Dose-response relation between volume of drinking and alcohol-related diseases in male general hospital inpatients
Alcohol and Alcoholism Advance Access published online on November 25, 2007

Previous studies investigating dose-response relations between volume of drinking and diseases have focused on single diseases only. Until now, the relation between the drinking volume and the risk of having any alcohol-attributable disease is largely unknown.

The aim of the present study is to investigate to what extent is the risk of diseases with different alcohol-attributable fractions (AAFs) predicted by daily alcohol consumption (> 120 g, 61–120 g vs 31–60 g).

In our sample, 26.6% of the inpatients showed a disease with AAF = 1, while 20.2% had a disease with AAF <> consuming > 120 g, and inpatients consuming 61–120 g revealed significantly higher odds for diseases with AAF = 1 compared to inpatients consuming 31–60 g (OR = 6.30, CI = 3.55–11.26; OR = 2.91, CI = 1.64–5.13).

Regarding diseases with AAF <> 120 g revealed significantly higher odds compared to the inpatients consuming 31–60 g (OR = 1.97, CI = 1.15–3.37).

A dose-response relation between the level of the drinking volume and the risk of diseases with AAF = 1 was found in this sample of inpatients from the general hospitals.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: katharina.lau@uni-greifswald.de

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Warsaw adolescent alcohol use in a period of social change in Poland: Cluster analyses of five consecutive surveys, 1988 to 2004
Addictive Behaviors Volume 33, Issue 3, March 2008, Pages 439-450

This study aimed to analyze changes in patterns of alcohol use from 1988 to 2004 amongst Polish (Warsaw) 15-year olds.

In 1988 a two-step cluster analysis was used to identify four distinct natural groups of drinkers “light”, “heavier”, “beer and wine” and “wine” drinkers.

Between 1988 and 1992 the percentage of teenage infrequent drinkers decreased and the rate of heavy drinkers increased. A group of students drinking only beer appeared, whilst the group of wine drinkers disappeared.

A group of students who drank alcohol to get drunk appeared in 1996.

Between 2000 and 2004 drinking of various kinds of alcoholic beverages became more frequent, as did vodka abuse. Increased consumption amongst girls was also observed.

The results are interpreted in the context of social change and several hypothetical causes of gender differences are discussed.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: kokulicz@ipin.edu.pl

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DRUNK DRIVING LEGISLATION AND TRAFFIC FATALITIES: NEW EVIDENCE ON BAC 08 LAWS
Contemporary Economic Policy 25 (3), 293–308.


This article reexamines the effectiveness of blood alcohol content (BAC) laws in reducing traffic fatalities.

Differences-in-differences estimators of U.S. state-level data with standard errors corrected for autocorrelation show no evidence that lowering the BAC limits to 0.08 g/dL reduced fatality rates, either in total or in crashes likely to be alcohol related, or in states that passed BAC 08 in laws either in advance of or in response to federal pressure.

Other legislations, including administrative license revocation and primary seat belt laws, are found effective in reducing fatalities in all specifications.

Endogeneity tests using event analyses confirm the differences-in-differences estimates.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: freeman@shsu.edu
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Prohibition Returns!

David Harsanyi | November 2007

Teetotaling do-gooders attack your right to drink

On a May night in 2005, Debra Bolton, a lawyer and single mom from the Washington suburb of Alexandria, Virginia, was leaving the Café Milano in Georgetown after socializing with some friends. She had driven her SUV only a few hundred yards before she was pulled over by D.C. police for driving with the headlights off. She told the officer the parking attendant at Café Milano probably had turned off her vehicle's automatic light feature.

Not mollified, the officer asked Bolton to step out of the car, walk in a straight line, recite the alphabet, stand on one foot, and count to 30. He checked her eyes for suspicious jerkiness and insisted on a breath test for alcohol.

The breath test revealed that Bolton's blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.03 percent, a level a 120-pound woman could expect after drinking one glass of wine. It was well below the 0.08 percent limit that marks a driver as legally intoxicated in D.C. It was not low enough for the arresting officer, however. This middle-aged mother of two, who hadn't drunk to excess, who hadn't run a red light or run a stop, was arrested, handcuffed, and fingerprinted for an innocent mistake. She sat in a jail cell for hours and was finally released at 4:30 a.m. Bolton spent four court appearances and over $2,000 fighting a $400 ticket. She then spent a month fighting to get her license back after refusing to submit to the 12-week alcohol counseling program
. . . . .

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Common mental health problems in historically disadvantaged urban and rural communities in South Africa: prevalence and risk factors
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Online 6 December 2007

This paper reports on an epidemiological study of common mental health and substance abuse problems in a historically disadvantaged urban and rural community in South Africa.

In the rural Limpopo Province of South Africa, and in a peri-urban township near Cape Town, self-report instruments were used in two random population samples and among respondents at primary care and traditional healer settings, to assess common mental health problems, substance abuse problems and associated problems in social functioning.

A high prevalence of mental health and substance abuse problems was observed in both communities, with highest rates in the peri-urban township. Even higher prevalences were found among respondents at primary health care or traditional healers.

The study shows that mental health and substance abuse problems constitute a considerable burden of disease among disadvantaged communities in South Africa. The study further underscores the integral role of traditional healers in the mental health care system.


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Request Reprint E-Mail: j.havenaar@ggzba.nl
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Swedish politicians propose alcohol-free Riksdag

2 Jan 08

From official receptions and power lunches to office parties and other social engagements, the calendar of a Swedish member of parliament is filled with opportunities to have a few drinks.

The situation is a cause for concern among several members of parliament’s Sobriety Group.

According to interviews with fourteen members of the Sobriety Group conducted by Svenska Dagbladet, there is broad concern in the group for the alcohol consumption habits of Sweden’s elected officials.
. . . . . .

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Supermarkets 'no place for alcohol'


Jason Dowling
December 30, 2007

VICHEALTH wants to ban the sale of alcohol in supermarkets and outlaw wine-tasting in the aisles, saying the trends could worsen Victoria's already serious problems with booze.

A chorus of experts fear the display of alcohol on grocery shelves sends the wrong message to children and could be harmful to recovering alcoholics and addicts.

About 100 Melbourne supermarkets, including IGA, ALDI, Coles and Safeway stores, now sell alcohol in their grocery sections — a move critics say could "normalise" the sale of alcohol.

Brian Vandenberg, senior program adviser for alcohol harm reduction at VicHealth, the Government's health promotion agency, criticised the trend.
. . . . . .

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News Release - Three New SAMHSA Overview Papers Provide Information on State-of-the-Art Approaches to Treatment for People with Co-Occurring Disorders

1/4/2008

Three new short overview papers from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provide information about how epidemiology, services integration and systems integration research and practices can be best utilized in helping people with co-occurring substance use and mental disorders.

These overview reports are the final in a series developed by SAMHSA’s Co-Occurring Center for Excellence (COCE), a leading national public health resource in the field of understanding and disseminating crucial information about addressing this problem. The series is based on the best available science, research and practices and is primarily geared for a wide array of mental health and substance abuse treatment service professionals, although they provide useful information to the general public as well.

The three newly available overview papers include the following:

• Services Integration: Overview Paper 6 defines and explains how services integration practices can help merge previously separate substance abuse treatment and mental health clinical services provided at the individual level to people with co-occurring disorders. Combining and coordinating these treatments at the level of direct contact with individual clients can better ensure that their full range of treatment needs are addressed. This approach emphasizes that successful treatment of co-occurring disorders is very often based on providing all the client’s treatment needs as concurrently as possible.

• Systems Integration: Overview Paper 7 outlines the benefits of developing public health infrastructures that systematically integrate mental health and substance abuse treatment programs to better meet the full needs of people with these disorders. The paper encourages integrated system planning, continuous quality improvement analysis activities and other practices that lead to more effective, comprehensive public health services for meeting the health needs of this client community.

• The Epidemiology of Co-Occurring Substance Use and Mental Disorders: Overview Paper 8 is presented in two parts. Part 1 provides the general public with a basic understanding of the field of epidemiology and how it has been used to shed light on the problem of co-occurring disorders. In particular, it focuses on three major studies that are regularly referenced as prime sources of information on the nature and scope of this problem. Part 2 is geared more to the scientific community and provides more detailed technical information on these three studies.
  

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News and Notes from the General Service Office of A.A.
Vol. 53, No.6 / HOLIDAY ISSUE 2007

• Update for Confidential 2008-2009 A.A. Directories

• Holiday Gift Ideas

• A Trustee Emeritus Salutes the Fellowship He Has Long Served

• After the Smoke Cleared A Meeting Place Regained

• Arkansas Group Gets a New Lease on A.A. Life

• 2008 Regional and Local Forums

• Coming Early Next Year

• You Can Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

• Voices of A.A. History

• Committees Share Way to Reach Alcoholics and the Professionals Who Help Them

• A.A. Scales the Highest Walls— ‘All for the Price of a Stamp’

• A.A. Video for Correctional Facilities Professionals

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ITV1 binge drink programme falls flat


Leigh Holmwood
Guardian Unlimited Thursday January 3, 2008

ITV1's exposé on binge drinking failed to deliver in the ratings last night, January 2, mustering just 2.6 million viewers.

The Truth About Binge Drinking, in which former pop star Michelle Heaton embarked on an alcohol spree to demonstrate the dangers of too much booze, pulled in an average audience share of 11% share across 90 minutes from 9pm, according to unofficial overnights.
. . . . . .

Read Full Article
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Genes and (Common) Pathways Underlying Drug Addiction
PLoS Comput Biol 4(1): e2 January 4, 2008

Drug addiction has become one of the most serious problems in the world. It has been estimated that genetic factors contribute to 40%–60% of the vulnerability to drug addiction, and environmental factors provide the remainder.

What are the genes and pathways underlying addiction? Is there a common molecular network underlying addiction to different abusive substances? Is there any network property that may explain the long-lived and often irreversible molecular and structural changes after addiction? These important questions were traditionally studied experimentally. The explosion of genomic and proteomic data in recent years both enabled and necessitated bioinformatic studies of addiction.

We integrated data derived from multiple technology platforms and collected 2,343 items of evidence linking genes and chromosome regions to addiction. We identified 18 statistically significantly enriched molecular pathways. In particular, five of them were common for four types of addictive drugs (alcohol, cocaine, opioids, nicotine), which may underlie shared rewarding and addictive actions, including two new ones, GnRH signaling pathway and gap junction.

We connected the common pathways into a hypothetical common molecular network for addiction. We observed that fast and slow positive feedback loops were interlinked through CAMKII, which may provide clues to explain some of the irreversible features of addiction.

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Thursday, December 27, 2007

SAMHSA's Road to Recovery Update The Road to Recovery Update keeps you informed about activities leading up to National Alcohol & Drug Addiction Recovery Month (Recovery Month) in September. Feel free to forward this information to friends and colleagues, include it in newsletters or listservs, or link to it from your Web site. Recovery Month 2008 Theme Announced Every year, towns, counties, and states throughout the country observe National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month (Recovery Month) in September—and 2008 will be no exception! The 19th annual Recovery Month—brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and its Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)—will recognize the impact that real people and real stories have on recovery, and celebrate those who have worked to advance the treatment and recovery landscape. In 2008, we will highlight the people for whom treatment and long-term recovery have given a renewed outlook on life. We invite you take part in our theme, "Join the Voices for Recovery: Real People, Real Recovery," and spread the word that treatment is effective and recovery is possible. By getting involved, you can help more people on a path of recovery to lead more fulfilling lives, while guiding others to recognize that substance use disorders are medical illnesses that can be treated. All of us know someone with a substance use disorder, or know a person who has a family member or friend with a dependence on alcohol and/or drugs. Those who have lived through these experiences have the most compelling stories to tell and can truly make a difference in helping others seek treatment. With stories relating to treatment providers, families, faith-based organizations, employers, and civil service workers, the 2008 Recovery Month celebration will highlight these unique perspectives of long-term recovery in depth. 2008 Kick-off Webcast The first Road to Recovery Webcast of 2008 will premiere in March. The kick-off Webcast will be the first in a series of programs in anticipation of the 19th annual Recovery Month. We will look back at Recovery Month events held across the country in 2007 and set the stage for another successful celebration in September 2008. In addition, the first Webcast will help guide individuals, organizations, and communities as they plan and host events to raise awareness about the benefits of addiction treatment and recovery. Stay tuned for the kick-off Webcast trailer as well as information on future Webcasts. Celebrate Recovery, Share Your Story Across the country, people in recovery are celebrating their successes and sharing them with others in an effort to educate the public about treatment, how it works, for whom, and why. Through Voices for Recovery on the Recovery Month Web site, people can read these inspirational stories as well as post their own stories of recovery. We encourage you to take a moment to visit Voices for Recovery and share your recovery story. Simply click Share Stories to post your story along with your contact information if you choose to provide it. If you prefer to remain anonymous, only provide your State and your story. After you've entered your information, you will be prompted to download the Hold Harmless Form. This needs to be downloaded, filled out, and faxed back before your story can be posted. If you've already submitted your story to the Recovery Month Web site but have not yet faxed back the Hold Harmless Form, please do so. Your story cannot be posted until the Hold Harmless Form is completed and returned. Please share your story and help us spread the word to get people nationwide to submit their personal stories. Help others see that recovery is possible. Congratulations on Recovery Month 2007 Efforts Although 2008 is fast approaching, there’s still time to commemorate the tremendous effort put forth by organizations and individuals coast to coast during Recovery Month 2007. Congratulations once again to everyone who coordinated and/or participated in a Recovery Month event this past September! Recovery Month 2007 would not have been a success without you. Don’t forget to submit your pictures and videos so we can capture all of the Recovery Month events from around the country. Be sure to add any comments from your event and send photos and any samples of materials. You can continue to post your events throughout the year. About Recovery Month National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month, celebrating 19 years of observance in 2008, is an initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT). For more information about Recovery Month, visit www.recoverymonth.gov.

2007 Results as of 12/27/07 Events: 656 Proclamations: 140 Voices for Recovery: 58 Subscribe/ Unsubscribe If you wish to subscribe to or unsubscribe from the Road to Recovery Update, visit Recovery Month Sign up page. E-mail this page

Action News Vol. XVII No. 4 (2007)

Contents:

* IOS beats predictions: Attendance at CCSA's biennial conference approaches 1,000

* Youth Drug Prevention Strategy: CCSA's new five-year plan will target Canada's 10-24 year olds

* Driving after drinking persists: CCSA bases journal article on 2004 CAS drinking-driving data

* Tungasuvvingat Inuit partnership a first: CCSA signs its first Inuit-specific memorandum of agreement

* Centre Dollard-Cormier makes history: Quebec designates its first University Institute in Addictions

* New electronic newsletter launched: Network News targets Canada's substance abuse workforce

* Women's issues explored at IOS: CCSA and BCCEWH sponsor national networking session

Download Full Publication  (PDF)
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January 2008

vol. 9 issue 1

Children are Introduced to Sipping & Tasting Alcohol in the Home The Dopamine Transporter Gene Influences Alcohol Withdrawal Seizures Gene Therapy Can Reduce Long-Term Drinking among Rodents Inside College Parties: Surprising Findings about Drinking Behavior

NIH Grant: Long Acting, Sustainable Therapies for Opiate Addiction U.S. Department of Justice: Indian Alcohol & Substance Abuse Program FY 2008 Competitive Grant Announcement

The DASIS Report: Male Admissions with Co-occurring Psychiatric & Substance Use Disorders

NIDA InfoFacts: El Khat

Knowledge Application Program (KAP): Chinese, Korean, & Vietnamese adaptations of "What Is Substance Abuse Treatment? A Booklet for Families" Join Together's Treatment Practitioner's Research Bulletin SAMHSA Announces New New Native American Center for Excellence

Faces & Voices of Recovery Teleconference: "Recovery Voices Count" - January 30th CADCA's 18th Annual National Leadership Forum - February 11th-14th CASAConference: Sobering Up the High Society: Substance Abuse & Public Policy - February 14th

Online/Correspondence Course: Using Patient Placement Criteria (ASAM PPC-2R) Online/Correspondence Course: Adolescent Substance Abuse Intervention Series-Module One: Adolescent Substance Abuse Assessment

Faces & Voices of Recovery - December 20, 2007 NIATx eNews Update - December 2007 Northwest Frontier ATTC Addiction Messenger: Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care - Part 1: Principles of Recovery - Volume 10, Issue 10 (PDF)

National Daily News from Join Together

Higher Education Center for Alcohol & Other Drug Abuse & Violence Prevention AlcoholAnswers.org ________________________________________________________{{

Center Line Newsletter
Volume 18, Issue 4, December 2007

• Criswell and Colleagues Illuminate the Mystery of Alcohol Actions
• Ehlers Receives Thurman Lectureship Award
• Director's Column

(download in PDF format)


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The Impact of Depressive Symptoms on Alcohol and Cigarette Consumption Following Treatment for Alcohol and Nicotine Dependence
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 32 (1), 92–99.


Although depression is common among alcohol and tobacco dependent patients, its impact on treatment outcomes is not well established. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of depressive symptoms on abstinence from tobacco and alcohol after treatment for alcohol dependence and nicotine dependence.

Depressive symptoms were prospectively related to nonabstinence from alcohol. Depressive symptoms at the previous assessment increased the odds of drinking at the subsequent time point by a factor of 1.67 (95% CI 1.14, 2.43), p <>

Depression is an important negative predictor of the ability to maintain abstinence from alcohol within the context of intensive alcoholism and smoking treatment. It may be important to include depression-specific interventions for alcohol and tobacco dependent individuals to facilitate successful drinking treatment outcomes.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: Molly.Kodl@va.gov

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Traffic Safety and Alcohol Regulation: A Symposium

Reduction of alcohol-impaired driving can be considered from both sides of the problem: how to reduce traffic problems and how to reduce alcohol impairment. A variety of alcohol control and regulation strategies have been found to reduce alcohol impairment among drivers. In order to review and synthesize many of the most promising strategies in alcohol regulation, the Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Transportation Committee of the Transportation Research Board (TRB) convened a workshop to discuss the role of alcohol regulation in traffic safety. The workshop was held June 5–6, 2006, at the National Academies’ Beckman Conference Center in Irvine, California. This report provides an overview of the information presented and the discussions among the participants as well as the background papers prepared for the workshop.

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Components:

• Alcohol Law Enforcement: Agencies, Methods, and Impact
  
• Alcohol Policies in the Americas
  
• Alcohol Prices and Traffic Safety
  
• Alcohol Regulation and Traffic Safety: An Overview
  
• Alcohol Regulation in Sweden and the European Union: Effects on Road Safety
  
• Alcohol Sales and Service to Underage Youth and Intoxicated Patrons: Effects of Responsible Beverage Service Training and Enforcement Interventions
  
• Detecting Alcohol Impairment by Observation of Intoxication
  
• Enhanced Enforcement of Laws Prohibiting Sale of Alcohol to Minors: Systematic Review of Effectiveness for Reducing Sales and Underage Drinking
  
• Legal Framework for Alcohol Regulation in the United States
  
• Limits on Hours of Sales and Service: Effects on Traffic Safety
  
• Limits on Outlet Density and Location: Effects on Traffic Safety
  
• Minimum Purchase Age Laws: How Effective Are They in Reducing Alcohol-Impaired Driving?
  
• Status of 14 Under-Age-21 Drinking Laws in the United States
  
• The Effects of Establishing Closing Hours in Juarez, Mexico
  
• The Importance of Alcohol Regulation at All Levels: Bringing It All Together—Lessons from Underage Drinking Controls
  
• Traffic Safety and Alcohol Regulation: Overview and Summary

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Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Adults: National Health Interview Survey, 2006



Alcohol Drinking Status (Tables 26,27)

• 
  

Overall, 48% of adults 18 years of age and over were current regular drinkers, 12% were current infrequent drinkers, 6% were former regular drinkers, 8% were former infrequent drinkers, and 25% were lifetime abstainers.

• 
  

Fifty-seven percent of men were current regular drinkers compared with 39% of women. Men were also more likely to be former regular drinkers than were women. Women were more likely to be current or former infrequent drinkers or lifetime abstainers than were men.

• 
  

As age increased, the percentage of adults who were current regular drinkers decreased.

• 
  

Asian adults were more likely to be lifetime abstainers compared with other single race groups.

• 
  

When results are considered by single race and ethnicity, 53% of non-Hispanic white adults were current regular drinkers compared with 39% of Hispanic adults and 35% of non-Hispanic black adults. Hispanic adults and non-Hispanic black adults were almost twice as likely as non-Hispanic white adults to be lifetime abstainers.

• 
  

Educational attainment and family income were positively associated with current regular drinking status and inversely associated with being a lifetime abstainer.

• 
  

Among adults under 65 years of age, 55% of those who had private health insurance coverage were current regular drinkers compared with 47% of those who were uninsured and 31% of those who had Medicaid health care coverage.

• 
  

Among adults aged 65 and over, 37% of those who had private health insurance coverage were current regular drinkers compared with 28% of those who had only Medicare health care coverage and 19% of those who had Medicaid and Medicare health care coverage.

• 
  

Adults who were living with a partner were more likely to be current regular drinkers compared with other marital status categories.

• 
  

Regionally, 31% of adults living in the South were lifetime abstainers, in contrast to 27% in the West, 19% in the Midwest, and 19% in the Northeast.

• 
  

Twenty-four percent of non-Hispanic white women were lifetime abstainers compared with 49% of Hispanic women and 44% of non-Hispanic black women. Conversely, 46% of non-Hispanic white women were current regular drinkers compared with 25% of non-Hispanic black women and 24% of Hispanic women. Among men, 15% of non-Hispanic white men were lifetime abstainers compared with 23% of Hispanic men and 26% of non-Hispanic black men; 61% of non-Hispanic white men were current regular drinkers compared with 53% of Hispanic men and 48% of non-Hispanic black men.


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Prime Minister takes charge of battle against binge-drinking

By Colin Brown and Ben Russell

Published: 02 January 2008

As Britain recovers from an epic seasonal party spree, a radical package of measures to create a "cultural shift" away from the epidemic of binge drinking is being drawn up by Gordon Brown.

Parents will be encouraged to educate their children in the dangers of drink under proposals discussed at a Downing Street summit. Ministers are also contemplating moves to raise the tax on the most potent beers and mixers associated with binge drinking by putting duty on units of alcohol. Mr Brown is also being urged by Labour MPs to force supermarkets to raise the minimum price of drink to reduce the attraction of cheap alcohol.
. . . . . .

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Alcohol consumption, TaqIB polymorphism of cholesteryl ester transfer protein, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and risk of coronary heart disease in men and women
European Heart Journal 2008 29(1):104-112



To investigate whether a common polymorphism in the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) gene modifies the relationship of alcohol intake with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and risk of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Parallel nested case-control studies among women [Nurses’ Health Study (NHS)] and men [Health Professionals Follow-up Study (HPFS)] where 246 women and 259 men who developed incident CHD were matched to controls (1:2) on age and smoking.

The TaqIB variant and alcohol consumption were associated with higher HDL-C, with the most pronounced effects of alcohol among B2 carriers. In the NHS we did not find an inverse association between alcohol and CHD in B2 non-carriers (P trend: 0.5), but did among B2 carriers (P trend <0.01).

Among non-carriers the odds ratio (OR) for CHD among women with an intake of 5–14 g/day was 1.4 (95% CI: 0.6–3.7) compared with non-drinkers, whereas among B2 carriers the OR was 0.4 (0.2–0.8). Results in men were less suggestive of an interaction; corresponding OR’s were 1.9 (0.8–4.5) and 0.9 (0.5–1.6), for B2 non-carriers and carriers, respectively.

The association of alcohol with HDL-C levels was modified by CETP TaqIB2 carrier status, and there was also a suggestion of a gene–environment interaction on the risk of CHD.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: mkj@dce.au.dk

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Alcohol and long-term prognosis after a first acute myocardial infarction: the SHEEP study
European Heart Journal 2008 29(1):45-53



Few studies have investigated the relation between alcohol consumption, former drinking, and prognosis after an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), particularly for non-fatal outcomes.

To investigate the prognostic importance of drinking habits among patients surviving a first AMI.

We recorded 267 deaths, and 145 deaths from cardiac causes, during the follow-up period. After adjustment for several potential confounders, hazard ratios for total and cardiac mortality were 0.77 and 0.61 for those drinking >0–<5> those drinking over 20 g per day.

Risk of hospitalization for recurrent non-fatal AMI, stroke, or heart failure generally showed a similar pattern to that of total and cardiac mortality.

Recent quitters at the time of AMI had a hazard ratio of 4.55 for total mortality. Measures of insulin sensitivity appeared to be the strongest mediators of this association.

Moderate alcohol drinking might have beneficial effects on several aspects of long-term prognosis after an AMI. Our findings also highlight that former drinkers should be examined separately from long-term abstainers. The potential mechanisms that underlie this association still need to be elucidated.


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Request Reprint E-Mail: imre.janszky@ki.se
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A Systematic Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Screen to Fine-Map Alcohol Dependence Genes on Chromosome 7 Identifies Association With a Novel Susceptibility Gene ACN9
Biological Psychiatry Article in Press, Corrected Proof 27 December 2007

Chromosome 7 has shown consistent evidence of linkage with a variety of phenotypes related to alcohol dependence in the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) project.

With a sample of 262 densely affected families, a peak logarithm of odds (LOD) score for alcohol dependence of 2.9 was observed at D7S1799. The LOD score in the region increased to 4.1 when a subset of the sample was genotyped with the Illumina Linkage III panel for the Genetic Analysis Workshop 14 (GAW14).

To follow up on this linkage region, we systematically screened single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) across a 2 LOD support interval surrounding the alcohol dependence peak.

The SNPs were selected from the HapMap Phase I CEPH data to tag linkage disequilibrium bins across the region. Across the 18-Mb region, genotyped by the Center for Inherited Disease Research (CIDR), 1340 SNPs were analyzed. Family-based association analyses were performed on a sample of 1172 individuals from 217 Caucasian families.

Eight SNPs showed association with alcohol dependence at p < .01. Four of the eight most significant SNPs were located in or very near the ACN9 gene. We conducted additional genotyping across ACN9 and identified multiple variants with significant evidence of association with alcohol dependence.

These analyses suggest that ACN9 is involved in the predisposition to alcohol dependence. Data from yeast suggest that ACN9 is involved in gluconeogenesis and the assimilation of ethanol or acetate into carbohydrate.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: ddick@vcu.edu

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Prevention Using Community-Based Narrowcasting Campaigns
Health Promotion Practice, Vol. 9, No. 1, 93-103 (2008)

Preventing fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) by encouraging pregnant women to abstain from drinking alcohol competes with commercial alcohol marketing.

Two FAS-prevention campaigns using a narrowcast approach among young women of childbearing age in two disadvantaged Southern California communities are compared. The design, implementation process, and degree to which campaigns reached the priority populations are the focus of this article.

Formative research shows that young women in disadvantaged communities receive mixed messages about dangers of drinking during pregnancy. A social norms approach using positive role models was the most acceptable message strategy based on materials pretesting.

Differences in campaign implementation and distribution strategies between communities were documented through program monitoring. Survey research indicated the more viable messaging and implementation strategies.

Findings show that low-cost community campaigns are feasible; however, variations in messaging, distribution strategies, and saturation levels determine whether such campaigns succeed or fail to reach priority populations.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: dglik@ucla.edu
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Examining the effect of linkage disequilibrium between markers on the Type I error rate and power of nonparametric multipoint linkage analysis of two-generation and multigenerational pedigrees in the presence of missing genotype data
Genetic Epidemiology Volume 32, Issue 1 , Pages 41 - 51

Because most multipoint linkage analysis programs currently assume linkage equilibrium between markers when inferring parental haplotypes, ignoring linkage disequilibrium (LD) may inflate the Type I error rate.

We investigated the effect of LD on the Type I error rate and power of nonparametric multipoint linkage analysis of two-generation and multigenerational multiplex families.

Using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from the Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Alcoholism, we modified the original data set into 30 total data sets in order to consider six different patterns of missing data for five different levels of SNP density. To assess power, we designed simulated traits based on existing marker genotypes. For the Type I error rate, we simulated 1,000 qualitative traits from random distributions, unlinked to any of the marker data.

Overall, the different levels of SNP density examined here had only small effects on power (except sibpair data). Missing data had a substantial effect on power, with more completely genotyped pedigrees yielding the highest power (except sibpair data). Most of the missing data patterns did not cause large increases in the Type I error rate if the SNP markers were more than 0.3 cM apart.

However, in a dense 0.25-cM map, removing genotypes on founders and/or founders and parents in the middle generation caused substantial inflation of the Type I error rate, which corresponded to the increasing proportion of persons with missing data.

Results also showed that long high-LD blocks have severe effects on Type I error rate.


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Request Reprint E-Mail: hokim@snu.ac.kr or jebw@mail.nih.gov
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Hospitals admit 500 binge drinkers a day
By James Kirkup and Caroline Gammell

31/12/2007

An epidemic of binge drinking has fuelled a dramatic increase in the number of people being hospitalised after drinking to excess, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The number of alcohol-related hospital admissions has increased by almost a third in just two years as 24-hour drinking laws and the greater availability of cheap alcohol lead to increased consumption.

More than 500 people a day are now being admitted to hospitals in England after drinking too much.

In some parts of the country excess drinking is the cause of almost one in 20 hospital admissions.

The figures come just two weeks after official statistics showed that nearly 13 million Britons were drinking too much because they did not appreciate the increasing strength of alcoholic drinks or the trend for larger measures.

The latest figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph are part of official data recording alcohol-related admissions to NHS hospitals in England. They show a 31 per cent rise in just two years.
. . . . . . .

Read Full Article

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