Young women with family history of breast cancer and their risk factors for benign breast disease

Breast cancer (BC) patients wonder how their daughters might reduce their risk. The authors investigated childhood/adolescent risk factors for benign breast disease (BBD), a well-documented risk factor for BC, among girls with a family history.

GUTS (the Growing Up Today Study) includes females, aged 9 to 15 years in 1996, who completed annual questionnaires during 1996 to 2001, then in 2003, 2005, and 2007. Participants provided information regarding alcohol, menarche, height, and body mass index (BMI; kg/m²). Peak height growth velocity (PHV; in./y) was estimated from longitudinal heights. On 2005-2007 surveys, 6888 women (18-27 years old) reported whether they were diagnosed with biopsy-confirmed BBD (n = 67 cases); 6741 women (noncases) reported no BBD. Participants' mothers reported their own biopsy-confirmed BBD and BC, and BC in their sisters and mothers. Stratified by family history, logistic models investigated BBD risk factors.

Young women whose mothers or aunts had BC were more likely to be diagnosed with BBD (odds ratio [OR], 2.34; P = .01), as were those with maternal BBD (OR, 1.59; P = .095). Adolescents with BC family history (mother, aunt, grandmother) who consumed alcohol (7 drinks/wk) doubled their BBD risk (OR, 2.28; P = .01), similar to those with maternal BBD (OR, 1.96; P = .02). Girls whose mother or aunt had BC saw their BBD risk elevated with higher PHV (OR, 1.82 [inch/yr]; P = .05). Among girls with no family history, BBD risk appeared to be related to other factors: childhood BMI, adolescent waist circumference, and adult height.

Adolescents with family history may reduce their risk by avoiding alcohol. Separate risk factors were observed among girls with family history versus girls with no family history, possibly reflecting different causes of BC.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: Catherine.Berkey@channing.harvard.edu

Exercise and Substance Use Among American Youth, 1991–2009

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has called for increased research into the use of physical activity in substance abuse prevention, specifically research into physical activity type and context.

This paper examines the relationships between (1) secondary school student substance use and (2) exercise in general and school athletic team participation, and examines such relationships over time.

Nationally representative cross-sectional samples of 8th-, 10th-, and 12th-grade students were surveyed each year from 1991 to 2009. Substance use measures included past 2-week binge drinking and past 30-day alcohol, cigarette, smokeless tobacco, marijuana, and steroid use. Analyses were conducted during 2009–2010.

Across grades, higher levels of exercise were associated with lower levels of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use. Higher levels of athletic team participation were associated with higher levels of smokeless tobacco use and lower levels of cigarette and marijuana use across grades and to higher levels of high school alcohol and steroid use. Exercise helped suppress the undesired relationship between team participation and alcohol use; exercise and athletic team participation worked synergistically in lowering cigarette and marijuana use. Observed relationships were generally stable across time.

There appear to be substantive differences between exercise and team sport participation in relation to adolescent substance use. These findings from cross-sectional data suggest that interventions to improve levels of general physical activity should be evaluated to determine if they help delay or reduce substance use among youth in general as well as among student athletes.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: yterry@umich.edu

Just Say Nyet

Both mass alcoholism and the fight against it were integral parts of everyday life in the Soviet Union, from its formation until its dissolution. For much of the 19th century, Russians’ per-capita alcohol consumption was among the lowest in Europe, and even this consumption was strictly controlled by rural and urban communities as well as the intensively working temperance societies. After the beginning of the forced industrialization introduced by Communism, millions of villagers poured into the cities and, liberated from the control of the community and with access to various sources of cheap alcohol, quickly established a culture of permanent drunkenness–drinking that aimed at a rapid unconsciousness.

The Soviet state on the one hand supported this as an instrument for draining off social tensions: Stalin in 1930, at the beginning of monumental industrialization, wrote to President of the Council of People’s Commissars Molotov demanding “the greatest expansion of vodka production possible for the sake of a real and serious defense of our country.” On the other hand, the state clearly saw that this level of alcohol consumption would lead to a drastic reduction in lifetime (male life expectancy had fallen to 47 by the 1990s) and that, due to the early decomposition of families it would significantly stunt Russia’s birthrate. Since both of these would reduce the Soviet Union’s competitiveness in the race between the two world systems, from time to time the government tried to roll consumption back with anti-alcohol campaigns. At the same time the government was all too aware that it could not renounce the revenues from the alcohol monopoly:at the beginning of Communism alcohol taxes meant a whole quarter of the state budget; their falling during Gorbachev’s 1985 anti-alcohol campaign contributed significantly to the decline of Soviet economy. > > > > Read More

Global Actions November 9, 2011

Key Recent Milestones:

· ICAP’s Regional Coordinator for Europe David Binar will support coordination of our Global Actions engagement on drink driving in Russia and will be working closely with our NGO partner, Social Projects.

Global Actions in Focus: Vietnam Study Tour in Korea

As part of the capacity-building work of the Drink Driving initiative, Global Actions Vietnam traveled to Korea the last week of October. Delegates from the National Traffic Safety Committee (NTSC), traffic safety councils, and traffic police in Vietnam accompanied ICAP on the study tour.

Delegates met with agencies, including the Embassy of Vietnam in Korea, the Korea Alcohol and Liquor Industry Association (KALIA), Seoul Traffic Police, Korea Transportation Authority’s Automobile Testing and Research Institute in Seoul, and the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency. Feedback from delegates was unanimously positive. “The study tour was very beneficial to us,” said NTSC’s Senior Expert Le Tang. “We have gained knowledge of practices from the Korea police and traffic safety colleagues that we will use in our Global Actions project in Da Nang.” “We are impressed with the strong enforcement by the Korea police,” said NTSC’s Deputy Chief Secretariat Nguyen Trong Thai. “In Korea, penalties are strict to prevent people from drink driving. It is good to know that KALIA has supported the government with education and public awareness as well as collaborated with the police in drink driving education campaigns.” “Seeing things with our own eyes, including the visit to a real check point in Seoul, was very helpful,” said Tang.

Global Actions Vietnam Country Manager Lan Huong Nguyen shared the enthusiasm of her colleagues. “Before the study tour, many delegates were doubtful about why the alcohol industry would stand against drink driving,” Nguyen said. “But after seeing KALIA’s work firsthand, the delegates understood that Industry is part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

What’s Happening Next:

· New Delhi: On November 11, India’s self-regulatory organization, the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI), is hosting a high-level conference on self-regulation. Keynote speakers include India’s Minister for Information & Broadcasting, and India’s Minister of State for Consumer Affairs. Register for the event here.

· Vietnam: Global Actions will hold a drink drive capacity building workshop for bus drivers in Dak Lak province on November 17 and Khanh Hoa province on November 21.

· Nairobi: On November 20-21, Global Actions will hold a noncommercial alcohol meeting with researchers, government, and industry from five countries in Africa.

Parents’ alcohol use: gender differences in the impact of household and family chores

Social roles influence alcohol use. Nevertheless, little is known about how specific aspects of a given role, here parenthood, may influence alcohol use. The research questions for this study were the following: (i) are family-related indicators (FRI) linked to the alcohol use of mothers and fathers? and (ii) does the level of employment, i.e. full-time, part-time employment or unemployment, moderate the relationship between FRI and parental alcohol use?

Survey data of 3217 parents aged 25–50 living in Switzerland. Mean comparisons and multiple regression models of annual frequency of drinking and risky single occasion drinking, quantity per day on FRI (age of the youngest child, number of children in the household, majority of child-care/household duties).

Protective relationships between FRI and alcohol use were observed among mothers. In contrast, among fathers, detrimental associations between FRI and alcohol use were observed. Whereas maternal responsibilities in general had a protective effect on alcohol use, the number of children had a detrimental impact on the quantity of alcohol consumed per day when mothers were in paid employment. Among fathers, the correlations between age of the youngest child, number of children and frequency of drinking was moderated by the level of paid employment.

The study showed that in Switzerland, a systematic negative relationship was more often found between FRI and women’s drinking than men’s. Evidence was found that maternal responsibilities per se may protect from alcohol use but can turn into a detrimental triangle if mothers are additionally in paid employment.



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Request Reprint E-Mail: skuntsche@addiction-info.ch

Improving shop floor compliance with age restrictions for alcohol sales: effectiveness of a feedback letter intervention

In this study, we investigated the effects and handling of an intervention to increase compliance with age limits regarding alcohol sales. The intervention tested in this field experiment was a feedback letter sent to alcohol outlets about their individual compliance results based on a mystery shopping study.

We measured compliance in 146 alcohol outlets (cafeterias, supermarkets, bars, liquor stores and youth centres) in one region in the Netherlands with 15-year-old mystery shoppers. About half (n = 72) of the outlets received the intervention letter (the experimental group). After this intervention, we measured compliance again (n = 138). Then we sent the same letter to the control group and interviewed all the outlets regarding their handling of the intervention (n = 106).

After the experimental group received the letter, compliance increased significantly (from 18.1% to 32.4%). In the control group, compliance did not change. Of the outlets interviewed, 81% stated that they had received the letter, and the action most commonly taken was to bring the letter to the attention of their staff.

Positive feedback letters are more often copied and shared integrally with personnel, compared with negative letters. Compliance with respect to underage alcohol sales can be improved, although compliance levels remain low in the Netherlands.



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Request Reprint E-Mail: j.j.vanhoof@utwente.nl

150% rise in teenage drinking problems: Alcoholism in Ireland hits new crisis

The Irish Independent has been critical of Minister Shortall's attempts to start a much needed debate on minimum pricing of alcohol. "Anyone expecting minimum alcohol pricing to solve the problem of alcohol abuse overnight is likely to be disappointed. Believe it or not, overall Irish levels of alcohol consumption, while still relatively high, have been falling since the turn of the century". That certainly is hard to believe, particularly when the HSE has published a report this month (based on National Drug Treatment Reporting System (NDTRS) returns) which indicates the exact opposite, showing a steep rise in drinking amongst the growing number of unemployed people, and a 150% rise in the numbers of teenagers seeking help for their drinking. > > > > Read More

Treated problem alcohol use in Ireland 2005 to 2010

The Health Research Board published a paper today entitled ‘Treated problem alcohol use in Ireland 2005-2010’. Figures from the National Drug Treatment Reporting System (NDTRS) show that the number of cases of treated problem alcohol use rose 43% in the period between 2005 and 2010. There were 42,333* cases treated for problem alcohol use in those six years. Half of the treated cases had started drinking by the time they were 16 and one in five cases reported problem use of other substances such as cannabis, cocaine, ecstasy and benzodiazepines.

Key findings from the report include:

• 42,333 cases were treated for problem alcohol use in the six-year period. There were 5,525 cases in 2005 which rose to 7,866 cases in 2010, an increase of 43%.
• 22,626 (53%) were new cases who had come for treatment for the first time, while 18,396 (44%) were treated previously.
• 61% increase in cases who had been treated previously, from 2, 229 cases in 2005 to 3,583 cases in 2010.
• Half of all cases treated were aged 39 years or younger.
• 145% increase in new cases aged under 18, from 109 cases in 2005 to 267 cases in 2010.
• Half of all cases treated had started drinking alcohol by the time they were 16.
• 50% of new cases had used alcohol for 19 years or more before seeking treatment.
• 40% of cases were drinking on a daily basis.
• The proportion of all cases in employment fell from 39% in 2005 to 24% in 2010.

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FASD News - 45/2011

The Guardian (UK) - Smoking and drinking in pregnancy 'harms 10,000 babies in UK each year'

Britain's top children's doctor has said that more than 10,000 babies each year suffer serious harm, including death, because their mothers drank alcohol, smoked, over-ate, or took drugs during pregnancy.

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Irish Medical Times (Ireland) - Four-fifths of women drank alcohol ‘close to conception’

A total of 81 per cent of women reported alcohol consumption during the peri-conceptual period, the prevalence study of alcohol exposure in pregnancy at the Coombe Women and Infants University Hospital has shown.

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Irish Independent (Ireland) - 145 babies had alcohol withdrawal symptoms

AT least 145 babies were born in the country's main maternity hospitals in just three years suffering from alcohol withdrawal, new figures reveal.

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Lethbridge Herald (Canada) - Christmas tree carries message to avoid FASD

Almost every day in Alberta, a baby is born who will be diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder. Approximately 23,000 Albertans and 2,200 in the southern region have the disorder FASD, which encompasses a wide range of brain injuries causing mental, physical and learning disabilities as a result of mothers consuming alcohol or drugs while pregnant.

Read more

Parkersburg News (USA) - FAS rates on the rise in West Virginia

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome rates are on the rise in West Virginia. A 2009 study by the West Virginia Perinatal Partners found one out of five West Virginia babies are exposed to drugs or alcohol before they are born.

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Vancouver Sun (Canada) - Screen all prison inmates for fetal-alcohol syndrome, doctor urges

A Winnipeg doctor says he hopes all inmates will be screened for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder as a matter of course within the next five years, just in time for an expected spike in the country's prison population.

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HealthCanal.com (Australia) - No room in the womb for alcohol

A flagship Indigenous health care initiative in Western Australia's remote Fitzroy Valley has received vital funding that will allow it to progress to a new phase.

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The West Australian (Australia) - Push for warning labels on alcohol

Federal and State health ministers are being urged to support health warning labels on alcohol, including the immediate introduction of advice for pregnant women.

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The Northern Echo (UK) - Mothers-to-be in alcohol warning

A NORTH-EAST consultant has voiced fears that women are drinking too much in pregnancy – resulting in a huge hidden population of damaged children. It follows a survey of the drinking habits of mums-to-be which suggests hundreds of babies born every year in the region suffer from Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS).

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CBC.ca (Canada) - Baby poop study tracks alcohol use

Hospital researchers on P.E.I. have been collecting and studying human meconium – the first stool – of every newborn Islander.

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Waterloo Record - Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder requires new approach

Often all people see in a child with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is their bad behaviour. “The behaviours make it difficult to deal with the kid in many cases,” said Allan Mountford, who teaches in a special program that helps troubled teenagers transition to high school.

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The Fix - Alcoholism's Gender Gap is Closing Fast

As women rapidly chase down men in the drinking stakes, one Harvard professor says alcoholism progresses faster in females—and that all-women treatment groups are vital.

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MATERIALS and EVENTS

The National Health Service Grampian (in Scotland) released a new booklet called Pregnancy, Parenting and Alcohol.

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Eufasd.org - Second European Conference on FASD

Pre-Announcement: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Clinical and Biochemical Diagnosis, Screening and Follow-up.

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RESEARCH

Coombe.ir - Drinking during pregnancy increases the risk of premature birth

Drinking alcohol during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage, premature birth, and low birth weight. But there are onflicting reports about how much alcohol, if any, it is safe for a pregnant woman to drink. New research, carried out in the Coombe Women & Infants University Hospital looked at the amount of alcohol women drank during their early pregnancy and showed the effect this had on their babies.

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Alcohol and Alcoholism - Universal Prevention is Associated with Lower Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in Northern Cape, South Africa: A Multicentre Before–After Study

This, the first prevention study using FASD outcomes, suggests that universal prevention might reduce FASD by ∼30% and have population-level effects. This supports intensifying universal interventions where knowledge of harms of maternal drinking is low. These efforts need to be accompanied by alcohol-dependence treatment to lower more severe FASD forms.

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Modulation by the GABAB receptor siRNA of ethanol-mediated PKA-α, CaMKII, and p-CREB intracellular signaling in prenatal rat hippocampal neurons

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) is a developmental neuropathology resulting from in utero exposure to ethanol; many of ethanol's effects are likely to be mediated by the neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA).

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Meconium Testing for Fatty Acid Ethyl Esters: A 2011 Status Report

The Canadian Association of Pediatric Health Centres, working in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada has recently published a toolkit to guide screening for identification of risk of FAS/FASD.

Read more


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Guide to Mutual Aid Resources

Welcome to Faces & Voices Guide to Mutual Aid Resources. Find out about the growing number and scope of volunteer recovery mutual aid groups. This one-stop resource is for people in or seeking recovery from addiction, their families and friends and for addiction treatment service providers and other allied service professionals. Numerous research studies have shown that mutual aid groups play a significant role in the process of recovery. Here you can learn about the many varieties of online and in-person mutual aid groups that are helping people find and sustain their recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. > > > > Read More

The TM2 6' Position of GABAA Receptors Mediates Alcohol Inhibition.

Ionotropic γ-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABAARs), which mediate inhibitory neurotransmission in the central nervous system, are implicated in behavioral effects of alcohol and alcoholism. Site-directed mutagenesis studies support the presence of discrete molecular sites involved in alcohol enhancement and, more recently, inhibition of GABAARs.

We used Xenopus laevis oocytes to investigate the 6' position in the second transmembrane region of GABAARs as a site influencing alcohol inhibition.

We asked if modification of the 6' position by substitution with larger residues, or by methanethiol labeling (using methyl methanethiosulfonate, MMTS) of a substituted cysteine, reduced GABA action and/or blocked further inhibition by alcohols.

Labeling of the 6' position in either α2 or β2 subunits reduced responses to GABA. In addition, methanol and ethanol potentiation increased following MMTS labeling or substitution with tryptophan or methionine, consistent with elimination of an inhibitory site for these alcohols. Specific alcohols, but not the anesthetic etomidate, competed with MMTS labeling at the 6' position.

We verified a role for the 6' position in previously tested α2β2 as well as more physiologically relevant α2β2γ2s GABAARs.

Finally, we built a novel molecular model based on the GABAAR homolog GluCl, revealing that the 6' position residue faces the channel pore, and that modification of this residue alters volume and polarity of the pore-facing cavity in this region.

These results indicate that the 6' positions in both α2 and β2 GABAAR subunits mediate inhibition by short-chain alcohols, consistent with the presence of multiple, counteracting sites of action for alcohols on ligand-gated ion channels.


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Request Reprint E-Mail: wdavidjohnsonii@mail.utexas.edu

Alcohol and risk of admission to hospital for unintentional cutting or piercing injuries at home: a population-based case-crossover study

Cutting and piercing injuries are among the leading causes of unintentional injury morbidity in developed countries. In New Zealand, cutting and piercing are second only to falls as the most frequent cause of unintentional home injuries resulting in admissions to hospital among people aged 20 to 64 years. Alcohol intake is known to be associated with many other types of injury. We used a case-crossover study to investigate the role of acute alcohol use (i.e., drinking during the previous 6 h) in unintentional cutting or piercing injuries at home.

A population-based case-crossover study was conducted. We identified all people aged 20 to 64 years, resident in one of three regions of the country (Greater Auckland, Waikato and Otago), who were admitted to public hospital within 48 h of an unintentional non-occupational cutting or piercing injury sustained at home (theirs or another's) from August 2008 to December 2009. The main exposure of interest was use of alcohol in the 6-hour before the injury occurred and the corresponding time intervals 24 h before, and 1 week before, the injury. Other information was collected on known and potential confounders. Information was obtained during face-to-face interviews with cases, and through review of their medical charts.

Of the 356 participants, 71% were male, and a third sustained injuries from contact with glass. After adjustment for other paired exposures, the odds ratio for injury after consuming 1 to 3 standard drinks of alcohol during the 6-hour period before the injury (compared to the day before), compared to none, was 1.77 (95% confidence interval 0.84 to, 3.74), and for four or more drinks was 8.68 (95% confidence interval 3.11 to 24.3). Smokers had higher alcohol-related risks than non-smokers.

Alcohol consumption increases the odds of unintentional cutting or piercing injury occurring at home and this risk increases with higher levels of drinking.

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Low liver-related mortality among heavy drinkers: results of a long-term follow-up study

Epidemiological evidence demonstrates a J-shaped relationship between alcohol consumption and mortality, implying a lower risk of all cause mortality in moderate drinkers compared to non-drinkers and heavy drinkers. Furthermore, general beliefs are that heavy
drinkers die as a result of liver disease. However, there is a lack of long term follow-up (FU) data.

The aim of this study is to investigate prospectively the relationship between mortality and alcohol consumption, over 18 years of FU in a general population of elderly.

This study was based on participants (>55 years) of the Rotterdam Study, a large population-based study in the Netherlands. Baseline examinations took place between 1989 and 1993. Data on ethanol consumption was available for 3884 participants. Mortality outcomes were registered by International Classification of Diseases codes. Alcohol intake was determined by a standardized questionnaire and divided into four categories: non drinkers (0-0.7g/day), light drinkers (≤10 g/day), moderate drinkers (>10-≤30 g/day) and heavy drinkers (>30 g/day). The association between alcohol intake and mortality was examined by Cox Regression analyses, adjusting for age, sex, hypertension, cholesterol, BMI, diabetes, smoking, and educational level.

Of 3884 participants, 1398 (36.0%) were non drinkers, 1144 (29.4%) light drinkers, 963 (24.8%) moderate drinkers and 379 (9.7%) heavy drinkers. A total of 187 heavy drinkers died during FU: 63 participants (33.9%) died of cancer-related causes, 52 participants (28%) died of cardiovascular-related causes and only 2 participants (1%) died of liver-related causes. Multiple-adjusted mortality rates showed a U-shaped relationship between alcohol intake and mortality: compared to non-drinkers hazard ratio for light drinkers was 0.85 (95%CI 0.75-0.96; p=0.03), 0.86 (95%CI 0.76-0.98; p=0.007) for moderate drinkers and 0.95 (95%CI 0.8-1.14; p=0.6) for heavy drinkers. Similar results were observed, after exclusion of deaths in the first 3 years of FU, to eliminate the effect of possible pre-existing diseases on mortality rates among non-drinkers.

We confirmed a beneficial effect of light-moderate alcohol intake on long-term survival in a large elderly population. Only a minority of heavy drinkers (1%) die of liver-related mortality during a long-term follow up, the majority die because of cancer and cardiovascular diseases.

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Gender Differences in Early Maladaptive Schemas in a Treatment-Seeking Sample of Alcohol-Dependent Adults

The current study examined early maladaptive schemas among alcohol-dependent men and women and sought to determine whether men and women differed in their early maladaptive schemas.

Using preexisting patient records of adults diagnosed with alcohol dependence from a residential treatment center in the Southeastern United States, from 2005 to 2010 (N = 854), results showed that women scored significantly higher than men on 14 of the 18 early maladaptive schemas assessed.

Both women and men endorsed having a number of early maladaptive schemas, with four schemas being particularly prevalent across gender.

Study limitations are noted and implications of these findings for treatment and future research are discussed.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: rshorey@utk.edu.

Health Committee concerns over Public Health budgets - risks to investment in alcohol treatment and prevention?

The Health Committee has voiced concerns over plans to pass control of Public Health budgets to Local Government in a new Public Health report. Launching the report, Health Select Committee Chair Rt Hon Stephen Dorrell MP said "Public Health England (PHE) must be visibly and operationally independent of Ministers. It must demonstrate that it is able to, and regularly does, speak 'truth unto power'."

Dorrell also said the Committee remained "unconvinced that the new Responsibility Deal will, by itself, resolve major issues such as obesity and alcohol abuse. The Government must set out clearly how progress will be monitored, and when tougher action will be taken if ‘nudging’ does not work." A Lords Select Committee earlier the year had said the 'nudge' approach alone is not enough. > > > > Read More

Drug-Related Emergency Department Visits Attributed to Intentional Poisoning

• In 2009, there were an estimated 14,720 emergency department (ED) visits attributed to intentional drug poisoning
  
• Three quarters (73 percent) of drug-related ED visits attributed to intentional poisoning were made by patients aged 21 or older
  
• Females accounted for nearly two thirds of drug-related ED visits attributed to intentional poisoning (63 percent)
  
• Approximately 60 percent of these ED visits in 2009 involved unidentified drugs, and a similar percentage involved alcohol in combination with other drugs

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Ethanol Increases GABAergic Transmission and Excitability in Cerebellar Molecular Layer Interneurons from GAD67-GFP Knock-in Mice

This study assessed the acute effect of ethanol on GABAergic transmission at molecular layer interneurons (MLIs; i.e. basket and stellate cells) in the cerebellar cortex. The actions of ethanol on spontaneous firing of these pacemaker neurons were also measured.

Transgenic mice (glutamic acid-decarboxylase 67-green fluorescent protein knock-in mice) that express green fluorescence protein in GABAergic interneurons were used to aid in the identification of MLIs. Parasagittal cerebellar slices were prepared and whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiological techniques were used to measure GABA_A receptor-mediated spontaneous and miniature inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs and mIPSCs). Loose-seal cell-attached recordings were used to measure spontaneous action potential firing.

Stellate cells received spontaneous GABAergic input in the form of a mixture of action potential-dependent events (sIPSCs) and quantal events (mIPSCs); ethanol increased sIPSC frequency to a greater extent than mIPSC frequency. Ethanol increased spontaneous action potential firing of MLIs, which could explain the increase in sIPSC frequency in stellate cells. Basket cells received GABAergic input in the form of quantal events only. Ethanol significantly increased the frequency of these events, which may be mediated by a different type of interneuron (perhaps, the Lugaro cell) or Purkinje cell collaterals.

Ethanol exposure differentially increases GABA release at stellate cell vs. basket cell-to-Purkinje cell synapses. This effect may contribute to the abnormalities in cerebellar function associated with alcohol intoxication.

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Request Reprint E-Mail: fvalenzuela@salud.unm.edu

Hidden realities: children's exposure to risks from parental drinking in Ireland.

The overall purpose of this research study is to collate the research evidence and to help profile the extent of hazardous and harmful use of alcohol on children in Ireland, in particular in the North West Region. The research aims
• To gather data on the negative effects of parental and other adult drinking habits on children
• To gather data on the effectiveness of health and social care responses to such harm
• To make recommendations to ensure greater protection for children and to reduce children’s exposure to risk from alcohol
• To make recommendations to improve the health and social services response for children and their families


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Selected sociodemographic factors and related differences in patterns of alcohol use among university students in Slovakia

Alcohol use and misuse and their relation to sociodemograhic factors are well studied among university students in Western European countries and the USA, but less is known about students in Eastern Europe. The historical past as communistic countries might have affected the social life among these populations, which is again one of the main factors determining the alcohol consumption among university students. The aim of our study was to assess the association of selected sociodemographic factors with different patterns of alcohol use among university students in Slovakia.

A sample of 813 young adults (mean age 21.1 years, 63.8% females; response rate of 71%) from four universities in Kosice answered questions about their sociodemographic background and about alcohol use. To obtain a detailed picture of different aspects, alcohol use was measured by four variables: frequency of alcohol use, heavy episodic drinking, frequency of drunkenness and problem drinking. Four separate logistic regression models were used to assess the association between sociodemographic and alcohol-related variables. To assess the potentially different effects in both genders, all two-way interactions with gender were tested.

While 41% of the students drank alcohol once a week or more often, 77% reported heavy episodic drinking and 49% had been drunk more than once in the last month. Problem drinking existed in 23.3% of the sample. Gender was consistently associated with all four alcohol-related variables, with males being at higher risk. A higher study year was associated only with lower levels of heavy episodic drinking, but displayed no association with the other studied variables. Living with parents during the semester was consistently associated with less frequent heavy episodic drinking, drunkenness episodes, and problem drinking while having an intimate relationship was associated with less problem drinking only.

Our findings for the university students from Slovakia are in line with previous studies in Western Europe. Additionally, it appears that frequent alcohol use, excessive alcohol use (heavy episodic drinking and drunkenness) and problem drinking among university students represent a continuum and are influenced by the same sociodemographic factors.

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CALL FOR A COMPREHENSIVE ALCOHOL POLICY STRATEGY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION 2013 - 2020

Alcohol is the world’s number one risk factor for ill-health and premature death amongst the 25-59 year old age group, a core of the working age population. Europe is the heaviest drinking region of the world.

Consumption levels in some countries are around 2.5 times higher than the global average (WHO 2009). Alarmingly 43% among 15-16 year old European students reported heavy binge drinking during the past 30 days (ESPAD 2007) and alcohol is the single biggest cause of death among young men of age 16 to 24.

The World Economic Forum's 2010 Global Risks Report identifies non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as the second most severe threat to the global economy in terms of likelihood and potential economic loss. NCDs are a global risk equal in cost to the current global financial crisis. NCDs account for 86% of deaths globally, cardio-vascular diseases alone cost the EU economy €192 billion a year; similarly diabetes type II affects nearly 10% of entire adult population and costs €166 billion annually. The World Economic Forum and Harvard School of Public Health estimate that NCDs will cause a €25 trillion global economic output loss over the period 2005-2030. Alcohol abuse is one of the 4 risk factors for developing NCDS such as cancer (1 in 3 European will get cancer in the coming years) and cardiovascular disease. It is important to address alcohol in this context and give it the attention needed.

Addressing the issue of alcohol abuse through effective policies will offer measurable health system savings and enhance the growth and productivity agenda for Europe 2020. > > > > Read More