what helps depression: September 2013

Stress–response pathways are altered in the hippocampus of chronic alcoholics

The chronic high-level alcohol consumption seen in alcoholism leads to dramatic effects on the hippocampus, including decreased white matter, loss of oligodendrocytes and other glial cells, and inhibition of neurogenesis.
Examining gene expression in post mortem hippocampal tissue from 20 alcoholics and 19 controls allowed us to detect differentially expressed genes that may play a role

Modulation of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in native sympathetic neurons by

To determine whether actions on nicotine acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs)
contribute to ethanol’s depressant effects on the autonomic nervous
system.

The acute effects of ethanol on nAChRs were examined in primary
cultured superior cervical ganglion (SCGs) by whole-cell patch clamp
recordings. After the whole-cell configuration was formed, drugs diluted to various concentrations with

Global Actions: Commitments to Reduce Harmful Drinking. Sep 19, 2013

Global Actions in Focus

Drink driving initiative in nigeria

Post-intervention survey

From August 26 to September 2, 2013, researchers from the University of Lagos in Lagos, Nigeria and Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) officials conducted a post-intervention survey for the Lagos Apapa Drink Driving Intervention Initiative. The researchers surveyed 509 petroleum tanker drivers from various

Media Release - Beer hits a 66 year low, but wine is still going up

Our tastes may be swinging away from beer and towards wine, but we're drinking a little less alcohol overall, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
"Beer is now at its lowest point in 66 years," said Louise Gates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics; "even so, that means that there are still 4.1 litres of pure alcohol available from beer for

Press Release - Drinkaware call for evidence on binge drinking

Drinkaware is launching a review in support of the Government’s Alcohol Strategy to develop a coherent, well evidenced strategy with regards to the role Drinkaware could play in reducing the harm from public drunkenness and its negative consequences

> > > > Read More

Latino subgroup as a moderator of the relationship between language usage and alcohol use in a national sample of Latino emerging adults.

Emerging adulthood represents a period of increased risk for alcohol use. For Latino emerging adults, less is known regarding the role cultural variables play in alcohol use behaviors. Research in this area has primarily been conducted using Latino college student samples and/or a single Latino subgroup.

This study investigates Latino subgroup as a moderator of the relationship between

Interpersonal Climate of 12-step Groups Predicts Reductions in Alcohol Use.

Research has shown that increases in the size of abstinence-based social networks helps explain the association between 12-Step attendance and increased abstinence.

This study investigated whether the quality of social interaction in 12-Step groups also predicts reduced substance use. Participants reported their perceptions of engagedness, avoidance, and conflict in their 12-Step

Chronic Care Management for Dependence on Alcohol and Other DrugsThe AHEAD Randomized Trial

To determine whether CCM for alcohol and other drug dependence improves substance use outcomes compared with usual primary care.

The AHEAD study, a randomized trial conducted among 563 people with alcohol and other drug dependence at a Boston, Massachusetts, hospital-based primary care practice. Participants were recruited from September 2006 to September 2008 from a freestanding

Press Release - Chronic Care Management Program Does Not Result in Increased Abstinence From Alcohol and Other Drug Dependence

Persons with alcohol and other drug dependence who received chronic care management including relapse prevention counseling and medical, addiction and psychiatric treatment were no more abstinent than those who received usual primary care, according to a study in the September 18 issue of JAMA.

Chronic care management (CCM) is a way of delivering care that has been shown to be effective for

Research Access to Confidential Data through the Data Portal

The Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality (CBHSQ), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is announcing a call for applications for access to Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) and National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) confidential data for research purposes.

Through receipt, review and approval of applications, researchers may access

Alcohol News - 37/2013

NCD Alliance (Norway) - Norway first to launch a national NCD strategy

100 years ago communicable diseases were the main causes of premature death. Poverty was the major risk factor. Today 80 % of Norwegians die from NCDs, many prematurely. The majorrisk factors are tobacco, alcohol, sugar, fat and physical inactivity.

Read more

Scanomark (Sweden) - Tax increases expected on

Trend analysis and modelling of gender-specific age, period and birth cohort effects on alcohol abstention and consumption level for drinkers in Great Britain using the General Lifestyle Survey 1984–2009

British alcohol consumption and abstinence rates have increased substantially in the last 3 decades. This study aims to disentangle age, period and birth cohort effects to improve our understanding of these trends and suggest groups for targeted interventions to reduce resultant harms.

Age, period, cohort analysis of repeated cross-sectional surveys using separate logistic and

Acute alcohol-related dysfunction as a predictor of employment status in a longitudinal study of working-age men in Izhevsk, Russia

To investigate longitudinally the effect of alcohol consumption and related acute alcohol-related dysfunction on employment status.

A total of 1143 men aged 25–55 years in regular paid employment and resident in the city of Izhevsk, Russia were interviewed between 2003–06 and then re-interviewed (2008–09) and their employment status ascertained.

Exposures of interest were baseline

Problem solving styles among people who use alcohol and other drugs in South Africa

The present study examines the relationship between problem-solving styles, socio-demographic variables and risk of alcohol and other drug (AOD)-related problems among a South African population.

The Social Problem-Solving Inventory–Revised, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) were administered

Does the Severity of Hangovers Decline with Age? Survey of the Incidence of Hangover in Different Age Groups

Alcohol hangover is a growing research area, but differences across the life span have not been assessed. Here, we test the hypothesis that the severity of hangovers depends on age.

A cross-sectional study of 51,645 men and women aged 18 to 94 years old, who participated in the population-based Danish Health Examination Study (DANHES) in Denmark between 2007 and 2008, formed the

Psychiatric Comorbidity and 12-Step Participation: A Longitudinal Investigation of Treated Young Adults

Evidence indicates that 12-step mutual-help organizations (MHOs), such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA), can play an important role in extending and potentiating the recovery benefits of professionally delivered addiction treatment among young adults with substance use disorders (SUD). However, concerns have lingered regarding the suitability of 12-step organizations

Perceived Danger While Intoxicated Uniquely Contributes to Driving After Drinking

Previous findings suggest that alcohol alters perceptions of risky behaviors such as drinking and driving. However, studies testing these perceptions as a predictor of drinking and driving typically measure these perceptions while participants are sober. This study tested whether the perceived danger of driving after drinking assessed while intoxicated was associated with increased

Childhood Verbal Development and Drinking Behaviors from Adolescence to Young Adulthood: A Discordant Twin-Pair Analysis

Studies suggest that better cognitive and verbal abilities in childhood predict earlier experimentation with alcohol and higher levels of drinking in adolescence, whereas poorer ability is related to a higher likelihood of remaining abstinent. Whether individual differences in language development in childhood predict differences in adolescent drinking behaviors has not been studied.

To

Energy drinks and alcohol: research supported by industry may be downplaying harms

Concern is growing about the harms that may arise from heavy drinkers mixing alcohol with so called energy drinks to enable them to drink for longer and achieve higher levels of intoxication. On Friday and Saturday evenings, about 40% of people on Australian city streets are heavily intoxicated (breath alcohol concentrations (BAC) greater than 0.087 mg alcohol/100 ml) and nearly a quarter

Tailoring a response to youth binge drinking in an Aboriginal Australian community: a grounded theory study

While Aboriginal Australian health providers prioritise identification of local community health needs and strategies, they do not always have the opportunity to access or interpret evidence-based literature to inform health improvement innovations. Research partnerships are therefore important when designing or modifying Aboriginal Australian health

Global Actions: Commitments to Reduce Harmful Drinking. Sep 12, 2013

Global Actions in Focus

“Responsible drinking: don’t drink and drive”

Commercial driver training program

In partnership with the Institute of Road Traffic Education and College of Traffic Management (IRTE), Global Actions India held a series of training seminars, “Responsible Drinking: Don’t Drink and Drive,” to educate commercial drivers about responsible drinking and the

The triangular association of ADH1B genetic polymorphism, alcohol consumption and the risk of depression in older men

Alcohol use, particularly alcohol abuse and dependence, are associated with increased risk of depression. Current diagnostic criteria suggest that the relationship is causal, but the evidence has only been derived from observational studies that are subject to confounding and bias.
Given the logistic and ethical constraints that would be associated with a trial of alcohol use to prevent

The effect of alcohol on emotional inertia: A test of alcohol myopia.

Alcohol myopia (AM) has emerged as one of the most widely researched theories of alcohol’s effects on emotional experience. Given this theory’s popularity, it is notable that a central tenet of AM has not been tested—namely, that alcohol creates a myopic focus on the present moment, limiting the extent to which the present is permeated by emotions derived from prior experience.

We tested

Alcohol stress response dampening during imminent versus distal, uncertain threat.

Research indicates that fear and anxiety are distinct processes with separable neurobiological substrates. Predictable versus unpredictable shock administration has been used to elicit fear versus anxiety, respectively. Recent research has demonstrated that alcohol may reduce anxiety but not fear. However, previous manipulations of predictability have varied both probability and temporal

Brief intervention and decrease of alcohol consumption among women: a systematic review

Problems related to alcohol consumption are priority public health issues worldwide and may compromise women's health. The early detection of risky alcohol consumption combined with a brief intervention (BI) has shown promising results in prevention for different populations.

The aim of this study was to examine data from recent scientific publications on the use of BI toward

RCPI Alcohol Policy Group Pre-Budget Submission 2014

The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland's Alcohol Policy Group bas called for the introduction of minimum pricing and an increase in excise duty in its Pre-Budget Submission 2014.

Read Full Report (PDF)

Transdermal Delivery of Cannabidiol Attenuates Binge Alcohol-Induced Neurodegeneration in a Rodent Model of an Alcohol Use Disorder

Excessive alcohol consumption, characteristic of alcohol use disorders, results in neurodegeneration and behavioral and cognitive impairments that are hypothesized to contribute to the chronic and relapsing nature of alcoholism.

Therefore, the current study aimed to advance the preclinical development of transdermal delivery of cannabidiol (CBD) for the treatment of alcohol-induced

Association Between Maternal Alcohol Consumption in Early Pregnancy and Pregnancy Outcomes

To investigate the association between alcohol consumption and binge drinking
before and during early pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

We used data from 5,628 nulliparous pregnant participants recruited
to the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) study, a prospective cohort
study. Participants were interviewed at 15 weeks of gestation and information on
alcohol intake

BRSS TACS Webinar Series: Recovery-Oriented Practice- Person/Family-Centered Recovery Planning

\

This FREE SAMHSA webcast will air on Thursday,
September 12, 2013 at 1:00 - 2:30 ET (12:00 CT, 11:00
MT, 10:00 PT). This webinar will seek to accomplish the following
objectives:

Present an overview of
person/family-centered planning

Describe models of
person/family-centered planning for people with mental and/or substance use
disorders

Discuss the range of services
and

News Release - Nearly 18 percent of pregnant women drink alcohol in early stages of pregnancy

Approximately 18 percent of women in their first trimester of pregnancy used alcohol within the past month according to a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The report showed that 6.6 percent of women in their first trimester of pregnancy engaged in binge drinking (i.e., drinking five or more drinks on the same occasion at least once in the

Do Importance of Religious Faith and Healthy Lifestyle Modify the Relationships Between Depressive Symptoms and Four Indicators of Alcohol Consumption? A Survey of Students Across Seven Universities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland

We examined the associations between depressive symptoms and four indicators of alcohol consumption (high frequency of drinking, frequency of heavy episodic drinking, problem drinking, and possible alcohol dependence). We also explored whether personal importance of religious faith as well as healthy lifestyle had any modifying roles in these relationships.

During 2007–2008, 3,220

Family-Based Association Analysis of Alcohol Dependence Criteria and Severity

Despite the high heritability of alcohol dependence (AD), the genes found to be associated with it account for only a small proportion of its total variability. The goal of this study was to identify and analyze phenotypes based on homogeneous classes of individuals to increase the power to detect genetic risk factors contributing to the risk of AD.

The 7 individual DSM-IV criteria for

A person-centered approach to understanding negative reinforcement drinking among first year college students

The current study used a person-centered approach (i.e. latent profile analysis) to identify distinct types of college student drinkers based on the predictions of motivational, social learning, and stress and coping theories of maladaptive drinking.

A large sample (N = 844; 53% female) of first-year undergraduates from two institutions, public and private, who reported consuming one or

Student drinking patterns and blood alcohol concentration on commercially organised pub crawls in the UK

Commercial student pub crawls are associated with high levels of alcohol consumption, and are of growing concern among public health and student bodies. However, little is currently known about drinking behaviours whilst participating in these events.

A questionnaire was implemented among 227 students attending commercial pub crawls across three UK events. Questions established alcohol

Expressive Writing as a Brief Intervention for Reducing Drinking Intentions

The present study examined the effectiveness of expressive writing in reducing drinking behavior. We expected that students prompted to write about negative drinking experiences would show greater decreases in future drinking intentions compared to the neutral and the positive writing conditions. We also expected that decreases in drinking intentions following the writing prompts might

Social influence on temptation: Perceived descriptive norms, temptation and restraint, and problem drinking among college students

Temptation and restraint have long been associated with problematic drinking. Among college students, social norms are one of the strongest predictors of problematic drinking. To date, no studies have examined the association between temptation and restraint and perceived descriptive norms on drinking and alcohol-related problems among college students.

The purpose of this study was to

Perceptions of Partner Drinking Problems, Regulation Strategies and Relationship Outcomes

The current research evaluates how perceptions of one’s partner’s drinking problem relate to attempts to regulate partner behavior and relationship functioning, and whether this varies by perceptions of one’s own drinking. New measures are offered for Thinking about your Partner’s Drinking (TPD) and Partner Management Strategies (PMS).

Participants included 702 undergraduates who had been

An experimental study on the effects of peer drinking norms on adolescents’ drinker prototypes

Adolescents form impressions about the type of peers who drink (i.e., drinker prototypes). The evaluation of, and perceived similarity to these prototypes are related to adolescents’ drinking. Peer drinking norms play an important role in the formation of prototypes. We experimentally examined whether manipulation of peer norms changed the evaluation of and perceived similarity to drinker

Coping with Jealousy: The Association between Maladaptive Aspects of Jealousy and Drinking Problems are Mediated by Drinking to Cope

Previous research has shown that both alcohol use and jealousy are related to negative relationship outcomes. Little work, however, has examined direct associations between alcohol use and jealousy. The current study aimed to build upon existing research examining alcohol use and jealousy. More specifically, findings from current jealousy literature indicate that jealousy is a multifaceted

Potential Adult Medicaid Beneficiaries Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Compared With Current Adult Medicaid Beneficiaries

Under health care reform, states will have the opportunity to
expand Medicaid to millions of uninsured US adults. Information regarding this population is vital to physicians as they prepare for more patients with coverage. Our objective was to describe demographic and health
characteristics of potentially eligible Medicaid beneficiaries.

Prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders in Child Care Settings: A Meta-analysis

Children often enter a child-care system (eg, orphanage, foster care, child welfare system) because of unfavorable circumstances (eg, maternal alcohol and/or drug problems, child abuse/neglect). Such circumstances increase the odds of prenatal alcohol exposure, and thus this population can be regarded as high risk for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The primary

Alcohol News - 36/2013

The Copenhagen Post (Denmark) - Parents drink, children follow

In a new study, the national public health institute, SIF, shows that children between the ages of 13 and 15 are more likely to drink, and have been drunk, if their parents drink daily, when compared to those children whose parents drink less frequently.

Read more

VTI (Sweden) - Fataly risk of alcohol involved

Chronic alcohol produces neuroadaptations to prime dorsal striatal learning

Drug addictions including alcoholism are characterized by degradation of executive control over behavior and increased compulsive drug seeking. These profound behavioral changes are hypothesized to involve a shift in the regulation of behavior from prefrontal cortex to dorsal striatum (DLS).

Studies in rodents have shown that ethanol disrupts cognitive processes mediated by the prefrontal

Critique 122: Does moderate wine consumption lower the risk of developing depression?

This appears to be a well-done analysis of the relation of moderate drinking with depression among adult subjects at high-risk of cardiovascular disease. There were appropriate restrictions to entry into the study cohort and important sensitivity analyses were carried out. The analyses are based almost exclusively on “moderate” drinkers, as people exceeding certain amounts of alcohol or

Critique 123: Alcohol consumption and lymphoid and myeloid neoplasms

Many prospective studies have shown that moderate drinkers are at lower risk
of certain lymphoid cancers. For example, the Million Women’s Study in the UK found that alcohol consumption showed a significant inverse association with the occurrence of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (Allen NE, Beral V, Casabonne D, Kan SW, Reeves GK, Brown A, Green J, for the Million Women Study Collaborators.

A Unified Framework Integrating Parent-of-Origin Effects for Association Study

Genetic imprinting is the most well-known cause for parent-of-origin effect (POE) whereby a gene is differentially expressed depending on the parental origin of the same alleles. Genetic imprinting is related to several human disorders, including diabetes, breast cancer, alcoholism, and obesity. This phenomenon has been shown to be important for normal embryonic development in mammals.

The CBHSQ Report: A Day in the Life of American Adolescents: Substance Use Facts Update

In the United States in 2011, there were an estimated 25.1 million
adolescents aged 12 to 17.1 In the
past year, more than one quarter of adolescents drank alcohol, approximately one
fifth used an illicit drug, and almost one eighth smoked cigarettes.2 Although the percentage of adolescents using
alcohol, cigarettes, and illicit drugs declined between 2008 and 2011, the
percentage of

Press Release - Maine Continues Effort to Prevent Fetal Alcohol Disorder

When a pregnant woman drinks alcohol, so does her unborn child. As a result, nearly 40,000 children are born each year with a Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) across the nation, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

In 1999, September 9 was officially chosen as first National Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day, and the distinction

What is moderate drinking?

Moderate drinking is defined as up to four alcoholic drinks for men and three for women in any single day, according to The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism (NIAA), USA, and a maximum of 14 drinks for men and 7 drinks for women per week. > > > > Read More

FASD News - 35/2013

NEWS and ARTICLES

National Institutes of Health (USA) - NIH statement on International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day

International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Awareness Day, recognized every year on Sept. 9th, is an important reminder that prenatal alcohol exposure is the leading preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disorders in the

The Association Between Problematic Parental Substance Use and Adolescent Substance Use in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of 9th and 10th Graders

Adolescents of parents who use substances are at an increased risk for substance use themselves. Both parental monitoring and closeness have been shown to mediate the relationship between parents’ and their adolescents’ substance use. However, we know little about whether these relationships vary across different substances used by adolescents.

Using structural equation modeling, we

A Phase 2, Placebo-Controlled Study of the Opioid Receptor Antagonist LY2196044 for the Treatment of Alcohol Dependence

Endogenous opioid-mediated reward pathways may play a role in the development and maintenance of alcohol dependence. This study tested whether LY2196044, an opioid receptor antagonist, in combination with medical management would reduce drinking in alcohol-dependent patients.

This was a multicenter, outpatient, randomized, double-blind, parallel, and placebo-controlled trial

Neural Correlates of Impulsivity in Healthy Males and Females with Family Histories of Alcoholism

Individuals family-history positive (FHP) for alcoholism have increased risk for the disorder, which may be mediated by intermediate behavioral traits such as impulsivity. Given the sex differences in the risk for and clinical presentation of addictive disorders, risk for addiction may be differentially mediated by impulsivity within FHP males and females.

FHP (N=28) and family-history

NIH statement on International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day

International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day, recognized every year on the ninth day of the ninth month, is an important reminder that prenatal alcohol exposure is the leading preventable cause of birth defects and developmental disorders in the United States. Almost 40 years have passed since we recognized that drinking during pregnancy can result in a wide range of

Alcohol Research UK announce new funding opportunities

Alcohol Research UK have announced its 2014/15 studentship scheme and a new flagship initiative on linking harms caused by alcohol to drinking behaviours. The research charity offers a number of grants, and previously funded work can be accessed via the alcohol library.

For the new flagship scheme, a call for proposals has been made to investigate the link between specific harms caused

Ask the Expert

Welcome to the “Ask the Expert” page of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Center for Excellence Web site.
Every month, Dan Dubovsky, M.S.W., the Center’s FASD Specialist, or a special guest will use this space to write about an aspect of FASD in response to questions from the Center’s audience. (For more information about Mr. Dubovsky’s background

“Preventing Alcohol Use during Pregnancy – Applying New Solutions to Ongoing Needs”: An International FASD Awareness Day Webinar Hosted by the SAMHSA FASD Center for Excellence

In our continuing effort to raise awareness of the dangers of consuming alcohol during pregnancy, the SAMHSA FASD Center for Excellence will host a Webinar on September 09, 2013, International FASD Awareness Day.

“Preventing Alcohol Use during Pregnancy – Applying New Solutions to Ongoing Needs” will highlight valuable information for our audience and also for individuals who may be

Global Actions: Commitments to Reduce Harmful Drinking. Sep 5,2013

Global Actions in Focus

The 20th International council on alcohol, drugs and traffic safety conference

brisbane, australia

Kathryn Stewart of Safety and Policy Analysis International hosted a seminar at the 20th International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety Conference (T2013) in Brisbane, Australia. Stewart’s presentation focused on drink driving initiatives in low-

News Release - Increase in heavy drinkers leading to more harm, new Australian analysis shows

Very heavy drinking among the nation’s top 10% of drinkers has increased in the past decade while lighter drinkers have cut back further, according to a new analysis of Australian drinking habits since 2001.

Dr Michael Livingston, who will present the results at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre Annual Symposium, analysed data from four successive National Drug Strategy

STIGMA AND RECOVERYISM

The suggestion that there are multiple and diverse pathways of long-term addiction recovery has evolved from a heretical statement to a central tenet of an international recovery advocacy movement. As tens of thousands of people representing diverse recovery experiences stand in unison in September's recovery celebration events, it is perhaps time to explore and then put aside past

The Role of Intrapersonal Factors on Alcohol and Drug Use Among Latinos With Physical Disabilities

Persons with disabilities are disproportionately impacted by alcohol and drug use. Social work best practice approaches require an understanding of the effects of intrapersonal factors on alcohol and drug use, yet the theoretical and empirical literature remain underdeveloped, especially among ethnic minority populations.

We sought to obtain a detailed description of the role of

Implementing an Evidence-Based Detoxification Protocol for Alcoholism in a Residential Addictions Treatment Facility

Chemical dependency, commonly known as substance abuse and use disorders, continues to plague residents of the United States. Because treatment has expanded beyond the walls of the acute care hospital, advanced practice nurses play a pivotal role in caring for clients addicted to various substances.

This article describes how an advanced practice nurse in collaboration with the medical

Providing Information About the Neurobiology of Alcohol Use Disorders to Close the ‘Referral to Treatment Gap’

Only a small proportion of the 18 million Americans who could benefit from alcohol treatment actually receive it.

Disseminating information on the neurobiological base of alcohol disorders may be useful in removing the prevailing barriers to accepting a referral to alcohol treatment.

Nurses, guided by a set of clinical strategies known as screening, brief intervention, and referral to

Underage Drinking: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis

Underage drinking is a major cause of morbidity and mortality for American youths and young adults.

The negative consequences of underage drinking range from academic problems to intentional and unintentional injuries, acts directed toward self or others, and death.

Nurses, regardless of practice settings, are on the frontline of defense. The take-home message is to delay/deter the first

Maintaining Sobriety and Recovery

Recovery is a continuous, progressive process of improvement whereby a person with a substance use disorder first becomes sober and then begins a lifelong commitment to improve his or her health, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach full potential.

The nurse plays an important role in the beginning stages of this process by helping the patient identify relapse risk factors along

Results from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings and Detailed Tables

This report and the detailed tables present a first look at results from the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), an annual survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States aged 12 years old or older.

Both the report and detailed tables present national estimates of rates of use, numbers of users, and other measures related to illicit drugs,

PHE release 'alcohol stocktake self assessment tool'

Public Health England have released an Alcohol stocktake self-assessment tool [doc]. It allows local areas to take a systematic review of their strategy for addressing alcohol-related harm in the adult population. See here for a slides overview [ppt] of the tool.

The resource allows local areas to check activity against 7 key domains:

Needs assessment and Data
Finance
Pathways
Population

Repeated Binge-Like Ethanol Drinking Alters Ethanol Drinking Patterns and Depresses Striatal GABAergic Transmission

Repeated cycles of binge alcohol drinking and abstinence are key components in the development of dependence. However, the precise behavioral mechanisms underlying binge-like drinking and its consequences on striatal synaptic physiology remain unclear.

In the present study, ethanol and water drinking patterns were recorded with high temporal resolution over 6 weeks of binge-like ethanol

The effect of rumination on craving across the continuum of drinking behaviour

Rumination is an abstract, persistent, and repetitive thinking style that can be adopted to control negative affect. Recent studies have suggested the role of rumination as direct or indirect cognitive predictor of craving experience in alcohol-related problems.

The goal of this study was to explore the effect of rumination induction on craving across the continuum of drinking behaviour.

P 11. Cortical inhibition within motor and frontal regions in alcohol dependence: A TMS–EEG study

Preclinical studies suggest that alterations within the frontal cortex play a critical role in the neurophysiology of alcohol dependence. The combination of transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) allows a direct assessment of cortical excitability and inhibition within the frontal cortex in human subjects. We report the first application of TMS-EEG to measure

Sexual orientation identity in relation to smoking history and alcohol use at age 18/19: cross-sectional associations from the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE)

Information about the health behaviours of minority groups is essential for addressing health inequalities. We evaluated the association among lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) sexual orientation identity and smoking and alcohol use in young people in England.

Data drawn from wave 6 of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE).

Self-completion questionnaires during

An epidemiological study of the risk of cycling in the dark: The role of visual perception,conspicuity and alcohol use

To curtail the rising numbers of cyclists seriously injured in road crashes, more insights are needed into the factors that contribute to these crashes. For instance, darkness is known to be associated with higher injury rates, but little is known about the relative influence of factors such as poor conspicuity, impaired perception and alcohol use among cyclists.

To examine these factors, the

160 Swedish CSOs recognize alcohol as a hindrance to development

The Swedish NGO umbrella organisation “Forum Syd” has adopted a policy document which points at alcohol as a hindrance to development and a factor which can obstruct work for rights and poverty reduction. 160 NGOs are members of Forum Syd

In spite of the WHO Global Strategy to Reduce Harmful Use of Alcohol, which was adopted by the World Health Assembly in May 2010 and in spite of a

Latest IAS alcohol alert; DDN; newsletters

The latest Alcohol Alert Issue 2 2013 from the Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) is now available. See the cover story Government reads last rites over alcohol strategy or also in the issue reports on:

Birmingham City Council withdraws from 'Responsibility Deal'

Sheffield alcohol research group attacks 'below cost strategy'

Round the clock alcohol home delivery service

Hospitals

Random breath testing in Queensland and Western Australia: Examination of how the random breath testing rate influences alcohol related traffic crash rates

In this paper we explore the relationship between monthly random breath testing (RBT) rates (per 1,000 licensed drivers) and alcohol-related traffic crash (ARTC) rates over time, across two Australian states: Queensland and Western Australia. We analyse the RBT, ARTC and licensed driver rates across 12 years; however, due to administrative restrictions, we model ARTC rates against RBT rates for

Alcohol News - 35/2013

News of Iceland (Iceland) - The financial crash reduced smoking and alcohol consumption

The study aims to find out whether and how the economic crash influenced alcohol and tobacco consumption, specifically considering changes in the labour market, i.e. the reduction in the number of work hours and lowering of real income.

Read more

The Local (Norway) - Progress Party pledges to

The Associations between Self-Consciousness, Depressive State and Craving to Drink among Alcohol Dependent Patients Undergoing Protracted Withdrawal

In order to understand how certain personality traits influence the relation between depression symptoms and craving for alcohol, trait self-consciousness (trait SC) was examined during a withdrawal and detoxification program.

Craving (Obsessive and Compulsive Drinking Scale), depressive state (Beck Depression Inventory) and trait SC (Revised Self-Consciousness Scale) were assessed in

NO QUICK FIX Exposing the depth of Britain’s drug and alcohol problem

Addiction and alcohol and drug abuse are taking a heavy toll on Britain. One in 20 adults in England (1.6 million) is dependent on alcohol. 1 and one in 100 (380,000) is addicted to heroin or crack cocaine.2 This human tragedy is accompanied by eye-watering economic costs. The annual bill to society is over £21 billion in alcohol-related harm and a £15 billion cost from illicit drugs. There is

Ethanol Regulation of Serum Glucocorticoid Kinase 1 Expression in DBA2/J Mouse Prefrontal Cortex

We previously identified a group of glucocorticoid-responsive genes, including Serum Glucocorticoid kinase 1 (Sgk1), regulated by acute ethanol in prefrontal cortex of DBA2/J mice. Acute ethanol activates the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA) causing release of glucocorticoids. Chronic ethanol dysregulates the HPA response in both humans and rodents, possibly contributing to important

Elucidating the biological basis for the reinforcing actions of alcohol in the mesolimbic dopamine system: the role of active metabolites of alcohol

The development of successful pharmacotherapeutics for the treatment of alcoholism is predicated upon understanding the biological action of alcohol. A limitation of the alcohol research field has been examining the effects of alcohol only and ignoring the multiple biological active metabolites of alcohol.

The concept that alcohol is a “pro-drug” is not new. Alcohol is readily metabolized to

Editorial - Alcohol addiction: toward a patient-oriented pharmacological treatment.

Very few medications (i.e., disulfiram, naltrexone and acamprosate) are approved for the treatment of alcoholism and their effects are suboptimal. The development of new effective and safe pharmacological agents to treat alcoholic patients is crucial, together with the need to identify predictors of outcomes in different subsets of patients.

Read Full Article (PDF)

Request Reprint

Prenatal alcohol exposure among Alaska Native/American Indian infants

Recent reports indicate a decline in rates of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) among Alaska Native and American Indian (AN/AI) infants. Nevertheless, AN/AI infants remain disproportionately impacted by the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure.

AN/AI pregnant women in their 3rd trimester completed a questionnaire on demographic data and the amount and frequency of their alcohol consumption in

Attitudes toward harm reduction and abstinence-only approaches to alcohol misuse among Alaskan college students

Harm reduction is a public health approach that aims to guide hazardous drinkers to change unsafe drinking and minimize alcohol-related consequences without requiring abstinence. In contrast, abstinence-based interventions are designed for people with more severe alcohol problems and they aim to eliminate consequences via complete abstinence from alcohol. Current best practices for treating

Energy drink use, problem drinking and drinking motives in a diverse sample of Alaskan college students

Recent research has identified the use of caffeinated energy drinks as a common, potentially risky behaviour among college students that is linked to alcohol misuse and consequences. Research also suggests that energy drink consumption is related to other risky behaviours such as tobacco use, marijuana use and risky sexual activity.

This research sought to examine the associations between

Validation of survey information on smoking and alcohol consumption against import statistics, Greenland 1993-2010

Questionnaires are widely used to obtain information on health-related behaviour, and they are more often than not the only method that can be used to assess the distribution of behaviour in subgroups of the population. No validation studies of reported consumption of tobacco or alcohol have been published from circumpolar indigenous communities.

The purpose of the study is to compare