taking may be a key neural process underlying early habitual alcohol use and a potential marker mediating transition to alcohol dependence.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: chiang-shan.li@yale.edu
_____________________________________________________________

Alcohol dependence–related increase of glial cell density in the anterior cingulate cortex of suicide completers

J Psychiatry Neurosci 2009;34(4):281-8.

Glial densities, neuronal densities and soma sizes measured in BA24a did not differ significantly between controls and suicide completers. Secondary analyses showed a significant and robust increase in glial cell densities in BA24a of alcohol-dependent depressed suicide completers compared with depressed suicide completers who were not alcohol-dependent (38%) and, to a lesser extent, controls (30%).

Read Full Text (PDF)

________________________________________________________________

Alcohol consumption and use of acute and mentalhealth hospital services in the West of ScotlandCollaborative prospective cohort study J Epidemiol Community Health. Published Online First: 1 July 2009.

Men who consumed 22 or more units per week had a 20% higher rate of acute admissions than nondrinkers. The number of bed-days were higher for men drinking eight or more units and increased with consumption, with the highest category having a 58% higher rate of bed-days than non-drinkers. Non-drinkers had the highest admissions for CHD.

For stroke, drinkers of 15 or more units had higher admissions and higher number of bed-days and these increased with increasing consumption. Respiratory admissions were higher for drinkers of 22 or more units and bed-days were higher fordrinkers of 15 or more units. Alcohol-related admissions and number of bed-days generally increased with consumption.
Mental health admissions and number of bed-days were raised for drinkers of 22 or more units with a suggestion of a J-shaped relationship.

Alcohol consumption has a substantial effect on acute and mental health admissions and bed-days.

Read Full Abstract



Request Reprint E-Mail: c.l.hart@udcf.gla.ac.uk



___________________________________________________________

NEUROSCIENCE: PATHWAYS TO ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE

Alcohol Alerts No. 77 April 2009

Today, thanks to rapidly advancing technology, researchers know more than ever about how alcohol affects the brain and how the brain responds and adapts to these effects. This Alcohol Alert summarizes some of what we know about alcohol’s short- and long-term effects on the brain and how breakthroughs in neuroscience are leading to better treatments for alcohol-related problems.

Read Full Text (PDF)

______________________________________________________________

Epidemiology of Alcohol Abuse and Dependence in Rural Chinese Men

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Published Online: 1 Jul 2009

Alcohol abuse and dependence are no longer uncommon disorders among rural men in China. Unlike most western reports, alcohol dependence shows higher prevalence than abuse. There are significant differences in the prevalence of alcohol use disorders and the socio-demographic profile of affected individuals in the 2 different regions of the country.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: zhouliang@xysm.net

_______________________________________________________________

Association of self-reported alcohol use and hospitalization for an alcohol-related cause in Scotland: a record-linkage study of 23 183 individuals

Addiction, Volume 104, Number 4, April 2009 , pp. 593-602(10)

Moderate and higher levels of usual alcohol consumption and binge drinking are serious risk factors for alcohol-related hospitalization in the Scottish population. These findings contribute to our understanding of the relationship between alcohol intake and alcohol-related morbidity

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: scott.mcdonald@hps.scot.nhs.uk

_________________________________________________________

Young Adults' Need for and Receipt of Alcohol and Illicit Drug Use Treatment: 2007

In the past year, about one fifth of young adults aged 18 to 25 (21.1 percent) needed treatment for alcohol or illicit drug use, but less than one tenth (7.0 percent) of them received treatment at a specialty facility. Of the young adults who needed but did not receive alcohol or illicit drug use treatment in a specialty facility in the past year, 96.0 percent did not perceive the need for treatment.

Read Full Report (PDF)

________________________________________________________________

Early Release of Selected Estimates Based on Data From the 2008 National Health Interview Survey

9. Alcohol consumption PDF Version

• Figure 9.1. Percentage of adults aged 18 years and over who had five or more drinks in 1 day at least once in the past year: United States, 1997-2008
  
• Figure 9.2. Percentage of adults aged 18 years and over who had five or more drinks in 1 day at least once in the past year, by age group and sex: United States, 2008
  
• Figure 9.3. Age-sex-adjusted percentage of adults aged 18 years and over who had five or more drinks in 1 day at least once in the past year, by race/ethnicity: United States, 2008
  
• Data tables for Figures 9.1-9.3

Read Full Early Release Report (PDF)

______________________________________________________________

Alcohol and Drug Use Before and During Pregnancy: An Examination of Use Patterns and Predictors of Cessation

Maternal and Child Health Journal Volume 13, Number 3 / May, 2009 pp. 386-394

Women who continued to use alcohol or drugs after learning they were pregnant were more frequent users than spontaneous quitters, more likely to smoke cigarettes, and had more psychosocial stressors. Achieving higher rates of cessation may require approaches that simultaneously address substance use and impediments to quitting. Higher continuation rates among some cultural groups require further investigation.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: pat.harrison@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

________________________________________________________________

Racial Disparities in Pregnancy-Related Drinking Reduction

Maternal and Child Health Journal Published Online September 09, 2008

Significant racial differences in pregnancy-related drinking reduction are evident, and may help explain racial disparities in FAS. Results suggest that more targeted efforts are needed to meet the national goals of preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: tenkku@slu.edu

_____________________________________________________________

Preliminary Evaluation of Phosphatidylethanol and Alcohol Consumption in Patients with Liver Disease and Hypertension
Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on June 17, 2009

Results support PEth measurement by HPLC-MS/MS as a promising marker of past 1- to 2-week moderate to heavy alcohol consumption in patients with and without liver disease. PEth appears useful for differentiating abstinence or light drinking from moderate to heavy consumption, but may have limited utility for differentiating moderate from heavy alcohol use.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint -Mail: stewarsh@musc.edu
________________________________________________________________

Osteopenia in Alcoholics: Effect of Alcohol Abstinence

Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on June 17, 2009

Ethanol consumption leads to osteopenia, and decreased serum osteocalcin, which improve with abstinence, whereas those who continue drinking show a worsening of both parameters.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: egonrey@ull.es

__________________________________________________________________

Impaired Emotional Facial Expression Decoding in Alcoholism is Also Present for Emotional Prosody and Body Postures

Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on June 17, 2009

We observed for the first time a generalized emotional decoding impairment in alcoholism, as this impairment is present not only for faces but also for other visual (i.e. body postures) and auditory stimuli.

Moreover, we report that this alteration (1) is mainly indexed by an overestimation of anger and (2) cannot be explained by an ‘affect labelling’ impairment, as the semantic comprehension of written emotional scenarios is preserved. Fundamental and clinical implications are discussed.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: pierre.maurage@uclouvain.be

________________________________________________________________

Correlates of intensive alcohol and drug use in men who have sex with men in Catalonia, Spain

The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on June 29, 2009

The high percentage of MSM who use alcohol and drugs before and during sex and association between these substances and sexual risk behaviours reveals the need to intensify interventions to reduce their levels of use and/or to reduce the associated damage and risks. These programs must try to cover MSM-specific psychosocial aspects and include prevention for HIV-positive men.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: cft.ceescat.germanstrias@gencat.cat

________________________________________________________________

Changes in alcohol consumption and drinking patterns during 11 years of follow-up among ageing men: the FinDrink study

The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access published online on June 26, 2009

Finnish men born in 1926–1946 do not seem to decrease drinking while ageing. In contrast those born in 1944–1946 increase drinking until their 60’s. This should be taken into consideration in planning health services for aged men in the near future.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: jenni.ilomaki@uku.fi

_______________________________________________________________