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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This paper:

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


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


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

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Request Reprint E-Mail: laudet@ndri.org

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Initial National Priorities for Comparative Effectiveness Research

REPORT BRIEF • JUNE 2009

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

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

Fourth Quartile

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

100 Initial Priority Topics for Comparative Effectiveness Research

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Rethinking Drinking

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

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

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

• What are signs that drinking is causing harm?

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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Request Reprint E-Mail: chiang-shan.li@yale.edu
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Alcohol dependence–related increase of glial cell density in the anterior cingulate cortex of suicide completers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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NEUROSCIENCE: PATHWAYS TO ALCOHOL DEPENDENCE

Alcohol Alerts No. 77 April 2009

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

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Epidemiology of Alcohol Abuse and Dependence in Rural Chinese Men

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

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

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Request Reprint E-Mail: zhouliang@xysm.net

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. Alcohol consumption PDF Version

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

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

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

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

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

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Racial Disparities in Pregnancy-Related Drinking Reduction

Maternal and Child Health Journal Published Online September 09, 2008

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

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Request Reprint E-Mail: tenkku@slu.edu

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

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

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Request Reprint -Mail: stewarsh@musc.edu
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Osteopenia in Alcoholics: Effect of Alcohol Abstinence

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

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

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Request Reprint E-Mail: egonrey@ull.es

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Effects of heroin-assisted treatment on alcohol consumption: findings of the German randomized controlled trial
Alcohol Volume 43, Issue 4, June 2009, Pages 259-264

Alcohol has been suggested to be a risk factor for opioid-dependent patients in methadone maintenance treatment (MMT). Literature shows that MMT has limited effects on alcohol use. Nevertheless, a decrease in alcohol use was detected in the Swiss heroin-assisted treatment (HAT) study.

In this article, we carry out an in-depth analysis of the German HAT trial with the aim of determining whether alcohol use was affected among patients undergoing HAT and MMT.

Results suggest significant reduction of CU and CDT in both groups, yet larger effects in the HAT group. ASI CS significantly decreased in the HAT but not in the MMT group. The greater benefit of HAT in reducing alcohol use may be due to the greater daily frequency of dispensing heroin coupled with a requirement of sobriety at each dosing occasion.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: haasen@uke.uni-hamburg.de
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Relation between plasma brain-derived neurotrophic factor and nerve growth factor in the male patients with alcohol dependence
Alcohol Volume 43, Issue 4, June 2009, Pages 265-269

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) are thought to be related to neuroprotection in cell culture and animal studies. Our aim was to verify the changes in human plasma BDNF and NGF concentrations induced by chronic alcohol use.

Mean plasma BDNF level was significantly higher in the patients with alcohol dependence compared with the healthy subjects . Mean plasma NGF level was also significantly higher in patients with alcohol dependence than in healthy subjects Plasma BDNF and NGF levels showed significant negative correlation in alcohol dependence group .

Increased plasma BDNF and NGF with negative correlation in alcohol-dependent patients may have some role in the regeneration of damage done by chronic alcohol use.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: ihngeun@hallym.or.kr
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The TaqI A DRD2 polymorphism in type II alcohol dependence: a marker of age at onset or of a familial disease?
Alcohol Volume 43, Issue 4, June 2009, Pages 271-275

Cloninger's type II is a severe, early-onset, male-limited, and genetically influenced, impulsive form of alcoholism. Significant association has been reported between the A1 allele of the D2 dopamine receptor (DRD2) gene, substance misuse and personality traits of impulsivity and novelty seeking.

We assessed the association between the TaqI A DRD2 gene polymorphism with Cloninger's typology and family history of alcohol abuse, which is thought to be more frequent in type II alcoholics.

Although typology was not associated with the studied polymorphism, a higher rate of general family history of alcohol abuse was still observed in type II patients . Furthermore, the A1 allele of the DRD2 was significantly associated with paternal history of alcoholism and male, first-degree, collateral history of alcoholism .

Age at onset of alcohol-related problems as main discriminator between type I and type II alcohol dependence does not seem to be associated by the TaqI A DRD2 polymorphism. However, the A1 allele of the DRD2 may be a marker of male familial alcoholism, which has been associated with type II alcohol dependence.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: epinto@chu.ulg.ac.be
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Ethanol increases desensitization of recombinant GluR-D AMPA receptor and TARP combinations

Alcohol Volume 43, Issue 4, June 2009, Pages 277-284

Glutamate receptors are important target molecules of the acute effect of ethanol. We studied ethanol sensitivity of homomeric GluR-D receptors expressed in human embryonic kidney 293 cells and examined whether recently discovered transmembrane α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor regulatory proteins (TARPs) affect ethanol sensitivity.

The results support the idea that increased desensitization is an important mechanism in the ethanol inhibition of AMPA receptors and indicate that coexpression of TARPs can alter this effect of ethanol.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: esa.korpi@helsinki.fi

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Role of the nNOS gene in ethanol-induced conditioned place preference in mice

Alcohol Volume 43, Issue 4, June 2009, Pages 285-291

Nitric oxide (NO) produced by neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) has a role in synaptic plasticity, and evidence suggests its role in a range of effects produced by alcohol in the central nervous system. The aim of the current study was to investigate the role of the nNOS gene in the development of ethanol-induced conditioned place preference (CPP) in mice.

Results show that both WT and nNOS KO mice developed significant CPA. The findings that the absence of the nNOS gene impaired ethanol-induced CPP but not LiCl-induced CPA suggest that NO signaling has a specific role in processing the motivational effect of ethanol. Hence, inhibition of nNOS may attenuate the development of maladaptive behaviors associated with alcohol exposure.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: yitzhak@med.miami.edu

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The heritability of P300 amplitude in 18-year-olds is robust to adolescent alcohol use

Psychophysiology Published Online: 22 Jun 2009

P3 amplitude reduction (P3AR) is associated with adolescent alcohol use (AAU) and highly heritable, suggesting that P3AR may index a genetic predisposition (e.g., an endophenotype) for AAU. However, because P3AR and AAU covary naturally in the population, these observations are also consistent with P3AR reflecting neurotoxic effects of AAU on the developing adolescent brain.

In this report, we describe the use of recent advancements in biometric modeling to examine changes in the genetic and environmental contributions to variability in P3 amplitude related to cumulative AAU by late adolescence in a large community-based twin sample.

We found that the genetic and environmental contributions to variability in P3 amplitude were unaffected by AAU. This suggests that P3AR indexes risk for alcoholism independent of any deleterious effect of AAU on adolescent brain development.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: perlm034@umn.edu

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Decreased somatostatin is related to the hypersensitivity of intestinal epithelia to LPS via upregulated TLR4–TBK1 pathway in rats chronically exposed to ethanol

Alcohol Volume 43, Issue 4, June 2009, Pages 293-303

Chronic alcoholics are predisposed to the development of a systemic inflammatory response syndrome, which is usually triggered in the gut. This study aimed to investigate in rats the role of intestinal epithelial inflammatory responsiveness in the susceptibility of alcoholics to excessive inflammation.

These findings suggest that impairment of intestinal SST production by chronic ethanol administration leading to upregulation of the TLR4–TBK1 pathway may be one of the mechanisms underlying the LPS hypersensitivity of intestinal epithelia.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: cwtang@medmail.com.cn

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Intermittent access to beer promotes binge-like drinking in adolescent but not adult Wistar rats

Alcohol Volume 43, Issue 4, June 2009, Pages 305-314

Teenagers are more likely than adults to engage in binge drinking and could be more vulnerable to long-term brain changes following alcohol abuse. We investigated the possibility of excessive adolescent drinking in a rodent model in which beer (4.44% ethanol vol/vol) is presented to adult and adolescent male Wistar rats.

Adolescent groups consumed more alcohol than adults and showed higher BACS that were typical of human “binge” drinking (>80 mg/dL). Despite this, the correlation between BAC and beer intake was similar in both age groups.

Together these results show that the intermittent presentation of alcohol itself appears to have subtle long-lasting effects on the motivation to consume alcohol. The findings support the use of beer solutions in modeling binge-like patterns of human alcohol consumption in adolescent rats.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: iain@psych.usyd.edu.au

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Activation of MEK 1/2 and p42/44 MAPK by angiotensin II in hepatocyte nucleus and their potentiation by ethanol

Alcohol Volume 43, Issue 4, June 2009, Pages 315-322

Hepato-subcellular effect of angiotensin II (Ang II) and ethanol on the p42/44 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and MAPK kinase (MEK 1/2) was investigated in the nucleus of rat hepatocytes.

These results suggest that Ang II-mediated accumulation of phospho-p42/44 MAPK in the hepatocyte nucleus involves MEK 1/2-dependent activation and this effect is potentiated by ethanol.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: shuklasd@missouri.edu

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Vulnerability of macaque cranial nerve neurons to ethanol is time- and site-dependent

Alcohol Volume 43, Issue 4, June 2009, Pages 323-331

The present study tested the hypotheses that vulnerability to ethanol depends upon (1) population-based characteristics of the neuronal progenitors and (2) the maturation of that population by examining the effects of prenatal exposure to ethanol on brainstem nuclei derived from different rhombomeres and from the alar and basal plates.

There were no differences in the numbers of neurons in any of the nuclei between controls and Et6-, or controls and Et24-treated monkeys. In contrast, the number of trigeminal sensory neurons was significantly (P < .05) lower in animals treated on G19/G20 than in control. No differences between controls and monkeys treated on G21/G24 were detected. No motor nuclei exhibited an ethanol-induced change.

These data together with data on the trigeminal motor nucleus show that vulnerability to ethanol (1) is greater in sensory nuclei than in motor nuclei and (2) is temporally restricted to the time of gastrulation.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: mooneys@upstate.edu

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Proceedings of the 2008 annual meeting of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group

Alcohol Volume 43, Issue 4, June 2009, Pages 333-339

The annual meeting of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Study Group (FASDSG) was held on June 28, 2008 in Washington DC, as a satellite to the Research Society on Alcoholism meeting. The FASDSG membership includes clinical, basic, and social scientists who meet to discuss recent advances and issues in FASD research.

The main theme of the meeting was “Factors that Influence Brain and Behavioral Development: Implications for Prevention and Intervention.” Two keynote speakers, Dr. Stephen Suomi and Dr. Carl Keen addressed how early environment and nutrition may influence outcome after prenatal alcohol exposure. The final keynote speaker, Kathy Mitchell, addressed issues regarding the relationship between scientists and the families with children with FASD. Members of the FASDSG provided updates on new findings through brief (FASt) data reports and national agency representatives provided updates of activities and funding priorities. Presentations were also made by recipients of the Student Research Merit award and Rosett award.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: thomas3@mail.sdsu.edu

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Russia's Medvedev calls for program to fight alcohol abuse

GORKI, June 30 (RIA Novosti) - President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday that Russia needs to introduce measures to fight widespread alcoholism and other addictions.

"We are drinking more now than in the 1990s, although these were very difficult times. A program is needed, certain measures need to be taken to improve the situation," Medvedev said at a meeting with the health minister, Tatyana Golikova.

The statement came after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin highlighted the problem at a meeting with World Health Organization head Margaret Chan last Friday, and pledged efforts to promote a healthy lifestyle in Russia. . . . . . .

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Functional characterization of human variants of the mu-opioid receptor gene

PNAS June 30, 2009 vol. 106 no. 26 10811-10816

Opioids and their receptors have an important role in analgesia and alcohol and substance use disorders (ASUD). We have identified several naturally occurring amino acid changing variants of the human mu-opioid receptor (MOR), and assessed the functional consequences of these previously undescribed variants in stably expressing cell lines. Several of these variants had altered trafficking and signaling properties.

Coexpression of the R181C and WT receptor led to independent trafficking of the 2 receptors. S42T and C192F variants showed a rightward shift in potency of both morphine and DAMGO, whereas the S147C variant displayed a subtle leftward shift in morphine potency. These data suggest that these and other such variants may have clinical relevance to opioid responsiveness to both endogenous ligands and exogenous drugs, and could influence a broad range of phenotypes, including ASUD, pain responses, and the development of tolerance to morphine.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: ajayrav@gallo.ucsf.edu

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Requirement of central ghrelin signaling for alcohol reward
PNAS published online before print June 29, 2009,

The stomach-derived hormone ghrelin interacts with key CNS circuits regulating energy balance and body weight. Here we provide evidence that the central ghrelin signaling system is required for alcohol reward.

Central ghrelin administration (to brain ventricles or to tegmental areas involved in reward) increased alcohol intake in a 2-bottle (alcohol/water) free choice limited access paradigm in mice. By contrast, central or peripheral administration of ghrelin receptor (GHS-R1A) antagonists suppressed alcohol intake in this model. Alcohol-induced locomotor stimulation, accumbal dopamine release and conditioned place preference were abolished in models of suppressed central ghrelin signaling: GHS-R1A knockout mice and mice treated with 2 different GHS-R1A antagonists.

Thus, central ghrelin signaling, via GHS-R1A, not only stimulates the reward system, but is also required for stimulation of that system by alcohol. Our data suggest that central ghrelin signaling constitutes a potential target for treatment of alcohol-related disorders.

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Patterns: Drinking Age Affects Bingeing, to a Point

By ERIC NAGOURNEY

A new study finds that as the drinking age has gone up, binge drinking has gone down — except among college students.

Writing in The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, researchers said that binge drinking among 18- to 20-year-old men who did not attend college had declined more than 30 percent.

But the rate remained steady — and significant — among male college students. And it went up among female students. . . . . . .

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Outpatient alcoholism treatment - 24-month outcome and predictors of outcome

Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 2009, 4:15

Matching patients to different types of treatment by means of empirically based characteristics may help to improve outcome but research has failed to establish reliable predictors in that area. Data from this follow-up study confirm the role of certain clinical outcome predictors. Additionally, results give further evidence for outpatient treatment as an effective setting for alcohol-dependent patients as indicated by a favourable retention rate (84%) and outcome (minimum abstinence rate 44%).

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Binge Drinking Among Youths and Young Adults in the United States: 1979-2006

Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: July 2009 - Volume 48 - Issue 7 - pp 692-702

Although the overall trend is toward lower rates of binge drinking among youths, likely a result of a higher legal drinking age and other changes in alcohol policy, little improvement has occurred for college students, and increases in binge drinking among women has offset improvements among youths. Understanding these specific demographic trends will help inform prevention efforts.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: rick@tci.wustl.edu

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Anticipating Problem Drinking Risk From Preschoolers' Antisocial Behavior: Evidence for a Common Delinquency-Related Diathesis Model

Journal of Amer Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: POST AUTHOR CORRECTIONS, 26 June 2009

Early first drinking and delinquent behavior share a common diathesis evident before school entry. Intervention and prevention programs targeting problem drinking risk should focus on dismantling this emergent primarily delinquency-related developmental trajectory.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: mayzerro@pilot.msu.edu

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Alcohol sensitivity, alcohol use and hypertension in an older Chinese population: the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study

Hypertension Research advance online publication 26 June 2009;

Alcohol sensitivity and alcohol use were both associated with elevated BP and risk of hypertension in an older Chinese population. Alcohol sensitivity may aggravate the effect of drinking on BP. Limiting alcohol use to two drinks per day for men and one drink a day for women may be suitable for East Asians. Reduction of alcohol consumption should be an important public health target.

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Request Reprint -Mail: k.k.cheng@bham.ac.uk

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Estonians drink more illegal alcohol

Marge Tubalkain-Trell

The economic recession and excise duty on alcohol that increased last year has lessened alcohol sale by more than a quarter. Producers are afraid that people aren’t living healthier life, but new wave of illegal tobacco and alcohol is on its way, Postimees writes. . . . . . .

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Children's alcohol initiation: An analytic overview
Drugs: education, prevention and policy Published Online 26 June 2009

Many parents support the 'supervised introduction' of alcohol to children. While initiation to regular alcohol consumption in early adolescence has been linked with alcohol-related problems in adult life, the findings from these studies cannot be extrapolated to early childhood.

The definition of initiation to alcohol in early childhood is often not reliable and there is a dearth of research regarding the impact of the broader social and cultural context where initiation may occur.

Whilst parents need to be supported to make decisions that are informed by 'evidence', policymakers need to be mindful of the role of ideology in policy development and the potential differences in risk factors for initiation to alcohol and the misuse of alcohol.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: Bernadette.Ward@med.monash.edu.au
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Chronic alcohol consumption from adolescence-to-adulthood in mice—Effect on growth and social behavior

Drug and Alcohol Dependence Article in Press 27 June 2009

Experimentation with alcohol is common during adolescence. However the long-term consequences from moderate alcohol use during adolescence development are not clear.

Chronic alcohol consumption resulted in reduced growth in adolescent mice, as well as accelerated acclimation to a novel environment. During a social interaction test, similar levels of initial social investigation and subsequent habituation were observed in both the chronic alcohol and the water-only control groups. However, chronic alcohol self-administration resulted in impaired social recognition and decreased social play/fight behavior.

Taken together, these results indicated that chronic alcohol consumption across adolescence development negatively impacted both physical growth and social behavior in mice, highlighting the detrimental consequences from prolonged alcohol drinking in adolescence.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: mljin@sibs.ac.cn

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Maximum-Likelihood Model Averaging To Profile Clustering of Site Types across Discrete Linear Sequences

PLoS Comput Biol 5(6): e1000421

We evaluated our method by examining its performance on a number of simulated datasets as well as on empirical polymorphism data from diverse natural alleles of the Drosophila alcohol dehydrogenase gene. Our method yielded greater power for the detection of clustered sites across a breadth of parameter ranges, and achieved better accuracy and precision of estimation of clusters, than did the existing empirical cumulative distribution function statistics.

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California Alcohol & Other Drug (AOD) Treatment Report: Fiscal Year (FY) 2007-08

This report contains data on admissions to treatment opened and discharges from treatment closed from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008 (FY 2007-08). The data in this report are from the California Outcomes Measurement System – Treatment (CalOMS-Tx).

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SAFE. SENSIBLE. SOCIAL. SELLING ALCOHOL RESPONSIBLY: A CONSULTATION ON THE NEW CODE OF PRACTICE FOR ALCOHOL RETAILERS

The Home Office are running a series of ten events around England andWales as part of the consultation on the code of practice for alcohol retailers.If you work in the alcohol retail industry, a licensing authority, health bodies orenforcement, we want you to take part in one of these events.

Have your say on how alcohol is sold

The consultation, launched in May 2009, sets out proposals for the code, including:

• National mandatory licensing conditions

• Requirements to display alcohol unit and health information

• Discretionary local conditions for licensing authorities to choose from to apply to groups of two or more licensed premises in their area where there is evidence of alcohol related problems; and

• Statutory guidance and good practice guidance.Click here to download the consultation document www.homeoffice.gov.uk/consultations

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Site for alcohol's action in the brain discovered

LA JOLLA, CA— Alcohol's inebriating effects are familiar to everyone. But the molecular details of alcohol's impact on brain activity remain a mystery. A new study by researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies brings us closer to understanding how alcohol alters the way brain cells work.

Their findings, published in the current advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience, reveal an alcohol trigger site located physically within an ion channel protein; their results could lead to the development of novel treatments for alcoholism, drug addiction, and epilepsy. . . . . .

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A discrete alcohol pocket involved in GIRK channel activation

Nature Neuroscience Published online: 28 June 2009

Ethanol modifies neural activity in the brain by modulating ion channels. Ethanol activates G protein–gated inwardly rectifying K+ channels, but the molecular mechanism is not well understood.

Here, we used a crystal structure of a mouse inward rectifier containing a bound alcohol and structure-based mutagenesis to probe a putative alcohol-binding pocket located in the cytoplasmic domains of GIRK channels. Substitutions with bulkier side-chains in the alcohol-binding pocket reduced or eliminated activation by alcohols. By contrast, alcohols inhibited constitutively open channels, such as IRK1 or GIRK2 engineered to strongly bind PIP2. Mutations in the hydrophobic alcohol-binding pocket of these channels had no effect on alcohol-dependent inhibition, suggesting an alternate site is involved in inhibition.

Comparison of high-resolution structures of inwardly rectifying K+ channels suggests a model for activation of GIRK channels using this hydrophobic alcohol-binding pocket.

These results provide a tool for developing therapeutic compounds that could mitigate the effects of alcohol.A discrete alcohol pocket involved in GIRK channel activation

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Request Reprint E-Mail: slesinger@salk.edu

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Binge Drinking in Childhood and Adolescence: Epidemiology, Consequences, and Interventions

Dtsch Arztebl Int 2009; 106(19): 323-8

The intervention HaLT ("Stop," also an acronym for Hart am Limit—"near the limit") is performed in a number of regions in Germany. Further types of brief motivating intervention should be developed and evaluated to prevent the development of alcohol-related disorders, where indicated, in children and adolescents that engage in binge drinking.

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Alcohol-Related Visits to the Emergency Department by Injured Adolescents: A National Perspective

Journal of Adolescent Health Volume 45, Issue 1, July 2009, Pages 84-90

Our findings suggest that injured adolescents are more likely to present to the ED with an alcohol-related visit during the early hours of the morning, that the injury is more likely to be assault related and of higher acuity than non–alcohol-related visits. These findings suggest the ED as a potential site for alcohol prevention interventions with younger adolescents. However, these interventions will need to take into account when such adolescents will present to the ED and will need also to recognize that factors such as violence and aggression, in addition to alcohol use, may be important issues to address in the intervention.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: James_Linakis_PhD@brown.edu

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Alcohol intoxication and mental health among adolescents - a population review of 8983 young people, 13-19 years in North-Trondelag, Norway: the Young-HUNT Study

Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health 2009, 3:18

Gender differences in number of alcohol intoxications were small. There was a close association between both conduct and attention problems and high alcohol consumption in both genders. Girls with symptoms of anxiety and depression reported more frequent alcohol intoxications.

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Applicability of the type A/type B classification of alcoholics

J. bras. psiquiatr. vol.58 no.1 Rio de Janeiro 2009

As the results identified subtypes of alcoholics with differential features, this study brought forth the clinical applicability of Babor et al. typology in our social-cultural context1. Results also point to the relevance of typological studies that may contribute to a more adequate understanding of etiological, preventive and therapeutic aspects of alcoholism.

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