ALCOHOL REPORTS

Monday, August 22, 2011

College drinking is liberating, and a good excuse

Colleges trying to stem the tide of student drinking have focused on the evils of intoxication and all the trouble that can ensue when students drink too much. But new psychological research suggests that the downsides of excessive drinking aren't bad enough to make students stop.

"They intend to get intoxicated," says psychologist E. Scott Geller, director of the Center for Applied Behavior Systems at Virginia Tech.

"We have shown in several studies that their intentions influence their behavior. If they intend to get drunk, it's difficult to stop that."

Geller, who has been studying alcohol awareness since the mid-1980s, notes that education hasn't worked. > > > > Read More

Alcohol News - 34/2011

The Foreigner (Norway) - Alcohol adverts soon to be on Norway cable TV

Labour’s (Ap) long hard-fought battle to retain the ban on advertising booze is now hanging by a thread following statements by the EU Norway will not be exempt from the new European Union TV Directive (AVMSD).

ERR News (Estonia) - Alcohol Price Exceeds EU Average by 6.3%

Although the cost of food and non-alcoholic beverages in Estonia is below the EU average, the price of alcoholic drinks is 6.3 percent higher, according to the recent report by Eurostat.

OnMedica - Call for Facebook ban on alcohol ads

A new report by campaigning charity Alcohol Concern reveals the growing importance to alcohol companies of social networking sites like Facebook and video sharing sites such as YouTube as a means of promoting their products.

Nursing in Practice (Wales) - Welsh Government to combat child drinking

At least 1,200 children are admitted to Welsh A&E departments for alcohol and drug abuse each year, new research has found.

U.S. News & World Report - More Evidence That Alcohol Hinders Good Sleep

You might want to take a pass on that nightcap, a new study suggests. Japanese researchers report that alcohol hinders the restorative functions of sleep.

Modern Ghana (Ghana) - Checking Road Accidents

The Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU) has embarked on a novelty cause to help check the carnage on our roads. With effect from October, this year, the union is introducing alcometers at all lorry parks to check alcohol levels of drivers. It has also ordered for some reflectors for acquisition by drivers.

Daily Mail (UK) - British ladettes match men in binge drinking as they top European poll of alcohol abusers

British women have topped a European league of ‘ladette’ drinking shame.

They are now as likely to binge on alcohol as men, according to EU research.

Morning Advertiser (UK) - Sixty firms back Drinkaware campaign

The campaign for 2011, launched today, challenges young adults’ attitudes towards excessive alcohol consumption and the social acceptability of drunkenness.

Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) - Debate over warning labels on alcohol heats up

HEALTH warnings linking alcohol with dire outcomes such as brain damage and cancer have been backed by health groups but described as potentially ''alarming'' by an industry-backed group.

NEWS.com.au (Australia) - Greens push for volumetric alcohol tax

THE Australian Greens will use October's tax forum to push for all alcohol to be taxed according to volume rather than beverage type.

Reuters (Philippines) - Philippines may increase alcohol, tobacco tax take

The Philippine government will push a proposal to index taxes on alcohol and tobacco products to inflation that could raise around $1.4 billion in revenues as one of 13 priority bills in Congress this year, President Benigno Aquino said on Tuesday.

WebMD - Genes Play Role in How Alcohol Affects Men and Women

New genetic research may help explain some of the different ways that alcoholism affects men and women.

Andina - Agencia Peruana de Noticias (Peru) - Sports are vital to prevent drug, alcohol abuse among youth

Peruvian President Ollanta Humala stated Thursday that the practice of sports is vital to prevent drug and alcohol addiction among young people and to reinforce the fight against crime and the lack of public safety in Peru.

Bizjournals.com - New smartphone app aims to stop drunken driving

The “Show Me My Buzz” application helps users determine their estimated blood-alcohol concentration, or BAC, by typing in the number of drinks they’ve had, how long they’ve been drinking and their gender.

Times of India - Impulsive drinking leads to early death

A new study has revealed that people with current drinking problems and poor impulse control are more likely to die in the next 15 years.

Infection Control Today - Researchers Study How Excess Alcohol Depresses Immune Function

Alcoholism suppresses the immune system, resulting in a high risk of serious, and even life-threatening infections. A new study shows that this effect stems largely from alcohol's toxicity to immune system cells called dendritic cells.

HealthLeaders Media (USA) - Medicare Proposes Alcohol, Depression Screening Rules

Federal dollars should be used to screen Medicare beneficiaries for depression and for alcohol misuse under two rules proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Eurekalert - Study: Community organization can reduce, negate impact of alcohol outlets on neighborhood violence

The density of businesses that sell alcohol in a community has been tied to local levels of violence, but new research has found that the influence depends on the nature of the community. More stable communities can see little to no influence but more disorganized communities are not so fortunate.

On Lanka (Sri Lanka) - New regulations on tobacco and alcohol scenes on TV

A series of new regulations will be implemented restricting the use of mosaics or blurred images masking tobacco and alcohol scenes in television programmes.

Russia Beyond The Headlines (Russia) - Anti-alcohol campaign produces winners and losers

Multinational brewers and small kiosk owners alike are already bracing for new restrictions on beer sales, scheduled to come into effect in 2013, but there could be a silver lining for microbreweries.

Marketwire (USA) - New Federal Government Study: AlcoholEdu Reduces Binge Drinking and Alcohol-Related Harms

EverFi, Inc., the leading education technology platform company, today announced the release of a new federal government study showing that AlcoholEdu®, EverFi's online alcohol education program for incoming first-year students, is proven to reduce student binge drinking and alcohol-related harms, such as blackouts, injuries, and sexual assaults. More than one third of all college freshmen across the U.S. will complete the program in the upcoming academic year.

Comparative study of suicide risk in depressive disorder patients with and without problem drinking

The present study sought to determine whether the co-occurrence of problem drinking heightens suicide risk in individuals with depression in Japan, using a sample of 784 outpatients (287 men and 497 women) with depressive disorder.

Female subjects with at least a moderate problem drinking showed significantly more severe depression and suicidality than those without, but no such difference was identified in men.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: matsu@ncnp.go.jp

Neural substrates of time perception and impulsivity

Several studies provide empirical evidence for the association between impulsivity and time perception. However, little is known about the neural substrates underlying this function.

This investigation examined the influence of impulsivity on neural activation patterns during the encoding and reproduction of intervals with durations of 3, 9 and 18 s using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Twenty-seven subjects participated in this study, including 15 high impulsive subjects that were classified based on their self-rating. FMRI activation during the duration reproduction task was correlated with measures of two self-report questionnaires related to the concept of impulsivity (Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, BIS; Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory, ZTPI).

Behaviorally, those individuals who under-reproduced temporal intervals also showed lower scores on the ZTPI future perspective subscale and higher scores on the BIS. FMRI activation revealed an accumulating pattern of neural activity peaking at the end of the 9- and 18-s intervals within right posterior insula. Activations of brain regions during the reproduction phase of the timing task, such as those related to motor execution as well as to the ‘core control network’ – encompassing the inferior frontal and medial frontal cortices, the anterior insula as well as the inferior parietal cortex – were significantly correlated with reproduced duration, as well as with BIS and ZTPI subscales.

In particular, the greater activation in these regions the shorter were the reproduced intervals, the more impulsive was an individual and the less pronounced the future perspective.

Activation in the core control network, thus, may form a biological marker for cognitive time management and for impulsiveness.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: wittmann@igpp.de

Development and Validation of a Risk Model for Prediction of Hazardous Alcohol Consumption in General Practice Attendees: The PredictAL Study

Little is known about the risk of progression to hazardous alcohol use in people currently drinking at safe limits. We aimed to develop a prediction model (predictAL) for the development of hazardous drinking in safe drinkers.

A prospective cohort study of adult general practice attendees in six European countries and Chile followed up over 6 months. We recruited 10,045 attendees between April 2003 to February 2005. 6193 European and 2462 Chilean attendees recorded AUDIT scores below 8 in men and 5 in women at recruitment and were used in modelling risk. 38 risk factors were measured to construct a risk model for the development of hazardous drinking using stepwise logistic regression. The model was corrected for over fitting and tested in an external population. The main outcome was hazardous drinking defined by an AUDIT score ≥8 in men and ≥5 in women.

69.0% of attendees were recruited, of whom 89.5% participated again after six months. The risk factors in the final predictAL model were sex, age, country, baseline AUDIT score, panic syndrome and lifetime alcohol problem. The predictAL model's average c-index across all six European countries was 0.839 (95% CI 0.805, 0.873). The Hedge's g effect size for the difference in log odds of predicted probability between safe drinkers in Europe who subsequently developed hazardous alcohol use and those who did not was 1.38 (95% CI 1.25, 1.51). External validation of the algorithm in Chilean safe drinkers resulted in a c-index of 0.781 (95% CI 0.717, 0.846) and Hedge's g of 0.68 (95% CI 0.57, 0.78).

The predictAL risk model for development of hazardous consumption in safe drinkers compares favourably with risk algorithms for disorders in other medical settings and can be a useful first step in prevention of alcohol misuse.

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Correlates of alcohol abuse/dependence in early-onset alcohol-using women.

Early-onset alcohol use is associated with increased vulnerability to subsequent alcohol abuse and dependence. However, not all early-onset alcohol users develop alcohol use disorders (AUDs).

Using a sample of young women from the United States, we identify correlates that contribute to a greater likelihood of AUDs in early-onset alcohol users.

Using interview and questionnaire data on participants of the Missouri Adolescent Female Twin Study (MOAFTS), we examine whether measures from domains including sociodemographic, pubertal development, religiosity, educational achievement, adverse life events, internalizing disorders, externalizing disorders, and family history and discipline were associated with development of AUDs in 1,158 women who had their first drink of alcohol prior to age 16.

Early-onset drinkers were 3.6 times more likely to meet criteria for AUDs than later onset drinkers. While univariate analyses revealed that a host of correlates were associated with likelihood of AUDs in early-onset drinkers, multivariate analyses suggested that, even after accounting for a particularly early age of onset of drinking, those with a history of physical abuse, cotwin alcohol problems, conduct disorder, regular smoking, older peers, and peer substance use were considerably more likely to meet criteria for AUDs than early-onset drinkers without a lifetime history of these correlates.

The progression from first drink to AUDs is complex, and while early age at first drink is a potent risk factor, other aspects of psychopathology, family history, conduct problems, and peer affiliations can exacerbate or alleviate the risk of AUDs in these young female drinkers.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: arpana@wustl.edu.

Defining “Binge” Drinking as Five Drinks per Occasion or Drinking to a .08% BAC: Which Is More Sensitive to Risk?

Heavy episodic or “binge” drinking is commonly defined as drinking 4–5 drinks per occasion (5/4 definition) or drinking that results in a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08%.

The present study compared the validity of each binge definition as an indicator of at-risk, problem drinking.

Two hundred and fifty-one college students were classified as nonbinge drinkers or as binge drinkers based on the 5/4 definition or the .08% BAC definition. The two definitions of binge drinking were examined in terms of their sensitivity and specificity as indicators of alcohol-related problems as determined by scores on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT).

Over half the sample (56%) were at-risk drinkers according to the AUDIT. The .08% definition detected only one-half of these individuals. Gender differences were also evident. Female binge drinkers actually achieved significantly higher estimated BACs per episode than their male binge drinking counterparts.

The findings suggest that drinking to a subthreshold BAC (ie, <.08%) is not sufficient to avoid alcohol-related problems, and that total quantity (ie, total standard drinks) per occasion might contribute to risk independent of the BAC achieved during drinking episodes.

The findings also highlight the importance of considering frequency of consumption in determining risky drinking versus relying solely on quantity measures.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: fillmore@uky.edu.

Persistent Insomnia, Abstinence, and Moderate Drinking in Alcohol-Dependent Individuals

Insomnia is common, persistent, and increases the risk for relapse in alcohol-dependent (AD) patients. Abstinence has long been considered the best strategy for allowing sleep to normalize, although how many and which patients respond to abstinence is unknown.

The aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence and correlates of both baseline and persistent insomnia in AD patients. The course of sleep problems in response to abstinence, moderate drinking, or relapse following treatment was also examined.

A naturalistic longitudinal outcomes study interviewed 267 patients (69% male; mean age of 44 years) with DSM-IV alcohol dependence at baseline and 6 months later (84% follow-up rate). The Sleep Problems Questionnaire, Time-Line Follow-Back Interview, and Brief Symptom Inventory measured insomnia, drinking, and psychiatric symptoms, respectively. Simple correlations, logistic regression, and repeated measures analysis of variance were used to analyze the data.

At baseline, 47% of patients were classified with insomnia, which was independently predicted by female gender and psychiatric severity. Both abstinence and moderate drinking outcomes significantly predicted a reduction of insomnia symptoms after controlling for gender and psychiatric severity.

Among patients with baseline insomnia, however, insomnia persisted in over 60% of cases, which was predicted by baseline insomnia severity. Moreover, insomnia persisted in one-quarter of patients despite abstinence.

Treatment aimed at preventing relapse to heavy drinking provides good first-line therapy for insomnia in AD patients, but some may require insomnia-specific evaluation and treatment in addition to substance-focused treatment and psychiatric care.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: kbrower@umich.edu.

Psychological Distress, Binge/Heavy Drinking, and Gender Differences among Older Adults

Previous studies provide conflicting information on the relationship between drinking and mental health problems in older men and women.

This paper addresses the relationship of binge/heavy drinking to psychological distress in community-dwelling older men and women.

The study sample consisted of subjects aged 50 and older (n = 2,462 men and 2,863 women) who participated in the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Men and women who drank and drank heavily were compared, and ordinary least squares regression analysis was used to examine the association between drinking and psychological distress after demographic factors and health status were controlled for.

Binge/heavy drinking was found to be related to psychological distress in older women, but not in older men.

Though findings on the relationship between heavy drinking and psychological distress in men and women are not consistent across studies, older men and women should be assessed for both conditions in clinical settings.

Read Full Abstract
Request Reprint E-Mail: nchoi@mail.utexas.edu.

Association of Substance Use and VA Service-Connected Disability Benefits with Risk of Homelessness among Veterans

Recent public attention on homelessness has shifted beyond emergency services and supportive housing to primary prevention.

This study compares a national sample of homeless and nonhomeless Veterans Affairs (VA) mental health services users to determine risk and protective factors for homelessness.

Using VA administrative data, veterans were identified as homeless (ie, used VA homeless services or received a diagnostic code for “lack of housing”) or nonhomeless and compared using logistic regression. Additional analyses were conducted for two low-risk subgroups: veterans who served in current Middle East wars (Operation Enduring Freedom [OEF]/Operation Iraqi Freedom [OIF]) and veterans with ≥50% service-connected disability.

Among all VA mental health users, OEF/OIF (odds ratio [OR]) = 0.4) and ≥50% service-connected (OR = .3) veterans were less likely to be homeless.

In the overall and subgroup analyses, illicit drug use (OR = 3.3–4.7) was by far the strongest predictor of homelessness, followed by pathological gambling (PG) (OR = 2.0–2.4), alcohol use disorder (OR = 1.8–2.0), and having a personality disorder (OR = 1.6–2.2).

In both low-risk groups, severe mental illness (schizophrenia or bipolar disorder), along with substance use disorders, PG, and personality disorders, increased homelessness risk.

Substance use, PG, and personality disorders confer the greatest modifiable risk of homelessness among veterans using VA services, while service-connected disability conferred reduced risk. Clinical prevention efforts could focus on these factors

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: ellen.edens@va.gov.

Alcohol demand and risk preference

Both economists and psychologists have studied the concept of risk preference. Economists categorize individuals as more or less risk-tolerant based on the marginal utility of income. Psychologists categorize individuals' propensity towards risk based on harm avoidance, novelty seeking and reward dependence traits.

The two concepts of risk are related, although the instruments used for empirical measurement are quite different. Psychologists have found risk preference to be an important determinant of alcohol consumption; however economists have not included risk preference in studies of alcohol demand.

This is the first study to examine the effect of risk preference on alcohol consumption in the context of a demand function. The specifications employ multiple waves from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), which permit the estimation of age-specific models based on nationally representative samples. Both of these data sets include a unique and consistent survey instrument designed to directly measure risk preference in accordance with the economist's definition.

This study estimates the direct impact of risk preference on alcohol demand and also explores how risk preference affects the price elasticity of demand.

The empirical results indicate that risk preference has a significant negative effect on alcohol consumption, with the prevalence and consumption among risk-tolerant individuals being 6–8% higher. Furthermore, the tax elasticity is similar across both risk-averse and risk-tolerant individuals.

This suggests that tax policies are as equally effective in deterring alcohol consumption among those who have a higher versus a lower propensity for alcohol use.

Read Full Text (PDF)

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Adolescent Health | Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco

On Monday, we kicked off Adolescent Health Week with a collection of general health and safety resources. Tuesday, we rounded up Times resources for about sex and teenage pregnancy. Thursday we’ll present a collection for teaching about mental health, and Friday we’ll wrap up with nutrition and eating disorders.

Today, we’ve rounded up what we consider the best resources we have to offer on drugs, alcohol and tobacco. Topics include the physiology of addiction, prescription painkiller abuse, performance-enhancing drugs in major league sports, and the death of the troubled singer Amy Winehouse. > > > > Read More

Severity of alcoholism in Indian males: Correlation with age of onset and family history of alcoholism

Family History of Alcoholism and earlier Age of Onset are found to predict Severity of alcoholism. Previous Indian studies in this regard have methodological issues related to the definition of alcoholism and reliability of information obtained.

To study the relationship between the Age of onset/Family History and Severity of alcoholism.

Consecutively admitted, 20 to 50 year old men, with alcohol-related problems at an urban teaching hospital, were recruited.

Materials and Methods:

After detoxification, alcohol use detection inventory test, severity of alcohol dependence questionnaire, schedule for clinical assessment in neuropsychiatry, and family interview for genetic studies were administered. Family history density was computed.

Pearson’s correlations, linear regression, and ANOVA tests were used.

Family history density and severity of alcoholism were positively correlated. Age of onset of initiation had a significant negative correlation with severity. The effect of family history on the rapidity of development of Problem-drinking did not reach statistical significance among those with early age of onset. The variance explained by the ‘family history status’ and ‘age of onset’ for the severity of alcoholism was similar to that reported in earlier western studies.

This study, with enhanced methodology, using a general hospital sample of problem drinkers concludes that the age of onset of initiation is a better predictor of severity of alcoholism, than family history of alcoholism alone. Postponing the use of alcohol till the age of 25 years could be explored as a primary prevention strategy in genetically vulnerable adolescents.

Read Full Text

Indicators of Alcohol and Drug Abuse 2009 - 2010

The Office of Applied Research and Analysis (OARA), of the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs (ADP), as part of its data analysis activities has completed this annual report on California Indicators of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (IADA). Data included are for several years and focus on data available since the last report (2001-2005). The report provides a status of the alcohol and drug abuse problem in the State of California, including patterns of consumption and consequences, and meets the requirement for such information set forth in California Health and Safety Code section 11754 (o).

There are two major sections to the report: the first section presents a brief explanation and analysis followed by statewide data in the form of charts and graphs; the second section is comprised of detailed statewide data tables.

The report generally covers a five-year period and is updated annually by eliminating the oldest year of data and related analysis and adding the next year to the report. For example, the updated report for 2009 includes years 2003 through 2007, but, in certain data tables, provides trend data from earlier and later years.

Read Full Report (PDF )

FASD News - 33/2011

NEWS AND ARTICLES

Lethbridge Herald (Canada) - Balancing FASD-justice scales

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder represents a major challenge to the court system, as detailed in The Herald's recent two-part look at FASD and justice.
Read more

Jewish Tribune (Canada) - Universities team up for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder research

The University of Manitoba has teamed up with Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Manitoba government to support a new research collaboration to address fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).
Read more

Canada Views (Canada) - Alberta recognizes International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Awareness Day

September 9 is International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day. Each year on the ninth day of the ninth month, this day serves as a reminder to people around the world that during the nine months of pregnancy, a woman should abstain from alcohol.
Read more

Bangkok Post (Thailand) - Drinking alcohol while pregnant

A survey of 772 pregnant women in nine provinces across the country by the Centre for Alcohol Studies (CAS) showed 12.6% of them drank during pregnancy.
Read more

National Affairs (Australia) - Starved of their future at birth

ABORIGINAL babies born into families on the margins of society are our most vulnerable citizens. Unable to feed themselves and given insufficient nutrition they suffer hunger and are unable to develop normally.
Read more

Dynamic Chiropractic - Substance Abuse: A Prenatal-to-Grave Public Health Issue

Deaths from substance use and abuse exceed in number deaths caused by all other diseases. Doctors of chiropractic nationwide have added substance testing (and education) as a service promoting healthful living or the restoration of health and wellness for patients.
Read more

Times of India - Binge drinkers have sex they later regret

A new study has found that binge drinking puts teenage girls at risk of having unprotected sex, unplanned pregnancies and contracting sexually-transmitted diseases.
Read more

Nigerian Tribune (Nigeria) - How mothers can avoid having babies with birth defects

Most babies with birth defects are born with no obvious health problems or risk factors. Nonetheless, experts say part of what women can do to ensure that they do not have babies with birth defects, such as spina bifida, include adopting good lifestyles, as well as using folic acids supplements at least three months before getting pregnant, reports Sade Oguntola.
Read more

theWEST.com.au (Australia) - GG makes historic visit to Kimberley town

Governor-General Quentin Bryce has flown into Fitzroy Crossing this morning - the first such official visit to the Kimberley town in more than a decade. Mrs Bryce, a famed feminist, will visit Marninwartikura Women's Resource Centre and meet participants in the Lililwan Project, which aims to document the extent of children affected by foetal alcohol spectrum disorder, or FASD.
Read more

Stuff.co.nz (New Zealand) - Booze and babies are a harmful mix

There is no safe amount of alcohol nor safe time to drink while pregnant according to Alcohol HealthWatch. The organisation has teamed up with Northland District Health Board and ran a series of hui last month to teach health and community workers about alcohol and pregnancy.
Read more

COMING UP

FETAL ALCOHOL & OTHER NEUROBEHAVIORAL CONDITIONS: Understanding & Application of a Brain-Based Approach

This session provides information about FASD and the effects of other drugs on behaviors of children, adolescents and adults.
Read more

fasdprevention blog - Getting ready for FASD Awareness Day 2011 – September 9

On the ninth day of the ninth month of the year, the world will remember that during the nine months of pregnancy a woman should abstain from drinking alcohol.
Read more

www.Tweet4FASD.com and International FASD Awareness Day

To bring FASD awareness to Twitter users around the world, I am asking everyone with a Twitter account to Tweet the following on September 9, 2011:

"#FASD is preventable! Alcohol in pregnancy can cause brain damage, learning problems, more. Don't drink while pregnant. http://www.vimeo.com/27342419"
Read more

MATERIALS

Common Misinterpretation of Normal Responses in Students with FASD

Tip sheet for teachers working with students with FASD.
Read more

VIDEO - Hunter's Story: Overcoming FASD

Hunter was diagnosed at the age of 15 with FASD. His journey is an incredible one - this video gives a brief glimpse into his life and how he has "turned something that could have been a weakness, into a strength". Hunter inspires us all!
Read more

Tom Daschle on NOFAS – Full Senate Floor Speech
Read more

RESEARCH

Womens Health - Preconception Markers of Dual Risk for Alcohol and Smoking Exposed Pregnancy: Tools for Primary Prevention

Effective preconception primary prevention strategies are needed for women who are at dual risk for alcohol and smoking exposed pregnancies. The current study seeks to identify risk factors that can be used to target intervention strategies at women who are at dual risk.
Read more

Addiction - Mortality among Substance-using Mothers in California: A 10-year Prospective Study

To examine mortality rates and causes of death among a cohort of substance-using mothers and to identify risk factors that predict mortality. This is a prospective study of a cohort of 4,447 substance-using mothers (pregnant or parenting) who were enrolled during 2000 to 2002 in 40 drug abuse treatment programs across California.
Read more

IN OTHER LANGAUGES

EZ Rome - Roma quotidiana (Italy) - Il Professore Nicola Surico e la campagna “Se aspetti un bambino l’alcol può attendere”

La vita è un valore da difendere fin “dalle sue origini” con comportamenti e scelte concrete. I rischi connessi all’uso e all’abuso di alcol durante il periodo della gravidanza passa, oggi, più che mai, attraverso campagne di informazioni e di sensibilizzazione rivolte alle donne, alle loro famiglie e agli operatori sanitari, in particolare ginecologi e ostetriche.
Read more

Read Full Newsletter

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Moderate alcohol use may reduce dementia, cognitive damage: study

About to uncork that bottle of merlot? A study finds that moderate drinking may decrease the risk of dementia and cognitive decline in older people.

Researchers analyzed 143 studies that looked at the association between moderate alcohol consumption and mental abilities. The meta-analysis, published this month in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, looked at research dating back to 1977. > > > > Read More

Chronic alcohol ingestion exacerbates skeletal muscle myopathy in HIV-1 transgenic rats

Separately, chronic alcohol ingestion and HIV-1 infection are associated with severe skeletal muscle derangements, including atrophy and wasting, weakness, and fatigue. One prospective cohort study reported that 41% of HIV-infected patients met the criteria for alcoholism, however; few reports exist on the co-morbid effects of these two disease processes on skeletal muscle homeostasis.

Thus, we analyzed the atrophic effects of chronic alcohol ingestion in HIV-1 transgenic rats and identified alterations to several catabolic and anabolic factors.

Relative plantaris mass, total protein content, and fiber cross-sectional area were reduced in each experimental group compared to healthy, control-fed rats. Alcohol abuse further reduced plantaris fiber area in HIV-1 transgenic rats. Consistent with previous reports, gene levels of myostatin and its receptor activin IIB were not increased in HIV-1 transgenic rat muscle.

However, myostatin and activin IIB were induced in healthy and HIV-1 transgenic rats fed alcohol for 12 weeks. Catabolic signaling factors such as TGFbeta1, TNFalpha, and phospho-p38/total-p38 were increased in all groups compared to controls. There was no effect on IL-6, leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1), or ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in control-fed, transgenic rats.

However, the co-morbidity of chronic alcohol abuse and HIV-1-related protein expression decreased expression of the two anabolic factors, CT-1 and CNTF.

Consistent with previous reports, alcohol abuse accentuated skeletal muscle atrophy in an animal model of HIV/AIDS. While some catabolic pathways known to drive alcoholic or HIV-1-associated myopathies were also elevated in this co-morbid model (e.g., TGFbeta1), consistent expression patterns were not apparent.

Thus, specific alterations to signaling mechanisms such as the induction of the myostatin/activin IIB system or reductions in growth factor signaling via CT-1- and CNTF-dependent mechanisms may play larger roles in the regulation of muscle mass in alcoholic, HIV-1 models.

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News Release - Show Me My Buzz Smartphone App Now Available

MoDOT is launching a new smartphone application to help people make smart choices about designating a sober driver.

The "Show Me My Buzz" free smartphone app, available soon in the Apple App Store and the Google Market, allows users to calculate their estimated blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) based on how many drinks they have consumed, how long they have been drinking and their gender.

"Drinking and driving is always a bad decision because even a small amount of alcohol affects your reflexes," said Don Hillis, MoDOT's assistant chief engineer. "This new app is a creative way to get people talking about the subject and then finding a sober driver."

The app indicates designating a driver who has not been drinking is the only safe option, and it will even provide the phone number of a local cab company with just a tap of the screen.

"The added feature of finding a phone number for a taxi in more urban locations, takes away one more excuse for a person who has been drinking," said Hillis. "It is easy to just touch the button to call a cab." > > > > Read More

Racial and Ethnic Differences in All-Cause Mortality Risk According to Alcohol Consumption Patterns in the National Alcohol Surveys

Previous studies have found J-shaped relations between volume of alcohol consumed and mortality risk in white Americans but not in African Americans, suggesting the need for studies in which race/ethnicity-defined subgroups are analyzed in separate comparable models.

In the present study, the authors utilized mortality follow-up data (through 2006) on respondents from the 1984 and 1995 National Alcohol Surveys, including similar numbers of black, white, and Hispanic respondents by oversampling the minority groups. Cox proportional hazards models controlling for demographic, socioeconomic, mental health, and drug- and tobacco-use measures were used to estimate mortality risk from all causes.

Findings indicated a protective effect of moderate alcohol drinking (2–30 drinks/month for women and 2–60 drinks/month for men) with no monthly ≥5-drink days) relative to lifetime abstention for whites only.

Elevated mortality risk relative to moderate drinking was found in former drinkers with lifetime alcohol problems.

Moderate drinkers who consumed ≥5 drinks in 1 day at least monthly were also found to have increased risk, suggesting the importance of identifying heavy-occasion drinking for mortality analyses.

These differential results regarding lifetime abstainers may suggest bias from differential unmeasured confounding or unmeasured aspects of alcohol consumption pattern or may be due to genetic differences in the health impact of alcohol metabolism.

Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail: wkerr@arg.org

The TTTAn aromatase (CYP19A1) polymorphism is associated with compulsive craving of male patients during alcohol withdrawal

Alcoholism is associated with alterations of the hypothalamus–pituitary–gonadal hormone axis. We recently reported a leptin-mediated relation between the CAGn polymorphism of the androgen receptor and craving during alcohol withdrawal. This study investigated whether the TTTAn polymorphism of the aromatase (CYP19A1) is equally linked to craving.

An association between TTTAn and compulsive craving (p=0.029) was revealed in our sample of 118 male alcohol addicts at day of hospital admission. Genotype-dependent subgroups showed differences in that the patients with short alleles suffered from lower compulsive craving during withdrawal than those with the longer alleles (p=0.027). The additional inclusion of leptin revealed no further significant association in the present study.

Our finding is a further step on the way to elucidate the genesis of craving for alcohol with its extensive underlying interactions of different genetic and non-genetic factors. Future investigations should enrol women and consider sex hormone levels for further clarification of the observed TTTAn-craving relationship.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: bernd.lenz@uk-erlangen.de

Aims

Monday, August 22, 2011

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Saturday, August 20, 2011