Researchers are testing the safety and efficacy of a drug originally developed by Pfizer to treat obesity and diabetes that blocks gherlin, known as the hunger hormone. In those with alcohol use disorder, higher concentrations of ghrelin are associated with higher alcohol craving and consumption. The researchers believe that an oral medication that blocks ghrelin may help stave off cravings for alcohol.
Infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a contagious liver disease with symptoms that range from mild illness for a few weeks to serious, lifelong liver problems. Veterans with HCV infection are almost three times as likely to have an alcohol use disorder (AUD) than veterans without HCV. It is not well understood how the dual occurrence of HCV infection and an AUD impacts a person’s immune system, mood, and brain function. This study investigated how a co-existing AUD contributes to inflammation and psychiatric problems in adults with HCV.
When Michaela Marioni started her job at Shocker Studios, she never expected to get an opportunity to work on a video that would be seen by thousands.
“The big takeaway here is that we have a new molecular target linked to alcohol addiction,” says Olivier George, PhD, associate professor at Scripps Research.
Gay and bisexual men are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS illness and death in the U.S., accounting for 70 percent of new HIV infections. Furthermore, among men who have sex with men (MSM), black MSM are disproportionately at risk of HIV infection. Alcohol consumption may play a role in HIV transmission because it can lead individuals to have sex without using a condom. This study examined the links between condom use and drinking, before and during sex, and alcohol-use problems.
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is prevalent, affecting individuals from adolescence through adulthood. While alcohol is a known contributing cause of IPV, researchers are examining why some individuals who drink become violent but others who drink do not. These results and others will be shared at the 41st annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in San Diego June 17-21.
A rat model found preconception binge drinking may have negative consequences on future offspring's growth, social interactions and pubertal development, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of the Endocrine Society.
A new study, led by Dr Andrew Kunzmann, researcher from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences at Queen’s University Belfast, has found the combined risk of death and developing a number of cancers is lowest in light drinkers, consuming less than one drink per day, and increases with each additional drink per week.
Alcohol hangovers are more significant and costly than people realize, new research shows. Although individuals may be “street legal” to drive a car, or go to work and operate machinery, they can be just as impaired with a hangover as if they were over the alcohol limit. These observations and others will be shared at the 41st annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in San Diego June 17-21.
Adolescence is a critical time for development of the brain, as well as accompanying cognitive and socioemotional abilities. It is also a time of high media activity. Results of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study that examined the effects of media activity on psychopathology among youth will be shared at the 41st annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in San Diego June 17-21.
Argonne material scientists have discovered a reaction that helps explain the behavior of a key electrolyte additive used to boost battery performance.
“Pregaming” is defined as drinking alone or with other people before going to an event or get-together where alcohol may be present. Pregaming often involves rapid drinking, which can quickly produce high blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) that meet or exceed the legal limit for intoxication. It is a common, high-risk drinking activity among college students that remains largely unaffected by efforts to reduce its occurrence. This study sought to identify profiles of pregamers to characterize the specific risks associated with the behavior, and to develop more effective prevention strategies on college campuses.
Cooperative learning refers to group-based learning activities that teachers can use to encourage academic involvement and achievement while simultaneously addressing deviant peer influences that may lead to alcohol use. Early results form a study of middle schools in Oregon show significant reductions in alcohol and tobacco use as well as deviant peer friendships. These results and others will be shared at the 41st annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in San Diego June 17-21.
Many people have opinions about alcoholism and alcoholics, but few have heard the stories of those afflicted with the disease. A plenary session at the 41st annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in San Diego June 17-21 will feature three persons in recovery who have agreed to share their stories.
Psychologists who are trained and experienced in treating alcohol problems can play an important role in treatment of both the affected individual as well as his or her family. This insight and others will be shared at the 41st annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in San Diego June 17-21.
Alcohol dependence, and opiate, cocaine and other stimulant addictions, are all diseases of the brain that have behavioral manifestations and they are not due to criminal behavior alone or to antisocial or "weak" personality disorders. These observations and others will be shared during the 41st annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in San Diego June 17-21.
Despite common stereotypes, alcohol treatment is not limited to attending Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings or “going to rehab.” A growing number of alcohol-treatment services in the U.S. are available as outpatient sessions with counselors and physicians; and now they can be found through NIAAA's Alcohol Treatment Navigator. These options and other real-world advice will be shared at the 41st annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) in San Diego June 17-21.
The 41st annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) will take place in San Diego June 17-20. RSA 2018 provides a meeting place for scientists and clinicians from across the country, and around the world, to interact. The meeting also gives members and non-members the chance to present their latest findings in alcohol research through abstract and symposia submissions. Below are seven programming highlights. Full press releases available upon request.
Impulsivity is broadly described as the tendency to act without prior thought. It is often linked to alcohol misuse in college students. However, impulsivity is a complex concept and it is likely that different subtypes of this psychological construct are associated with different patterns of alcohol misuse. This study examined links among several categories of impulsivity with both the frequency of alcohol consumption and the frequency of alcohol intoxication.
Alcohol use and alcohol-use disorders in the U.S. greatly increased between 2001 and 2013, particularly among African-American emerging adults (i.e., those 18-29 years of age). Previous research showed that African American youth are unequally exposed to risk factors for substance use such as economic pressures, neighborhood disorder, and racial discrimination. This study examined how African American mothers’ protective parenting and alcohol use influenced their offspring’s drinking and perceptions of drinkers.
Research from the University of Illinois at Chicago has found that some of the genes affected by alcohol and inflammation are also implicated in processes that clear amyloid beta — the protein that forms globs of plaques in the brain and which contributes to neuronal damage and the cognitive impairment associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
An “alcopop” is a bottled alcoholic beverage that masks the taste of alcohol with flavors such as soda or lemonade. Originally marketed in Australia during the mid-1990s, alcopop brands such as Smirnoff Ice and Mike’s Hard Lemonade soon became popular in the U.S. Supersized alcopops, such as Four Loko, contain large quantities of alcohol and are reportedly popular among underage drinkers. This study examined the extent to which young adults recognize how intoxicated they would become from drinking supersized alcopops.
The latest research and features on sex in the Sex and Relationships News Source
Researchers asked 60 adult participants (31 men, 29 women) – recruited through newspaper advertisements – to record their daily social interactions for 20 days. Specifically, for each interaction, participants reported their perception of their interacting partner’s quarrelsome behavior, their own anger and quarrelsome behavior, and the number of alcoholic drinks consumed up to three hours prior to the event.
Penn Medicine researchers found a statistically significant relationship between teen and young adult alcohol related social media engagement and both alcohol consumption and alcohol-related problems.
Despite the pervasive use of social media by young adults, little is known about whether, and how, social-media engagement influences their drinking patterns and risk of alcohol-related problems. Reviews thus far have looked at drinking relative to risky behaviors and advertising. This review examined associations between young adults’ alcohol-related social-media activity – defined as posting, liking, commenting on, and viewing of alcohol-related content on social media – and their drinking behaviors and alcohol-related problems.
About 22 million Americans are substance dependent, yet only 2.5 million seek treatment. Reviewing 5,443 records of adult substance use treatment clients, a new study examined treatment readiness, or the characteristics that are likely to promote treatment engagement, to predict who seeks and stays in treatment. Results show that white and black race, being male, lower levels of education, and being married or divorced (vs. never married) were all negatively related to substance-use treatment engagement.
Lung transplant patients who showed evidence of alcohol use before their transplants spent more time in the hospital and on the ventilator, a Loyola University Chicago Study has found. Researchers said abstaining from alcohol prior to lung transplants could improve outcomes.
Michael “Mick” MacLean, associate professor of psychology, who has done extensive research on adolescent alcohol and substance use. Most recently, he’s implemented a strategy for reaching teens who are experiencing substance-related problems but are not yet addicted. Instead of berating them, trying to scare them, or using other well-worn tactics, MacLean suggests “motivational interviewing,” which he said has a significantly higher success rate.
Alcohol use during pregnancy can lead to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASDs), a range of effects that include lowered intelligence and developmental delays. Over 30 percent of the pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, with most women unaware of being pregnant until after the fourth week, and many not recognizing that they are pregnant until after that. However, the early weeks of pregnancy are critical for fetal development and susceptibility to the damaging effects of alcohol. While face-to-face interventions can significantly reduce risk for an alcohol-exposed pregnancy (AEP), this study, the Contraception and Alcohol Risk Reduction Internet Intervention (CARRII), examined an Internet-delivered intervention designed to reach more women at risk.
A new review by Michigan Medicine finds that women drinkers are disproportionately affected in alcohol-related cirrhosis cases. Why — and what's next.
Previous research showed that the combination of two risk factors – parental separation/ divorce and family history of alcoholism (FH+) – can have negative effects on offspring, including an earlier onset of substance use among adolescents and young adults, lower educational attainment in adulthood, and a greater risk of alcohol dependence. This study looked at the impact of parental divorce and FH+ on offspring’s alcohol problems, marijuana use, and interpersonal relationships with parents.
Parents and adults spend a lot of time worrying about the influence of peers when it comes to teen substance use. Using a unique sample of 476 twin pairs who have been followed since birth, a new study examines if there is a genetic component that drives teens’ desire for risk taking and novelty.
When compared with nondrinkers, men and women who had one or more alcoholic drinks per day had an overabundance of oral bacteria linked to gum disease, some cancers, and heart disease. By contrast, drinkers had fewer bacteria known to check the growth of other, harmful germs.
The Latest News On Marijuana Research
Decades of clinical and pre-clinical studies have demonstrated that chronic drinking leads to long-lasting changes in reward- and stress-related neuronal circuitry. The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is an important part of this circuitry. Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs) are commonly used by neuroscientists to identify signals in nerve circuits that specify certain behaviors, perceptions, emotions, innate drives, or motor functions. This rodent study investigated the effects of DREADDs on nerve cell activity in the NAc (comprised of a core and a shell) in relation to binge-like drinking.
Peer support specialists are people with a history of substance use disorder or mental illness who are in recovery and have been trained to provide personal, experience-based guidance and assistance to others with similar problems.
Pancreatitis in ethnic minorities is linked to very high levels of triglycerides and the risk is further increased by alcohol abuse and gallstones, according to a study published in the journal Endocrine Practice.
Many young adults know firsthand that alcohol hangovers are unpleasant. However, few psychometrically sound instruments (tests that accurately measure personality, mental ability, opinions, etc.) have measured hangovers beyond the college-age years. This study investigated the psychometric properties of two interconnected scales – the Hangover Symptom Scale (HSS) and the Hangover Symptom Scale – Short Form (HSS-5) – among a) light and heavy drinkers, b) individuals with a positive or negative family history of an alcohol use disorder (AUD), and c) men and women in a post college-aged sample.
Click here to go to the Food Science News Source
UT Southwestern researchers identify a hormone that acts on the brain to increase the desire to drink water in response to specific nutrient stresses that can cause dehydration.
Engineers have developed a tiny, ultra-low power chip that could be injected just under the surface of the skin for continuous, long-term alcohol monitoring. The chip is powered wirelessly by a wearable device such as a smartwatch or patch. The goal of this work is to develop a convenient, routine monitoring device for patients in substance abuse treatment programs.
Dairy that is fermented and brewed like beer could soon be on tap as Sam Alcaine, assistant professor in the Department of Food Science, turns dairy waste into a flavorful drink with an alcoholic kick.
Underage drinking can lead to risky or harmful behaviors that include unintentional and unprotected sex, physical and sexual assault, traffic and other injuries, suicide, homicide, and overdoses. Binge drinking among adults is defined as five drinks consumed during two hours by adult men and four drinks by adult women – typically producing a blood alcohol level (BAL) of ≥0.08%. Adolescents can reach a similar BAL after consuming fewer drinks. This paper explored whether and how different levels of adolescent drinking affected associations with health-risk behaviors.
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a complex trait, both in its causes and characteristics. Individuals’ sensitivity to alcohol can predict their risk of adverse alcohol outcomes like AUD. Further, AUD runs in families, reflecting in part a genetic component. Alcohol sensitivity includes multiple sub-types whose characteristics (phenotypes) reflect the genetic and environmental factors that interact to produce the disorder. This critical review examines phenotypes related to a person’s response to alcohol, with an emphasis on specific gene variants that potentially impact alcohol sensitivity.
Rats who were dosed with nicotine during their adolescence grew up to drink alcohol more often than those who weren’t exposed to nicotine or were only exposed to it during adulthood. Exposure to nicotine at a young age changed the neuronal circuitry in the rat brain’s reward pathways
According to the National Safety Council, there were more than 40,000 motor vehicle deaths across our nation in 2017, with distracted driving being cited as a major contributor.
Alcohol use in social settings can have both desirable and undesirable effects – ranging from better mood and less anxiety to verbal and physical aggression, including violence. These outcomes often reflect the interplay of factors that are both internal and external to an individual. Intra-individual differences in alcohol reactions contribute to the various internal responses to drinking that a person may have; for example, alcohol can induce both positive and negative effects in the same person at different times. However, how that person acts upon impulses that he or she may have can depend on inter-individual differences, such as the individual’s frequency or intensity of drinking in comparison to others. This study examined the influence of inter-individual differences in alcohol use on intra-individual perceptions of drinking during real-world social interactions.
One in 10 electronic dance music (EDM) party attendees have misused opioids in the past year, exceeding the national average, finds a study by the Center for Drug Use and HIV/HCV Research (CDUHR) at NYU Meyers College of Nursing.
Click here to go directly to Newswise's Obesity News Source
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right