Assessment of Voluntary Ethanol Consumption and the Effects of a Melanocortin (MC) Receptor Agonist on Ethanol Intake in Mutant C57BL/6J Mice Lacking the MC-4 Receptor

The melanocortin (MC) system is composed of peptides that are cleaved from the polypeptide precursor proopiomelanocortin (POMC). Recent evidence shows that chronic exposure to ethanol significantly blunts central MC peptide immunoreactivity and MC receptor (MCR) agonists protect against high ethanol intake characteristic of C57BL/6J mice. 

Here, we assessed the role of the MC-4 receptor (MC4R) in voluntary ethanol intake and in modulating the effects of the nonselective MCR agonist melanotan-II (MTII) on ethanol consumption.

To assess the role of the MC4R, MC4R knockout (Mc4r^−/−) and littermate wild-type (Mc4r^+/+) mice on a C57BL/6J background were used. Voluntary ethanol (3, 5, 8, 10, 15, and 20%, v/v) and water intake were assessed using standard two-bottle procedures. In separate experiments, Mc4r^−/− and Mc4r^+/+ mice were given intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) infusion of MTII (0, 0.5, or 1.0 μg/1 μl) or intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of MTII (0 or 5 mg/kg/5 ml). The effects of MTII (0 or 0.5 μg/1 μl, i.c.v.) on 10% sucrose and 0.15% saccharin intake were assessed in C57BL/6J mice.

Mc4r^−/− mice showed normal consumption of ethanol over all concentrations tested. I.c.v. infusion of MTII significantly reduced ethanol drinking in Mc4r^+/+ mice, but failed to influence ethanol intake in Mc4r^−/− mice. When administered in an i.p. injection, MTII significantly reduced ethanol drinking in both Mc4r^−/−+/+ mice. MTII attenuated consumption of caloric (ethanol, sucrose, and food) and noncaloric (saccharin) reinforcers.

When given centrally, the MCR agonist MTII reduced ethanol drinking by signaling through the MC4R. On the other hand, MTII-induced reduction of ethanol drinking did not require the MC4R when administered peripherally. Together, the present observations show that the MC4R is necessary for the central actions of MCR agonists on ethanol drinking and that MTII blunts the consumption natural reinforcers, regardless of caloric content, in addition to ethanol.

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Request Reprint E-Mail:  thiele@unc.edu 

Smoking and alcohol drinking increased the risk of esophageal cancer among Chinese men but not women in a high-risk population

Although the association for esophageal cancer with tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking has been well established, the risk appears to be less strong in China. 

To provide more evidence on the effect of smoking and alcohol consumption with esophageal cancer in China, particularly among Chinese women, a population-based case–control study has been conducted in Jiangsu, China, from 2003 to 2007. 

A total of 1,520 cases and 3,879 controls were recruited. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied. 

Results showed that the odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (CI) for ever smoking and alcohol drinking were 1.57 (95% CI: 1.34–1.83) and 1.50 (95% CI: 1.29–1.74). Dose–response relationships were observed with increased intensity and longer duration of smoking/drinking. Risk of smoking and alcohol drinking at the highest joint level was 7.32 (95% CI: 4.58–11.7), when compared to those never smoked and never drank alcohol. Stratifying by genders, smoking and alcohol drinking increased the risk among men with an OR of 1.74 (95% CI: 1.44–2.09) and 1.76 (95% CI: 1.48–2.09); however, neither smoking nor alcohol consumption showed a significant association among women.

In conclusion, smoking and alcohol drinking were associated with esophageal cancer risk among Chinese men, but not among Chinese women. 

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Alcohol and You: An Interactive Body

Virtually every organ system is affected by alcohol. Drinking in moderation may cause problems to one's body, and drinking heavily over the years can cause irreversible damage. However, most diseases caused by excessive drinking can be prevented.

Interactive Body

3rd Annual Jack Mendelson Honorary Lecture

Event:	3rd Annual Jack Mendelson Honorary Lecture
Location:	Masur Auditorium, Building 10, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
Start Date:	4/12/2011 1:30:00 PM
End Date:	4/12/2011 3:30:00 PM
Event Details	NIAAA Jack Mendelson Honarary Lecuture Series: As a tribute to Dr. Mendelson's remarkable scientific contributions to the field of alcohol research, NIAAA has established this honorary lecture series to highlight clinical/human research in the alcohol field by featuring an outstanding investigator who has made significant and long-term contributions to our understanding of alcoholism susceptibility, alcohol's effects on the brain and other organs, and the prevention and treatment of alcohol use disorders.  NIAAA is please to present this series of scientific lectures both to acknowledge continuing advances in alcohol-related areas of clinical research and to honor the memory of an individual whose pioneering research in alcoholism remains relevant today. About the Honoree-Dr. Anna Mae Diehl    Contact:    Nancy Colladay, NIAAA                 301-443-4733                  ncollada@mail.nih.gov

Ethanol as a Prodrug: Brain Metabolism of Ethanol Mediates its Reinforcing Effects

While the molecular entity responsible for the rewarding effects of virtually all drugs of abuse is known, that for ethanol remains uncertain. Some lines of evidence suggest that the rewarding effects of alcohol are mediated not by ethanol per se but by acetaldehyde generated by catalase in the brain. However, the lack of specific inhibitors of catalase has not allowed strong conclusions to be drawn about its role on the rewarding properties of ethanol. 

The present studies determined the effect on voluntary alcohol consumption of two gene vectors, one designed to inhibit catalase synthesis and one designed to synthesize alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), to respectively inhibit or increase brain acetaldehyde synthesis.

The lentiviral vectors, which incorporate the genes they carry into the cell genome, were (i) one encoding a shRNA anticatalase synthesis and (ii) one encoding alcohol dehydrogenase (rADH1). These were stereotaxically microinjected into the brain ventral tegmental area (VTA) of Wistar-derived rats bred for generations for their high alcohol preference (UChB), which were allowed access to an ethanol solution and water.

Microinjection into the VTA of the lentiviral vector encoding the anticatalase shRNA virtually abolished (−94%p < 0.001) the voluntary consumption of alcohol by the rats. Conversely, injection into the VTA of the lentiviral vector coding for ADH greatly stimulated (2 to 3 fold p < 0.001) their voluntary ethanol consumption.

The study strongly suggests that to generate reward and reinforcement, ethanol must be metabolized into acetaldehyde in the brain. Data suggest novel targets for interventions aimed at reducing chronic alcohol intake.


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Request Reprint E-Mail:  yisrael@uchile.cl   

Decision Making and Response Inhibition as Predictors of Heavy Alcohol Use: A Prospective Study

Very few studies have investigated the “real world” prospective, predictive value of behavioral instruments used in laboratory studies to test decision-making abilities or impulse control.

The current study examines the degree to which 2 commonly used decision-making/impulse control measures prospectively predict (heavy) alcohol use in a sample of college students.

Two hundred healthy young adults (50% women) performed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and a StopSignal inhibition task in the second college year. At testing and at the end of the fourth college year, heavy alcohol use was assessed.

Disadvantageous performance on the IGT was associated with higher scores on a heavy drinking measure and higher quantity/frequency of alcohol use 2 years past neurocognitive testing in male students even after controlling for prior drinking. These results were corrected for heavy drinking and alcohol use in the period before neurocognitive testing. Interactions with gender indicated that this general pattern held for male but not for female students. Level of response inhibition was not associated with either of the alcohol use measures prospectively.

These findings indicate that a neurocognitive decision-making task is predictive of maladaptive alcohol use. Advantageous decision makers appear to show adaptive real-life decision making, changing their drinking habits to the changing challenges of early adulthood (e.g., finishing college), whereas disadvantageous decision makers do not, and continue to drink heavily. 

These findings extend earlier findings of neurocognitive predictors of relapse in clinical substance-dependent groups, to subclinical alcohol use and abuse.


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Request Reprint E-Mail:   A.E.Goudriaan@amc.uva.nl 

Differential Expression of 14-3-3 Isoforms in Human Alcoholic Brain

Neuropathological damage as a result of chronic alcohol abuse often results in the impairment of cognitive function. The damage is particularly marked in the frontal cortex. The 14-3-3 protein family consists of 7 proteins, β, γ, ε, ζ, η, θ, and σ, encoded by 7 distinct genes. They are highly conserved molecular chaperones with roles in the regulation of metabolism, signal transduction, cell-cycle control, protein trafficking, and apoptosis. They may also play an important role in neurodegeneration in chronic alcoholism.

We used real-time PCR to measure the expression of 14-3-3 mRNA transcripts in both the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and motor cortex of human brains obtained at autopsy.

We found significantly lower 14-3-3β, γ, and θ expression in both cortical areas of alcoholics, but no difference in 14-3-3η expression, and higher expression of 14-3-3σ in both areas. Levels of 14-3-3ζ and ε transcripts were significantly lower only in alcoholic motor cortex.

Altered 14-3-3 expression could contribute to synaptic dysfunction and altered neurotransmission in chronic alcohol misuse by human subjects.


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Request Reprint E-Mail:    j.lewohl@griffith.edu.au

Alcohol Effects on Cerebral Blood Flow in Subjects With Low and High Responses to Alcohol

Although there are multiple indications that alcohol can alter many physiological brain functions, including cerebral blood flow (CBF), studies of the latter have generally used small- or modest-sized samples. Few investigations have yet evaluated how CBF changes after alcohol relate to subsets of subjects with elevated alcoholism risks, such as those with lower levels of response (LR) to alcohol.
 
This study used arterial spin labeling (ASL) after alcohol administration to evaluate a large sample of healthy young men and women with low and high alcohol responses, and, thus, varying risks for alcohol use disorders (AUD).

Healthy young adult social drinkers with low and high LR (N = 88, 50% women) matched on demography and drinking histories were imaged with whole-brain resting ASL ∼1 hour after ingesting ∼3 drinks of ethanol and after a placebo beverage (i.e., 178 ASL sessions). The relationships of CBF changes from placebo to alcohol for subjects with low and high LR were evaluated.

CBF increased after alcohol when compared to placebo in 5 frontal brain regions. Despite identical blood alcohol concentrations, these increases with alcohol were less prominent in individuals who required more drinks to experience alcohol-related effects (i.e., had a lower LR to alcohol). The LR group differences remained significant after covarying for recent drinking quantities.

The results confirm that alcohol intake is associated with acute increases in CBF, particularly in frontal regions. Less intense CBF changes were seen in subjects with a genetically influenced characteristic, a low LR to alcohol, that relates to the future risk of heavy drinking and alcohol problems.


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Request Reprint E-Mail:   mschuckit@ucsd.edu

Expand+Inpatient Detoxification Procedure and Facilities: Financing Considerations from an Eastern European Perspective

Eastern Europe and the Balkans region report high rates of alcohol abuse and addiction ( OECD, 2009). 

Alcohol detoxification procedures in the countries of the European Union (EU) tend to be conducted at the primary care level or at specialized units associated with the psychiatric clinics. These facilities provide medical treatment to help achieve and maintain abstinence, often through initial 24-h psychiatric supervision. 

In the EU, these patients often already have an awareness of the reality of addiction and show a will to decisively tackle it ( Hayashida, 1998). By visiting these facilities, they attempt and often succeed in preventing an abstinence crisis when they end a period of heavy drinking. Treatment protocols are intended to reduce and eliminate most symptoms of withdrawal (Beshai, 1990). 

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Request Reprint E-Mail:   jakovljevicm@medf.kg.ac.

Comparison of the Relationships of Alcohol Intake with Atherosclerotic Risk Factors in Men with and without Diabetes Mellitus

The purpose of this study was to determine whether diabetes affects relationships between alcohol intake and atherosclerotic risk factors.

 

Age- and alcohol intake-matched groups of Japanese men with and without diabetes (each group: n = 1440) were prepared. Relationships of alcohol intake with atherosclerotic risk factors were compared among four subgroups divided by alcohol intake [non-, light (<22 g/day), moderate (≥22 and <44 g/day) and heavy (≥44 g/day) drinkers].  

Both in diabetic and non-diabetic groups, blood pressure was significantly higher in moderate and heavy drinkers than in non-drinkers, triglycerides were significantly higher in heavy drinkers than in non-drinkers, and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol was significantly higher in all drinker groups than in non-drinkers. In the diabetic group, body mass index (BMI) was significantly lower (P < 0.01) in moderate and heavy drinkers than in non-drinkers [26.11 ± 0.17 kg/m² (non-drinkers) vs. 24.83 ± 0.19 kg/m²² (heavy drinkers)], while these differences were not found in the non-diabetic group [23.33 ± 0.13 kg/m² (non-drinkers) vs. 23.30 ± 0.15 kg/m² (moderate drinkers) vs. 23.46 ± 0.18 kg/m² (heavy drinkers)]. Both in the diabetic and non-diabetic groups, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol was significantly lower in moderate and heavy drinkers than in non-drinkers. In the non-diabetic group, LDL cholesterol was also significantly lower in light drinkers than in non-drinkers [124.7 ± 1.3 mg/dl (non-drinkers) vs. 114.5 ± 2.4 mg/dl (light drinkers), P < 0.01], while this difference was not found in the diabetic group [123.6 ± 1.4 mg/dl (non-drinkers) vs. 123.1 ± 2.6 mg/dl (light drinkers)]. 

The positive associations of alcohol intake with blood pressure, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol are similar in men with and without diabetes, while the negative associations of alcohol intake with BMI and LDL cholesterol are stronger and weaker, respectively, in men with diabetes than in men without diabetes. 

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Request Reprint E-Mail: wakabaya@hyo-med.ac.jp 

Statistics from the National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System (NATMS) 1st April 2009 – 31st March 2010

Executive Summary
 
There were 111,381 clients in contact with structured treatment aged 18 and over who cited alcohol as their primary problematic substance in 2009/10. This is an increase of 11,283 (11%) from 100,098 clients in the previous year.
 

There were a further 31,733 clients aged 18 and over who cited alcohol misuse as an adjunctive problem to a range of other primary problematic substances.

 
Clients’ median age at their first point of contact with treatment in 2009/10 was 41 and 65% of clients in treatment were male.
 
Most clients were White British (97,089 or 88%), while other ethnic groups each accounted for no more than two percent of clients.
 
Where reported (71,779 or 99% of clients starting treatment in 2009/10), 26,662 (37%) were self referrals and 15,166 (21%) were referrals from GP’s. Onward referrals from other substance misuse services together accounted for 8,474 clients (12%).
 
More than three quarters (54,242 or 79%) of all clients waited less than three weeks to commence treatment.
 
The most common intervention type received was ‘structured psychosocial’ with 45% of clients receiving this treatment modality in their latest journey (equating to 50,379 interventions delivered).
 
Where reported (63,458 or 87% of clients starting treatment in 2009/10), one in twenty five clients (2,416 or 4%) had No Fixed Abode on presenting for treatment; a further 10% of clients (6,510) had other housing problems.
 
Of the 63,632 clients exiting treatment in 2009/10; 30,533 (48%) were no longer dependent on alcohol (had completed treatment successfully); a further 4,640 (7%) were transferred for further treatment within the community, while 475(1%) were transferred into appropriate treatment while in custody.

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News Release - An estimated 709,000 youths age 12 to 14 currently drink alcohol in the U.S. – many get alcohol from family or home

A new study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) indicates that 5.9 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 14 drank alcohol in the past month and that the vast majority of them (93.4 percent) received their alcohol for free the last time they drank. About 317,000 (44.8 percent) 12 to 14 year olds who drank in the past month received their alcohol for free from their family or at home. This includes 15.7 percent (or an estimated 111,000) who were provided alcohol for free by their parents or guardians.  > > > >  Read More

NIAAA Spectrum Volume 3, Issue 1, February 2011

IN THIS ISSUE

Features
1 FDA Examined NIAAA -Supported Research in its Caffeinated Alcoholic Beverage Review

2 When Too Much AlcoholTurns Into Alcohol Poisoning

Charticle
2 Popularity and “Addictability” of Drugs Among U.S. Adults

Photo Essay
4 In Your Face? We Hope Not.

News From The Field
5 Reducing Off-Campus Drinking
5 Brain’s Reward Circuits May Contribute to Alcohol Abuse
6 Impulsivity, Alcohol, and Violence
7 Why Are Adolescents Less Sensitive to Alcohol?

 Questions With...
7 Ralph Hingson, Sc.D.


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Alcohol policy in tatters as health experts revolt

The government's "responsibility" deal on alcohol looks likely to fall apart as health experts, angered by the limited concessions required of the drinks industry, consider walking away from the table.

The deal, between the industry, the government and health experts – including the chiefs of groups such as Alcohol Concern and the British Liver Trust, as well as senior doctors working on alcohol-related health problems – was billed, when launched last summer, as a fresh, collaborative approach to a serious public health problem.

But an investigation by the Guardian has found that the major issues flagged up by health experts, such as the price of a unit of alcohol and marketing, are not even up for discussion.   >  > > >  Read More

News Release - California Health Interview Survey releases newest data on state residents' health

The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), the nation's largest state health survey and a primary source of information on California's diverse population, released its latest data today on more than 100 topics affecting the health and well-being of the state's residents. 

 

The random–digit-dial telephone survey, conducted every two years by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, gathers essential information from tens of thousands of California households on a wide variety of topics, from health insurance and public program participation to diabetes, obesity and cancer screening.  

The latest survey also includes new questions on suicide, emergency preparedness, medical homes, veteran status, registered domestic partner status, flu shots and prediabetes. 

The data can be examined by state, region and county at http://www.askchis.com/, the survey's free, easy-to-use online data search tool. (A quick tutorial on how to use the search tool is also available.) > > > >  Read More

example:

Binge drinking in the past year 2009
     No binge drinking in past year 68.7%
        (67.6 - 69.8) 18,916,000

     Binge drinking in past year 31.3%
        (30.2 - 32.4) 8,631,000

     TOTAL 100.0% 27,547,000


Source: 2009 California Health Interview Survey (95% confidence intervals are displayed in table)

Alcohol-related peripheral neuropathy: Nutritional, toxic, or both?

Alcohol-related peripheral neuropathy (ALN) is a potentially debilitating complication of alcoholism that results in sensory, motor, and autonomic dysfunction. Unfortunately, ALN is rarely discussed as a specific disease entity in textbooks because it is widely assumed to primarily reflect consequences of nutritional deficiency. 

This hypothesis is largely based on observations first made over eight decades ago when it was demonstrated that thiamine deficiency (beriberi) neuropathy was clinically similar to ALN. 

In recent studies, failure of thiamine treatment to reverse ALN, together with new information demonstrating clinical and electrophysiological distinctions between ALN and nutritional deficiency neuropathies, suggests that alcohol itself may significantly predispose and enhance development of neuropathy in the appropriate clinical setting. 

We reviewed the evidence on both sides and conclude that ALN should be regarded as a toxic rather than nutritional neuropathy.

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Request Reprint E-Mail:  mmellion1@lifespan.org 

Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index Scores at Age 18 Predict Alcohol Dependence Diagnoses 7 Years Later

The Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI) is widely used to assess adolescent drinking-related problems. We asked how well RAPI, administered in late adolescence, predicts alcohol diagnoses at age 25 in a 7-year follow-up.

At age 18, a population-based sample of Finnish twins completed RAPI by postal questionnaire; 597 (300 male) twins, from pairs discordant and concordant for age 18 RAPI scores, were interviewed at age 25 with the SSAGA, yielding DSM-IIIR diagnoses. Polychoric correlations between RAPI and alcohol diagnoses and symptoms, the area under the response operator characteristic (ROC) curve, and the odds ratio of outcome diagnosis per unit change in adolescent RAPI were analyzed. Twin pairs discordant for both adolescent RAPI and adult diagnoses permitted within-family replications for the full sample and separately by sex.

Nearly half the interviewed twins met diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependency (46.2%) or abuse (1.5%). Age 18 RAPI scores significantly correlated with diagnoses (0.52) and symptom counts (0.55). ROC analysis found a 74% probability that adolescent RAPI scores will be higher among those with an alcohol diagnosis at age 25 than for those without. The odds ratio of outcome alcohol diagnosis per unit increase in adolescent 18 RAPI exceeded 10.0. Within-family comparisons of 117 twin pairs discordant for both age 18 RAPI and age 25 alcohol diagnoses replicated the between-family associations. In both between-family and within-family analyses, RAPI was more predictive of alcohol diagnoses among females.

Our results offer evidence, including that from informative comparisons of co-twins discordant for both predictor and outcome, that RAPI scores in late adolescence robustly predict alcohol diagnoses in early adulthood. Accordingly, our results also provide new evidence that one pathway to problem drinking in early adulthood is a direct one from problem drinking in adolescence.





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Request Reprint E-Mail:   rose@indiana.edu 

The Neighborhood Alcohol Environment and At-Risk Drinking Among African-Americans

Our objective was to examine whether components of the neighborhood alcohol environment—liquor store, on-premise outlet, convenience store, and supermarket densities—are positively associated with at-risk alcohol consumption among African-American drinkers.

A multilevel cross-sectional sample of 321 African-American women and men ages 21 to 65 years recruited from April 2002 to May 2003 from three community-based healthcare clinics in New Orleans, Louisiana, was studied.

The alcohol environment had a significant impact on at-risk alcohol consumption among African-American drinkers, specifically liquor store density (adjusted OR = 3.11, 95% CI = 1.87, 11.07). Furthermore, the influence of the alcohol environment was much stronger for African-American female drinkers (adjusted OR = 6.96, 95% CI = 1.38, 35.08).

Treatment and prevention programs should take into account the physical environment, and the concentration of outlets in minority neighborhoods must be addressed as it poses potential health risks to the residents of these neighborhoods.



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Request Reprint E-Mail: ktheall@tulane.edu  

Variation in Genes Encoding the Neuroactive Steroid Synthetic Enzymes 5α-Reductase Type 1 and 3α-Reductase Type 2 Is Associated With Alcohol Dependence

Studies of alcohol effects in rodents and in vitro implicate endogenous neuroactive steroids as key mediators of alcohol effects at GABA_A receptors. 

We used a case-control sample to test the association with alcohol dependence (AD) of single nucleotide polymorphisms in the genes encoding two key enzymes required for the generation of endogenous neuroactive steroids: 5α–reductase, type I (5α-R), and 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase, type 2 (3α-HSD), both of which are expressed in human brain.

We focused on markers previously associated with a biological phenotype. For 5α-R, we examined the synonymous SRD5A1 exon 1 SNP rs248793, which has been associated with the ratio of dihydrotestosterone to testosterone. For 3α-HSD, we examined the nonsynonymous AKR1C3 SNP rs12529 (H5Q), which has been associated with bladder cancer. The SNPs were genotyped in a sample of 1,083 non-Hispanic Caucasians including 552 controls and 531 subjects with AD.

The minor allele for both SNPs was more common among controls than subjects with AD: SRD5A1 rs248793 C-allele (χ²(1) = 7.6, p = 0.006) and AKR1C3 rs12529 G-allele (χ²(1) = 14.6, p = 0.0001). There was also an interaction of these alleles such that the “protective” effect of the minor allele at each marker for AD was conditional on the genotype of the second marker.

We found evidence of an association with AD of polymorphisms in two genes encoding neuroactive steroid biosynthetic enzymes, providing indirect evidence that neuroactive steroids are important mediators of alcohol effects in humans.



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Request Reprint E-Mail: jocovault@uchc.edu    

Sleep Following Alcohol Intoxication in Healthy, Young Adults: Effects of Sex and Family History of Alcoholism

This study evaluated sex and family history of alcoholism as moderators of subjective ratings of sleepiness/sleep quality and polysomnography (PSG) following alcohol intoxication in healthy, young adults.

Ninety-three healthy adults [mean age 24.4 ± 2.7 years, 59 women, 29 subjects with a positive family history of alcoholism (FH+)] were recruited. After screening PSG, participants consumed alcohol (sex/weight adjusted dosing) to intoxication [peak breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) of 0.11 ± 0.01 g% for men and women] or matching placebo between 20:30 and 22:00 hours. Sleep was monitored using PSG between 23:00 and 07:00 hours. Participants completed the Stanford Sleepiness Scale and Karolinska Sleepiness Scale at bedtime and on awakening and a validated post-sleep questionnaire.

Following alcohol, total sleep time, sleep efficiency, nighttime awakenings, and wake after sleep onset were more disrupted in women than men, with no differences by family history status. 

Alcohol reduced sleep onset latency, sleep efficiency, and rapid eye movement sleep while increasing wakefulness and slow wave sleep across the entire night compared with placebo. Alcohol also generally increased sleep consolidation in the first half of the night, but decreased it during the second half.

Sleepiness ratings were higher following alcohol, particularly in women at bedtime. Morning sleep quality ratings were lower following alcohol than placebo.

Alcohol intoxication increases subjective sleepiness and disrupts sleep objectively more in healthy women than in men, with no differences evident by family history of alcoholism status. Evaluating moderators of alcohol effects on sleep may provide insight into the role of sleep in problem drinking.


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Request Reprint E-Mail:   tarnedt@med.umich.edu    

Why is alcohol consumption falling?

Despite new evidence that more people are being treated in hospital for excessive drinking, the overall trend is that we are drinking less as a nation. Why?  > > > >  Read More

SURVEILLANCE REPORT #90 APPARENT PER CAPITA ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION: NATIONAL, STATE, AND REGIONAL TRENDS, 1977–2008

This surveillance report on 1977–2008 apparent per capita alcohol consumption in the United States is the 24th in a series of consumption reports produced annually by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). 

Findings are based on alcoholic beverage sales data, either collected directly by the Alcohol Epidemiologic Data System (AEDS) from the States or provided by beverage industry sources. Population data provided by the U.S. Census Bureau are used as denominators to calculate per capita rates. 

The following are highlights from the current report, which updates consumption trends through 2008:

• In the United States, per capita consumption of ethanol from all alcoholic beverages combined in 2008 was 2.32 gallons, representing a 0.4 percent increase from 2.31 gallons in 2007. 
  
• Between 2007 and 2008, changes in overall per capita consumption of ethanol included increases in 33 States and the District of Columbia, decreases in 10 States, and no change in 7 States.
  
• Analysis of overall per capita alcohol consumption by census region between 2007 and 2008 indicated increases of 0.9% in the Midwest and 0.4% in the Northeast.
  
• Healthy People 2010 has set the national objective for reducing per capita alcohol consumption to no more than 1.96 gallons of ethanol. However, since 1999, there has been a trend of increasing per capita consumption. To meet the 2010 objective, per capita alcohol consumption will need to decrease by 15.5 percent, or about 8.1 percent per year from 2009 through 2010. 
  
  
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Tackling Under-Age Drinking in Europe: Towards a Comprehensive EU-Wide Partnership

13th April 2011
Silken Hotel, Brussels

This International Symposium will gather comparative experience and best practices in early intervention strategies based around young people and their families, and other key consequences of under-age drinking such as anti-social behaviour and drink-driving. It will also discuss the potential role of national governments and regional authorities in supporting campaigns to combat the issue and the dissemination of lessons learned from different European countries

Event Brochure     (PDF)

Register your place

National alcohol treatment statistics report (NATMS) 2009/10

The second national report on alcohol treatment has been released by the National Treatment Agency (NTA):

'Statistics from the National Alcohol Treatment Monitoring System (NATMS) 1st April 2009 – 31st March 2010' 

> > > >   Read More

The Substance Abuse Policy Research Program

In this chapter, leaders of the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program look back at the program, which ended in 2009, and reflect on how the program operated and on what its policy research on tobacco, alcohol, and drugs accomplished. David Altman, executive vice president of the Center for Creative Leadership, was the program’s director; Marjorie Gutman, currently president of Gutman Research Associates, was the co-director; Prabhu Ponkshe, president of Health Matrix, Inc., served as communications  director; Andrea Williams and Susan Frye, both of whom are based at the Center for Creative Leadership, served as the deputy director and grants administrator, respectively.



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The Financial Burden of Substance Abuse in West Virginia: The State Workforce Syste

The growing financial cost of drug and alcohol abuse puts tremendous pressure on every social sector.
 
The present report, part of a larger Family Funding Study project, is the fifth and last in the series that examines the cost of drug and alcohol abuse to West Virginia’s criminal justice, healthcare, education, welfare, and workforce systems. A comprehensive report, incorporating estimates from all these sectors, will be produced at the end of this project.
 
The present report attempts to capture the impact of drug and alcohol abuse on West Virginia’s workforce system. Although drug and alcohol abuse seriously impact the workforce system in terms of productivity, efficiency, and other factors, data illuminating those costs have yet to be systematically collected. 

The present report, therefore, limits its scope to the cost of worker absenteeism related to drug and alcohol abuse. Worker absenteeism is defined as the extra days substance using workers are absent compared to non-users (Foster & Vaughan, 2005). 

This report estimates that drug and alcohol abuse-related worker absenteeism costs the state over $12 million a year.



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Labelling Logic - the Final Report of the Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy

The Panel conducting the Independent Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy, commissioned by the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council entitled Labelling Logic to the Chair of the Ministerial Council the Hon Catherine King Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, on 28 January 2011.


Recommendation 24: That generic alcohol warning messages be placed on alcohol labels but only as an element of a comprehensive multifaceted national campaign targeting the public health problems of alcohol in society.



Recommendation 25: That a suitably worded warning message about the risks of consuming alcohol while pregnant be mandated on individual containers of alcoholic beverages and at the point of sale for unpackaged alcoholic beverages, as support for ongoing broader community education.


Recommendation 26: That energy content be displayed on the labels of all alcoholic beverages, consistent with the requirements for other food products.


Recommendation 27: That drinks that are mixtures of alcohol and other beverages comply with all general nutrition labelling requirements, including disclosure of a mandatory Nutrition Information Panel.



The Final Report is available below.

‘Labelling Logic’ – The Final Report of the Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy     (PDF)

Current Issue: November–December 2010

INTERVENTIONS & ASSESSMENTS

Systematic Review: No Evidence for Efficacy of Screening and Brief Intervention among Dependent and Heavy Drinkers

SBIRT in the Emergency Department: No Effect at 6 and 12 Months

Can a Single-Question Alcohol Screen Also Detect Drug Use?

Risk of Death during Opioid Substitution Therapy in UK Primary-Care Practices

Does Higher Maternal Methadone Dose Increase Risk for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome?

Acamprosate Does Have Efficacy for Alcohol Dependence

Stepped-Up Alcohol Screening in the Veterans Affairs System: Inconsistent Results

Using Alcohol for Sleep: A Sign of Unhealthy Use

Patients with Chronic Pain and a Prescription Drug Use Disorder Have Easily Identifiable Risk Factors

Motivational Enhancement More Effective than Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Alcoholics with Low Motivation

Age under 65 and History of a Psychiatric or Opioid Use Disorder Are Associated with a Current Prescription Opioid Use Disorder

HEALTH OUTCOMES

Alcohol Use and Infection May Trigger Ischemic Stroke

Societal and Individual Harms from Specific Substances of Abuse

Increased Mortality in HIV-Infected Patients with Untreated Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders

Drinking Pattern and Beverage Type Modify Alcohol?s Effect on Risk of Coronary Disease

SLIDE PRESENTATIONS

Update on Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Health

Journal Club

Free CME Opportunities

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African Journal of Drug and Alcohol Studies Volume 9, Number 1, 2010

 

Contents

South African Health Care Providers’ Recognition of the
Links Between Alcohol and Hiv in their Daily Practice: A Pilot Study .........................................1
 
Neo K. Morojele, Anne L. Pithey, Connie T. Kekwaletswe,
Marie Joubert-Wallis, Molefe I. Pule, Charles D. H. Parry
Determination of Caffeine Content in Non-Alcoholic Beverages and
Energy Drinks Using Hplc-Uv Method.........................................................................................15
 
Muriira Geoffrey Karau, James N Kihunyu, Nahashon M Kathenya,
Laura N Wangai, Daniel Kariuki, & Rotich Henry Kibet
Is Cannabis Use Related to Road Crashes?
A Study of Long Distance Commercial Drivers in Nigeria...........................................................23
 
Victor Olufolahan Lasebikan
Extent and Influence of Recreational Drug Use on Men and
Women Aged 15 Years and Older in South Africa........................................................................33
 
Peter Njuho and Alicia Davids
Chang’aa Drinking in Kibera Slum: The Harmful Effects of
Contemporary Changes in the Production and Consumption of Traditional Spirits.....................49
Christine Bodewes
 
Tributes to Alan Flisher.................................................................................................................57


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Reports highlight regional drinking problem

More people drink themselves to death in northwest New Mexico than anywhere else in the state, which is one of the worst states in the country in terms of alcohol-related deaths per capita. 

Three counties in northwest New Mexico — San Juan, McKinley and Rio Arriba — have the highest concentration in the state of people who died from various alcohol-related issues from 2007 through 2009, according to reports recently published by the New Mexico Health Department 

New Mexico has been one of the top three states with the highest alcohol-related death rates per capita every year since 1981, said Joe Roeber, the New Mexico alcohol epidemiologist for the state's health department. 

In San Juan County, the three-year, alcohol-related injury death rate was more than double the national average and in McKinley County the rate was more than triple the national average. Examples of alcohol-related injury deaths include deaths from vehicle crashes, falls and suicides.

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Indicator Report - Alcohol-Related Deaths

Alcohol-related death, injury, and disease are a serious public health problem in the United States and in New Mexico. In the United States, alcohol is the third leading actual cause of death (after tobacco and poor diet/physical inactivity), responsible for more than 75,000 deaths per year.

Excessive alcohol consumption contributes to many different poor health outcomes. Chronic heavy drinking (defined as drinking more than two drinks a day for men and more than one drink a day for women) contributes to a variety of alcohol-related chronic diseases, including liver cirrhosis and alcohol dependence. Episodic heavy (or binge) drinking (defined as drinking five or more drinks on a single occasion for men and four or more drinks on a single occasion for women) contributes to a variety of alcohol-related injuries, including motor vehicle crashes, poisonings, falls, homicides, and suicides.

According to the most recent available comprehensive estimate, the annual cost of alcohol-related harm in the United States, in 1998, was roughly 185 billion dollars per year (NIAAA, http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/economic-2000/index.htm). This estimate included health care costs, economic costs such as the cost of lost productivity, and the cost of other effects of alcohol on society such as crime and motor vehicle crashes. Given trends in the component costs since the time of this report, this estimate likely represents a substantial underestimate of current alcohol-related costs in the United States.

In 2006, the cost of alcohol abuse in New Mexico was estimated, based on this national estimate, to be $2.5 billion. The economic burden of alcohol abuse amounted to over $1,250 for every person in the state (NMDOH, http://nmhealth.org/ERD/HealthData/SubstanceAbuse/ER%20Alcohol%20related%20costs%20112309.pdf).


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Critique 033: Moderate-to-heavy alcohol intake may increase risk of atrial fibrillation

A number of well-done studies have shown an increase in the risk of atrial fibrillation to be associated with heavy alcohol intake or with alcoholism.  Most previous studies suggest little if any increase in risk from light-to-moderate drinking.  

The present study was a meta-analysis based on 14 studies from Europe or North America.  It showed an increase in risk with alcohol, but there were limited dose-response data to determine if there was a threshold above which the risk was increased. 

Overall, the scientific evidence from many studies suggests that at least heavy drinking may increase the risk of atrial fibrillation, although whether light-to-moderate intake increases the risk seems unlikely.

Previous basic scientific data of mechanisms of atrial fibrillation have suggested that alcohol has little effect on this arrhythmia.

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