Aims

To support the free and open dissemination of research findings and information on alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. To encourage open access to peer-reviewed articles free for all to view.

For full versions of posted research articles readers are encouraged to email requests for "electronic reprints" (text file, PDF files, FAX copies) to the corresponding or lead author, who is highlighted in the posting.

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Monday, June 24, 2013

FTC Approves Modified Final Order Settling Charges against Marketer of Four Loko Malt Beverage


Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has finalized a modified Order settling charges against Phusion Projects, LLC, and its principals for falsely claiming that a 23.5-ounce can of Four Loko contains the alcohol equivalent of one or two regular 12-ounce beers, and that a consumer could drink one entire can safely on a single occasion.   > > > >   Read More
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Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action







11th meeting of the Committee on National Alcohol Policy and Action
Luxembourg, 22 May 2013

Presentations
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Alcohol News - 25/2013


 
 
 

BNN News (Latvia) - Alcohol buyers under the age of 25 will be required to present Ids
The Latvian Saeima has approved amendments to the Alcohol Circulation Law that will limit alcohol consumption rates among young people. Amendments state that buyers of alcoholic drinks who are 18 to 25 years old will be obligated to present IDs when buying alcohol.
Eurotopics (Estonia) - Policymakers must keep Estonians off booze
In the run-up to the Midsummer celebrations next weekend, the number of alcohol-related accidents has already risen in Estonia.
BBN (Lithuania) - Alcohol consumption at record high in Lithuania
Lithuania keeps suffering from net emigration, yet those who stay or return home are consuming ever more alcohol, writes news2biz LITHUANIA.
The Local (Sweden) - There's no such thing as a hangover 'cure': expert
With many Swedes nursing headaches on Saturday following an evening of revelry to celebrate Midsummer's Eve, one Swedish physician has brought some bad news - there is no such thing as a hangover cure.
The Local (Sweden) - Drunk men more likely to drown: study
Men are twice as likely as women to drown, according to a new study, with middle-aged men with alcohol in their bodies posing the greatest risk.
Jerusalem Post - Israeli-US research: Turning off brain trigger may prevent alcohol addictions
Israeli and US researchers were able to identify and deactivate a brain pathway linked to cravings for alcohol in rats.
Zee News (Turkey) - Turkey passes bill restricting alcohol sales, ads
Turkey's Parliament has passed legislation to ban all advertising of alcohol and tighten restrictions on sales in the mainly Muslim but secular country.
RT (Russia) - Legal vodka production falls by one-third in Russia
Production of Vodka decreased by 30% in May after the market was flooded with illegally made product following a rise in excise duty earlier this year.
Times LIVE (South Africa) - NGO calls for ban on drinks ads
Alcohol advertising encourages heavy drinking and puts people in danger of contracting HIV through risky sexual behaviour, according to Soul City.
Sin Chew Jit Poh (EU) - Women more at risk than men of smoking, drinking: study
Women who smoke and drink heavily are at a higher risk of early death than men who do the same, a study said Tuesday. Data taken from a Europe-wide survey of some 380,000 people aged 40 and older, revealed that women faced a disproportional risk from the already well-known ill effects of heavy alcohol and tobacco use.
WHO Europe (Europe) - New publication: Status report on alcohol and health in 35 European countries 2013
WHO/Europe has produced a new publication called "Status report on alcohol and health in 35 European countries 2013".
The Local.de (Germany) - German booze cheapest in Western Europe
Alcohol prices are much lower Germany than in most of the rest of the EU, new figures show, with a round of drinks only coming cheaper in three other EU states.
Wall Street Journal - Why She Drinks: Women and Alcohol Abuse
Women's growing predilection for wine has a darker side—and the only way to deal with it is to acknowledge the profound differences between how women and men abuse alcohol.
ITV News (Wales) - Alcohol awareness: Next generation learn of dangers
Future doctors have been teaching the next generation of adults about the dangers of alcohol - as figures show Wales has one of the worst records in Europe when it comes to the proportion of 15-year-olds getting drunk.
3AW (Australia) - Push to change legal drinking age from 18 to 21
Doctors and academics are heading to Canberra pushing for the legal drinking age to be lifted to 21.
The Australian (Australia) - Dear alcohol: one woman's heart-rending story
YOUR life is going well. And then WHAM, along comes some gut-wrenching news that rocks you to the core. I receive a call to say my ex is ill in hospital. Seriously ill.
GoodTherapy.org (China) - Chinese Adolescent Alcohol Use Similar to That of Western Countries
Adolescent and young adult alcohol use has long been a social problem. Young people who consume alcohol are more likely to have negative consequences from use, including accidents, injuries, exposure to violence, risky sexual activity, and experimentation with other substances.
Voxy (New Zealand) - 'Good number of submissions received' on alcohol policy
A total of 293 submissions on the draft Local Alcohol Policy (LAP) have already been received by the Christchurch City Council, as of midday today.
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Join the Voices for Recovery: Together on Pathways to Wellness 2013 Recovery Month Toolkit




Assists in planning Recovery Month events and has resources to distribute in communities and during local events that support people with substance use disorders and mental illness. Discusses media and targeted outreach and provides real examples of people in recovery.


Read Full Toolkit
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Combining alcohol and energy drinks: An examination of psychosocial constructs and alcohol outcomes among college students using a longitudinal design

 
 
Combining alcohol and energy drinks (e.g., Red Bull and vodka) is a significant problem on college campuses. To date, few studies have examined psychosocial constructs specific to alcohol-energy drink cocktail (AmED) consumption that could be amenable to change via prevention efforts targeting this population.
 
The aim of the current study was to examine differences in AmED-specific attitudes, beliefs, normative perceptions among students who report AmED use compared to college student drinkers who consume alcohol only. In addition, these two groups were compared on their intentions to consume AmEDs, actual AmED use, and other drinking outcomes using a longitudinal design.
 
Participants (N  =  386, 59% female) completed a web-based survey in the spring of their first year of college and fall of their second year assessing alcohol-energy drink cocktail use, psychosocial decision-making constructs, heavy drinking, and alcohol-related consequences.
 
Findings revealed that combiners of alcohol and energy drinks had more positive attitudes and beliefs about AmED use, higher perceived peer norms, and stronger intentions toward future use. Accordingly, at Time 2, this group reported significantly higher AmED use, along with high-risk drinking and related consequences.
 
The findings reinforce that AmED use is associated with risky drinking practices, and suggest potential targets for change for future prevention efforts.


Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail:   mmarzell@prev.org
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Personality disorders and the prediction of alcohol use outcomes for women: Dimensional versus categorical classification




 
 
The impending shift in the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders from categorical to a hybrid categorical-dimensional diagnosis scheme has generated considerable interest in the relative merits of these respective approaches. This is particularly true for the diagnostically complex category of personality disorders (PDs).
 
The present study assessed whether categorical or dimensional measures better predicted alcohol consumption in a sample of 102 women enrolled in a clinical trial comparing individual cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to conjoint CBT for alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Linear regression was used to evaluate whether each PD diagnosis (categorical), or the number of PD symptoms endorsed per PD (dimensional) better predicted percent days drinking over the course of six months of treatment.

PD criteria (dimensional) better predicted drinking for Paranoid, Borderline, and Obsessive-Compulsive PDs, while diagnosis (categorical) was a better predictor only for passive-aggressive PD. Both schemes predicted drinking outcomes for avoidant, dependent, and depressive PDs, and neither was predictive for narcissistic PD.
 
These findings suggest that the addition of a dimensional approach for PDs potentially enhances the prediction of alcohol use outcomes.
 
 
Read Full Abstract
 
Request Reprint E-Mail:       dorianhr@u.washington.edu



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Alcohol Consumption Negates Estrogen-mediated Myocardial Repair in Ovariectomized Mice by Inhibiting Endothelial Progenitor Cell Mobilization and Function




We have shown previously that estrogen (estradiol, E2) supplementation enhances voluntary alcohol consumption in ovariectomized female rodents and that increased alcohol consumption impairs ischemic hind limb vascular repair.

However, the effect of E2-induced alcohol consumption on post-infarct myocardial repair and on the phenotypic/functional properties of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) is not known. Additionally, the molecular signaling of alcohol-estrogen interactions remains to be elucidated.                    

This study examined the effect of E2-induced increases in ethanol consumption on post-infarct myocardial function/repair.                    

Ovariectomized female mice, implanted with 17β-E2 or placebo pellets were given access to alcohol for 6 weeks and subjected to acute myocardial infarction.

Left ventricular functions were consistently depressed in mice consuming ethanol compared with those receiving only E2. Alcohol-consuming mice also displayed significantly increased infarct size and reduced capillary density. Ethanol consumption also reduced E2-induced mobilization and homing of EPCs to injured myocardium compared with the E2-alone group. In vitro, exposure of EPCs to ethanol suppressed E2-induced proliferation, survival, and migration and markedly altered E2-induced estrogen receptor-dependent cell survival signaling and gene expression.

Furthermore, ethanol-mediated suppression of EPC biology was endothelial nitric oxide synthase-dependent because endothelial nitric oxide synthase-null mice displayed an exaggerated response to post-acute myocardial infarction left ventricular functions.

These data suggest that E2 modulation of alcohol consumption, and the ensuing EPC dysfunction, may negatively compete with the beneficial effects of estrogen on post-infarct myocardial repair.


Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail:     r-kishore@northwestern.edu
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Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Health: Current Evidence Current Issue: May–June 2013




Interventions and Assessments

Health Outcomes

HIV and HCV

Feature Article: Ethical Conduct of Alcohol and Other Drug Research

Slide Presentations




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A Prospective Assessment of Reports of Drinking to Self-medicate Mood Symptoms With the Incidence and Persistence of Alcohol Dependence




To evaluate the hypothesis that alcohol self-medication of mood symptoms increases the probability of subsequent onset and the persistence or chronicity of alcohol dependence.

Prospective study using face-to-face interviews—the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

Nationally representative survey of the US population.

Drinkers at risk for alcohol dependence among the 43 093 adults surveyed in 2001 and 2002 (wave 1); 34 653 of whom were reinterviewed in 2004 and 2005 (wave 2).

Association of alcohol self-medication of mood symptoms with incident and persistent DSM-IV alcohol dependence using logistic regression and the propensity score method of inverse probability of treatment weighting.

The report of alcohol self-medication of mood symptoms was associated with an increased odds of incident alcohol dependence at follow-up (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 3.10; 95% CI, 1.55-6.19; P = .002) and persistence of dependence (AOR, 3.45; 95% CI, 2.35-5.08; P < .001). The population-attributable fraction was 11.9% (95% CI, 6.7%-16.9%) for incident dependence and 30.6% (95% CI, 24.8%-36.0%) for persistent dependence. Stratified analyses were conducted by age, sex, race/ethnicity, mood symptom severity, and treatment history for mood symptoms.
Drinking to alleviate mood symptoms is associated with the development of alcohol dependence and its persistence once dependence develops. These associations occur among individuals with subthreshold mood symptoms, with DSM-IV affective disorders, and for those who have received treatment. Drinking to self-medicate mood symptoms may be a potential target for prevention and early intervention efforts aimed at reducing the occurrence of alcohol dependence.


Read Full Abstract

Request Reprint E-Mail:    rcrum@jhsph.edu
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Saturday, June 22, 2013

Patients with early arthritis consume less alcohol than controls, regardless of the type of arthritis



There are conflicting reports concerning the association between alcohol consumption and RA. We performed a case–control study to investigate the association of alcohol consumption with RA as well as with other forms of arthritis. To assess whether alcohol consumption affects long-term disease outcome, we also investigated its association with radiographic progression and sustained drug-free remission in RA.

Patients with arthritis and various diagnoses including RA, OA, ReA, SpA and PsA were compared with 5868 controls from the general population. The association of disease with alcohol consumption was analysed by logistic regression analysis.
Alcohol consumption was inversely associated with not only RA [odds ratio (OR) 0.28, 95% CI 0.23, 0.35] but also OA (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.16, 0.62) and other forms of arthritis (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.24, 0.48). A higher degree of systemic inflammation, reflected by the ESR and CRP level, was associated with a smaller proportion of patients consuming alcohol. There was no dose–response relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed and the presence of arthritis. The extent of joint destruction and the rate of sustained drug-free remission were not affected by alcohol consumption.

Arthritis patients report less alcohol consumption than controls, regardless of the type of arthritis. This suggests that alcohol may either protect against different kinds of arthritis or that the inverse association between alcohol and arthritis may be secondary to disease development, with arthritis patients being less inclined to consume alcohol due to their decreased general well-being.


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Request Reprint E-Mail:   dvanderwoude@lumc.nl
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Friday, June 21, 2013

Obstacles to alcohol and drug care Are Medicare Locals the answer?



Harms related to alcohol and drug use have an enormous cost on the community, yet most patients with substance use disorders do not receive care from primary healthcare providers. The establishment of a system of large primary healthcare organisations (Medicare Locals) across Australia provides an opportunity to address this service gap.

This article considers barriers to delivering alcohol and drug interventions from primary healthcare settings, strategies for their resolution, and the ensuing benefits for patients.

Help seeking for alcohol and drug problems is low. Stigmatisation can be countered by policy development,
training and support to increase staff awareness and skills, and building relationships with specialist services. Co-location, outreach clinics, and collaborative models simplify access, tailor intensity of interventions, and improve patient satisfaction and health outcomes. Screening and brief intervention at intake, with appropriate training and support for nursing staff, can advance the delivery of timely and effective care.


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Associations of Alcohol Use with Radiographic Disease Progression in African Americans with Recent-onset Rheumatoid Arthritis



To investigate the associations of alcohol consumption and radiographic disease progression in African Americans with recently diagnosed rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Patients with RA included in the study were participants in the Consortium for the Longitudinal Evaluation of African Americans with Early Rheumatoid Arthritis (CLEAR) registry. Patients were categorized based on self-reported alcohol consumption; those consuming < 15 beverages per month versus those with ≥ 15 per month. Association of radiographic disease progression over a 1-year to 3-year period of observation with alcohol consumption was evaluated using multivariate generalized estimating equations. 
                      
Of 166 patients included in the study, 39% reported that they had never consumed alcohol. Of the 61% who had consumed alcohol, 73% reported that they consumed on average < 15 alcoholic beverages per month and 27% reported consuming ≥ 15 per month. In multivariate analysis, consumption of ≥ 15 alcoholic beverages per month was associated with an increased risk of radiographic disease progression (p = 0.017). There was no evidence of a relationship in those consuming < 15 beverages per month (p = 0.802). 
                      
There appears to be a dose-dependent relationship between alcohol use and radiographic disease progression in RA. Individuals who consume 15 or more alcoholic beverages per month may have faster rates of radiographic joint damage than those with lower levels of consumption.


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Request Reprint E-Mail:    tmikuls@unmc.edu
 
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The protective effect of alcohol on developing rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis




 

Our aim was to establish whether alcohol protects against RA development and to determine whether this effect is influenced by alcohol dose, duration and serological status through systematically reviewing the literature and undertaking a meta-analysis. 
                
We searched Medline/EMBASE (1946 to July 2012) using the terms rheumatoid arthritis.mp or arthritis, rheumatoid/ and alcohol.mp or ethanol/. Manuscript bibliographies were reviewed. Observational studies were included that were case–control/cohort, examined the relationship between alcohol and RA risk and reported or allowed the calculation of effect size data [odds ratios (ORs)/relative risks (RRs) with 95% CIs] in drinkers vs non-drinkers. A random-effects model was used to estimate pooled ORs/RRs. Dose–risk relationships were evaluated by trend tests.
 
Nine studies (from 893 articles) met our inclusion criteria, comprising six case–control (3564 cases; 8477 controls) and three cohort studies (444 RA cases; 84 421 individuals). A significant protective effect of alcohol on RA risk was observed—summary OR for RA in drinkers vs non-drinkers 0.78 (95% CI 0.63, 0.96). This effect was confined to ACPA-positive RA—summary OR 0.52 (95% CI 0.36, 0.76), with no significant risk reduction seen for ACPA-negative RA—summary OR 0.74 (95% CI 0.53, 1.05). Subgroup analysis by study design identified a significant relationship in case–control but not cohort studies. 
                
Alcohol intake is inversely associated with ACPA-positive RA, suggesting a protective effect. As this finding is confined to case–control studies further research is required with prospective cohort studies incorporating ACPA status to confirm this relationship.


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Request Reprint E-Mail:          ian.scott@kcl.ac.uk   
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Parental Monitoring and Alcohol Use among Mexican Students



Parental monitoring has been described as a protective factor and useful strategy to prevent substance misuse among youths.

The aims of this study were to examine whether perceived parental monitoring influences frequency of alcohol use, age of drinking onset and risky drinking among entering public high school and university students in Mexico City.

The study is a cross-sectional survey of entering first year students in the high school and university school system of a large public university in Mexico City conducted during registration at the beginning of the school year. In 2008, of 34,840 students accepted to the affiliated high schools, 28,996 students (51.8% female) completed the alcohol survey and of 37,683 students accepted into university 30,084 students (51.5% female) completed the alcohol survey.

The findings suggest that compared to students with higher perceived parental monitoring those reporting lower perceived parental monitoring were more likely to report risky behavior. They were more likely to be ever drinkers, frequent drinkers, have earlier age of onset and high AUDIT scores.

Overall, higher parental monitoring was strongly associated with being female and lower parental monitoring with being male.

Our findings suggest that more research on parental monitoring as a protective strategy against alcohol misuse is needed. Research focusing on cultural factors including gender and age-related norms and familismo would increase knowledge of the association of parental monitoring and alcohol use among Mexican youths, Mexican American youths and potentially youths from other Hispanic backgrounds.


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Request Rerprint E-Mail:     lstrunin@bu.edu
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Co-occurring Mental Health and Alcohol Misuse: Dual Disorder Symptoms in Combat Injured Veterans

 


Service members face difficulties during military deployment potentially resulting in morbidities such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and alcohol misuse. The co-occurrence of alcohol misuse and mental health disorders is termed dual disorder and has been associated with adverse outcomes.

The study included 812 high-risk (i.e., endorsing combat exposure with documented combat injury) male U.S. veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom, injured between October 2004 and November 2007, identified from the Expeditionary Medical Encounter Database.

PTSD and depression symptoms were significant correlates of alcohol misuse. Veterans with dual disorder symptoms reported a significantly higher mean number of health complaints on the Post-Deployment Health Reassessment compared with those endorsing only mental health symptoms.

These results highlight how mental health disorders among injured service members increases the odds of problem drinking and those with dual disorder have elevated health complaints


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Request Reprint E-Mail:     heltemesk@gmail.com     
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Experimental model of alcohol-related peripheral neuropathy




The aim of this work was to determine the effect of chronic alcohol exposure on peripheral nerves in a nutritionally balanced rat model of alcoholism.
 
Three different strains of adult male rats were pair-fed for 8 weeks with isocaloric liquid diets containing 0% or 37% ethanol. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) were performed. Peripheral nerve and muscle were examined histologically with morphometrics.
 
Ethanol exposure significantly slowed velocity in tibial and fibular nerves, but not in the plantar nerve in all 3 strains. Studies of the sciatic nerve revealed decreased fiber diameters and increased regenerative sprouts in peripheral nerves. There was muscle denervation of ethanol-exposed rats in all 3 strains.
 
Chronic ethanol exposure caused a polyneuropathy characterized by axonal degeneration despite adequate nutrition. These results suggest that ethanol exposure has direct neurotoxic effects on peripheral nerves. This model may be useful in understanding the underlying mechanism(s) of alcohol-related peripheral neuropathy.



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Alcohol and NMDA receptor: current research and future direction


The brain is one of the major targets of alcohol actions. Most of the excitatory synaptic transmission in the central nervous system is mediated by N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors.

However, one of the most devastating effects of alcohol leads to brain shrinkage, loss of nerve cells at specific regions through a mechanism involving excitotoxicity, oxidative stress.

Earlier studies have indicated that chronic exposure to ethanol both in vivo and in vitro, increases NR1 and NR2B gene expression and their polypeptide levels. The effect of alcohol and molecular changes on the regulatory process, which modulates NMDAR functions including factors altering transcription, translation, post-translational modifications, and protein expression, as well as those influencing their interactions with different regulatory proteins (downstream effectors) are incessantly increasing at the cellular level.

Further, I discuss the various genetically altered mice approaches that have been used to study NMDA receptor subunits and their functional implication.

In a recent countable review, epigenetic dimension (i.e., histone modification-induced chromatin remodeling and DNA methylation, in the process of alcohol related neuroadaptation) is one of the key molecular mechanisms in alcohol mediated NMDAR alteration.

Here, I provide a recount on what has already been achieved, current trends and how the future research/studies of the NMDA receptor might lead to even greater engagement with many possible new insights into the neurobiology and treatment of alcoholism.


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The relationship between group size, intoxication and continuing to drink after bar attendance

 


 

The present study was undertaken to explore multilevel determinants of planning to continue to drink alcohol after leaving public drinking events. We assessed whether individual-level factors, group-related factors, or event-level bar characteristics were associated with post-bar drinki

We recruited a total of 642 participants from 30 participating bars in urban Southern California. Groups who arrived to patron a bar were interviewed upon their entrance and exit. Given data nesting, we employed a multilevel modeling approach to data analysis.

More than one-third (40%) of our sample reported the intention to continue drinking as they exited the bar. Results of our multilevel model indicated eight individual-level variables significantly associated with intending to continue to drink. Time of night moderated the relationship between BrAC change and intentions to continue to drink. Although none of the group factors were significant in our model, a significant cross-level interaction between BrAC change and number of group members indicated the effect of intoxication on planning to continue to drink increases as group members increase. At the bar level, the presence of temporary bars and server offers of non-alcoholic drinks significantly decreased intentions to continue to drink.

Given the large percentage of participants who reported the intention to continue drinking after exiting a bar, this study draws attention to the fact that field studies of drinking behavior may assess drinking mid-event rather than at the end of a drinking event.


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Request Reprint E-Mail:    jdclapp@mail.sdsu.edu
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Alcohol misuse and relationship breakdown: Findings from a longitudinal birth cohort

 




This study examined the associations between measures of alcohol abuse/dependence (AAD) and relationship dissolution from ages 19 to 30 in a New Zealand birth cohort.


The outcome measure was self-reported breakdown of a marital/cohabiting relationship during each year from age 20–21 to age 29–30. The study also used contemporaneous and one-year lagged measures of AAD symptoms; and time-dynamic covariate factors including life stress, other substance use, mental health status, peer and partner substance use and offending, unemployment, exposure to intimate partner violence, and prior relationship breakdown. Data were analysed using conditional fixed effects regression modelling augmented by time-dynamic covariate factors to control for confounding.

Those with three or more AAD symptoms had unadjusted odds of relationship breakdown that were 2.17–2.23 times higher than those with no symptoms, but these associations did not differ by gender. Adjustment of the associations for both unobserved fixed effects and time-dynamic covariate factors reduced the magnitude of the associations, with those with three or more AAD symptoms having rates of relationship breakdown that were 1.57–1.66 times higher than those with no symptoms.

The results suggest a causal association between alcohol misuse and relationship breakdown, with estimates suggesting that alcohol use disorder accounted for 4.5–4.6% of marital/cohabiting relationship dissolution in the cohort.

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Request Reprint E-Mail:    joseph.boden@otago.ac.nz
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Thursday, June 20, 2013

A review of patients who died with alcohol-related liver disease: report calls for improved prevention and treatment


A review of patients who died with alcohol-related liver disease has been released by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcomes and Death (NCEPOD). The report calls for improvements in alcohol brief intervention (IBA), access to treatment, alcohol care teams and improved pathways across hospitals.

Download the full report Alcohol Related Liver Disease: Measuring the Units (2013) here or the Executive Summary.    > > > >   Read More
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