Feature Channels: Alcohol and Alcoholism

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Leading alcohol researchers from the United States and Europe are presenting the latest findings on how alcohol impairs the immune system.

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A new report from the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health calls into question whether existing federal and voluntary standards for alcohol advertisements curtail potentially damaging content and protect public health.

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A comprehensive analysis of more than 1 million hospital admissions finds that over 50 percent of all nonsurgical patients were prescribed opioids during their hospitalizations -- often at very high doses.

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A father’s cocaine use may make his sons less sensitive to the drug and thereby more likely to resist addictive behaviors, suggests new findings from an animal study presented by Penn Medicine researchers at Neuroscience 2013, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

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New report finds almost 1 in 4 alcohol advertisements on a sample of national TV programs most popular with youth exceeded the alcohol industry’s voluntary standards

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The generic drug gabapentin, widely prescribed for epilepsy and some kinds of pain, appears safe and effective in treating alcohol dependence. The finding comes from a 150-patient randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind clinical trial conducted by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute.

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New research finds that the combination of acetaminophen paired with alcohol — even if consumed moderately or lightly — can increase the risk of kidney dysfunction.

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New research published in JAMA Psychiatry reveals that topiramate, a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat epilepsy and migraine headaches, also could be the first reliable medication to help treat cocaine dependence.

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Students who used false IDs more often were at increased risk for alcohol use disorder, according to a new longitudinal study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

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Physicians have long observed that binge drinking impairs healing of broken bones. A new study is providing insights into how alcohol slows healing on the cellular and molecular levels. The findings could lead to better treatments to improve bone healing.

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Cocaine makes otherwise resistant immune cells susceptible to infection with HIV, causing both significant infection and new production of the virus.

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Misuse of prescription stimulants by students has become a fact of life on college campuses as some students seek every advantage they can to succeed.

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Most people think of a glass of wine as one serving, but in reality it could be two or three. Just how much one pours is influenced by a variety of factors, researchers at Iowa State and Cornell discovered, and that could lead to overconsumption.

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San Diegans will be reminded of the dangers of mixing alcohol and pregnancy thanks to a beverage coaster campaign led by the new Southern California chapter of the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, in partnership with University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

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A Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine study suggests that omega-3 fish oil might help protect against alcohol-related dementia.

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Alcohol intoxication reduces communication between two areas of the brain that work together to properly interpret and respond to social signals, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

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On an average day, 881,684 teenagers aged 12 to 17 smoked cigarettes, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The report also says that on an average day 646,707 adolescents smoked marijuana and 457,672 drank alcohol.

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​For every daily drink a girl or woman consumes before motherhood, she increases her lifetime risk of breast cancer by 13 percent, according to a study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

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The nature of the teenage brain makes users of cannabis amongst this population particularly at risk of developing addictive behaviors and suffering other long-term negative effects.

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With water pipes or hookahs gaining popularity, scientists today described a step toward establishing their health risks. In a study that they said provides no support for the notion that hookahs are safer than cigarettes, they reported that hookah smoke and tobacco contain lower levels of four toxic metals. It was part of the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society being held here this week.

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Millions of people who are obese and smoke tobacco may face additional health problems — including their responses to common prescription medicines — that extend beyond the well-known links with cancer, heart attacks and stroke, according to a report presented here today at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society. The risks may extend to non-smokers who inhale smoke from cigarettes smouldering nearby.

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A new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that people aged 12 to 49 who had used prescription pain relievers nonmedically were 19 times more likely to have initiated heroin use recently (within the past 12 months of being interviewed) than others in that age group (0.39 percent versus 0.02 percent). The report also shows that four out of five recent heroin initiates (79.5 percent) had previously used prescription pain relievers nonmedically.

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Part of the risk for alcohol dependence is genetic. The same is true for eating disorders. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that some of the same genes likely are involved in both. They report that people with alcohol dependence may be more genetically susceptible to certain types of eating disorders and vice versa.

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Research from McGill University suggests that people who are vulnerable to developing alcoholism exhibit a distinctive brain response when drinking alcohol, according to a new study by Prof. Marco Leyton, of McGill University’s Department of Psychiatry. Compared to people at low risk for alcohol-use problems, those at high risk showed a greater dopamine response in a brain pathway that increases desire for rewards. These findings, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, could help shed light on why some people are more at risk of suffering from alcoholism and could mark an important step toward the development of treatment options.

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A new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) shows that some drug-related emergency department visits increased by 300 percent -- from 5,605 visits in 2005 to 22,949 visits in 2011. These visits, made by adults aged 18 to 34, were related to the nonmedical use of central nervous system (CNS) stimulants. On average, about 30 percent of these visits also involved alcohol.

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Delivering a two-year intervention programme to disruptive kindergarten children could help prevent substance use in adolescence, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

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Contrary to past concerns, using prolonged exposure therapy to treat patients with PTSD and comorbid alcohol dependence does not increase drinking or cravings, Penn Medicine psychiatrists report in the August 7 issue of JAMA.

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In a trial that included patients with alcohol dependence and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), treatment with the drug naltrexone resulted in a decrease in the percentage of days drinking while use of the PTSD treatment, prolonged exposure therapy, was not associated with increased drinking or alcohol craving, according to a study in the August 7 issue of JAMA.

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Vulnerability to alcohol and drug abuse may begin in the womb and be linked to how much fatty and sugary foods a mother eats during pregnancy, according to findings from animal lab experiments presented at APA’s 121st Annual Convention.

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Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have described findings that could enable the development of more effective drugs for addiction with fewer side effects.

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An experimental treatment for alcohol dependence works better in individuals who possess specific combinations of genes that regulate the function and binding of serotonin, a brain chemical affected by the treatment, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health. A report of the finding appears online in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

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A team of researchers says it has solved the longstanding puzzle of why a key protein linked to learning is also needed to become addicted to cocaine. Results of the study, published in the Aug. 1 issue of the journal Cell, describe how the learning-related protein works with other proteins to forge new pathways in the brain in response to a drug-induced rush of the “pleasure” molecule dopamine. By adding important detail to the process of addiction, the researchers, led by a group at Johns Hopkins, say the work may point the way to new treatments.

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Chicago emergency medical experts are preparing for an increase in anticipated substance-abuse cases this weekend due to the Lollapalooza festival. “Ecstasy as well as heroin use are on the rise in the Chicago area, and people coming from out of state will bring their preferred choice of recreational poison,” said Christina Hantsch, MD, FACEP, FACMT, toxicologist at Loyola University Health System.

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Children who grow up in poverty are more likely than wealthier children to smoke cigarettes, but they are less likely to binge drink and are no more prone to use marijuana, according to researchers at Duke Medicine.

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Fewer states are holding alcohol retailers liable for harms caused by customers who were served illegally, according to a new report from researchers at Alcohol Policy Consultations and the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Published online by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, the legal research study documents the gradual erosion of commercial host liability from 1989 to 2011.

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According to a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) the percentage of pregnant woman in substance abuse treatment using alcohol (with or without drug use) dropped from 46.6 percent to 34.8 percent over a ten year period. However, the report also shows that the percentage of substance abuse admissions involving pregnant women using drugs (without co-occurring alcohol use) rose from 51.1 percent to 63.8 percent during this same period.

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The drug topiramate, typically used to treat epilepsy and more recently weight loss, may also help people addicted to both cocaine and alcohol use less cocaine, particularly heavy users, researchers in the department of Psychiatry at Penn Medicine report in a new study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

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Anti-alcohol policies on middle and high school campuses do work, but only if students believe they will be enforced. Harsh punishment doesn't deter drinking, but counseling does.

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The age at which many children in the U.S. take their first sip of alcohol is surprisingly young, finds a new study in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

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Researcher Michael S. Irwig, M.D., F.A.C.E., assistant professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and director of the Center for Andrology at The GW Medical Faculty Associates, found that men who used the medication finasteride (Propecia) and developed persistent sexual side effects, are also drinking less alcohol than before.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. --- Maybe better call that cab, after all: A new University of Florida study found that 35 percent of designated drivers had quaffed alcohol and most had blood-alcohol levels high enough to impair their driving.

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The last few years have seen the emergence of a new drug problem in so-called "bath salts"—actually "designer stimulants," packaged and sold in ways that skirt drug laws. A review and update on these designer drugs is presented in the June Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

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Following modification of drug enforcement laws for possession of marijuana in Colorado, there was an apparent increase in unintentional marijuana ingestions by young children, according to a report and accompanying editorials published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.

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An analysis of top box-office movies released in the United States indicated tobacco brand producer placements in movies have declined since implementation of the Master Settlement Agreement (MSA), but alcohol placements, which are subject only to industry self-regulation, have increased in movies rated acceptable for youth audiences, according to a study published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.

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A new report indicates that more than one in five parents of teens aged 12 to 17 (22.3 percent) think what they say has little influence on whether or not their child uses illicit substances, tobacco, or alcohol. This report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) also shows one in ten parents said they did not talk to their teens about the dangers of using tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs – even though 67.6 percent of these parents who had not spoken to their children thought they would influence whether their child uses drugs if they spoke to them.

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is proposing that the legal limit for a driver’s blood-alcohol content be reduced from 0.08 to 0.05, but and that may not be far enough says Thomas Esposito, MD, MPH, chief of the Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Burns in the Department of Surgery at Loyola University Medical Center.

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Just one in 100 parents believe their kids have used prescription stimulants to boost grades, according to new U-M National Poll on Children’s Health.

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