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Posts Tagged ‘Alcohol Abuse’

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Awareness of Alcohol Abuse – Offered in Classes

Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

An art exhibit in Madison, Wisconsin hopes to educate the community on the damaging effects of alcohol abuse.

“Sober Journey” features visual reminders of alcohol abuse by the Dane County Coalition to Reduce Alcohol Abuse. The coalition works in the Madison area to increase awareness about the dangers of alcohol abuse. It is also launching a tool to help families determine if someone they love has a problem with alcohol. It is called eCheckup To Go and people can learn about their risk factors before the problem increases.

“Dane County is one of only two counties in the country using this tool to help people determine whether they have a drinking problem and help them know when it’s time to get help,” said Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk

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Campaign Against College Drinking Off-Campus

Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010

A new study finds that a successful community-wide prevention campaign against college drinking at off-campus bars, restaurants and parties makes a difference.

Among college students, heavy drinking results in 1800 deaths every year. In addition, heavy college drinking contributes to 590,000 unintentional injuries, almost 700,000 assaults and 97,000 victims of sexual assaults.

The Safer California Universities study found that there was significant reduction in the incidence and likelihood of drinking at off-campus parties and restaurants. The declines were equivalent to 6,000 fewer incidents of intoxification at off-campus parties and 4,000 fewer incidents at bars and restaurants. Stronger intervention effects were seen at Safer schools with the highest level of implementation.

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Hyper Texting Cause of Alcohol and Drug Addiciton

Friday, November 19th, 2010

A new study finds that “hyper texting” among teenagers can lead to alcohol and drug use and sexual activity. The study finds that many teenagers succumb to peer pressure and have permissive or absent parents.

“If parents are monitoring their kids’ texting and social networking, they’re probably monitoring other activities as well,” said Dr. Scott Frank, the lead author of the study and an associate professor at Case Western University School of Medicine.

The study was conducted at 20 public high schools in Cleveland with the participation of more than 4,200 students. The study is one of the first to examine whether texting and social networking are connected to risky behaviors like sex, drug and alcohol use.

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Depression and Alcohol Addiction Hand in Hand

Wednesday, November 10th, 2010

Researchers in New Zealand have discovered a genetic connection between depression and an addiction to alcohol. The researchers found that 58 percent of study participants have immediate relatives who are struggling with depression and alcohol addiction at the same time.

 oth depression and alcohol addiction are disabling conditions, but are often treated independently of each other.

“One in five New Zealand adults experiences a mood disorder at some time in their lives and one in eight has a substance use disorder. In alcohol and drug treatment settings over half are alcohol dependent and a third have a current mood disorder,” said Dr. Simon Adamson, the lead researcher of the study.

Adamson called depression the “common cold” of mental illness. Alcohol is the most commonly used and abused substance.

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Men’s Brains View Alcohol as a Reward

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Men are about twice as likely to develop alcoholism than women. Until now, the reason for this difference has been unclear, but a new study finds that dopamine may play an important role. Researchers from both Columbia University and Yale University studied both male and female college-age social drinkers. After having an alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink, each study participant had a specialized PET (positron emission tomography) scan to measure the amount of alcohol-induced dopamine released in the brain.

Dopamine plays many roles in the brain, but is important because of its pleasurable effects when it is released by indulging in a rewarding experience like sex or drugs. In the study, despite similar consumptions of alcohol, the men in the study had greater dopamine release than women. This dopamine increase was found in the ventral striatum, an area of the brain connected with pleasure, reinforcement and the formation of addiction.

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“In men, increased dopamine release also had a stronger association with subjective positive effects of alcohol intoxication,” said study author Dr. Nina Urban. “This may contribute to the initial reinforcing properties of alcohol and the risk for habit formation.”

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Social, Economic and Educational Factors and pregnant Women

Monday, October 25th, 2010

Research continues to reinforce the fact the drinking a large amount of alcohol during pregnancy is harmful to the unborn child. Recent studies indicate little or no effects of occasional or light drinking during pregnancy. The studies show how social, economic, educational and other lifestyle factors of the pregnant woman influence the health of the unborn baby and child.

A new study from England discovered that at the age of 5, the children of women who drank no more than one or two units of alcohol each time, did not show any damage in their behavioral, emotional or cognitive functions. There was a tendency for the male children of women who drank heavily during pregnancy to have lower behavioral scores, but this was not the case with female children.

A second study based on a population in western Australia looked at the associations between dose, pattern and timing of prenatal alcohol use and found that there was no association between low to moderate prenatal alcohol use and birth defects.

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Students Drink More when Study Abroad

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

According to a new study, American college students who study abroad are more likely to drink more alcohol in their host country. Researchers from the University of Washington identified why some students drink more alcohol while abroad than when on their college campus.

“We hear stories in the media and elsewhere about students going abroad, drinking too much and getting into trouble. But no one has over measured this risky drinking behavior and there are no published studies of prevention strategies before they go abroad,” said Eric Pedersen, a University of Washington psychology graduate student.

The study found that students doubled their alcohol consumption to eight drinks per week while they were in a foreign country. Heavy drinking anywhere can create a myriad of problems, but heavy drinking in another country can create disrupted travel plans, negative stereotypes of poorly behaved American youth, and legal issues with a foreign government.

 

 

Students who traveled to Europe, Australia and New Zealand drank more alcohol while in those countries than those students who traveled to Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

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Oregon Treatment Center Forced to Put Addicts on Waiting List

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

A drug treatment center in Oregon is feeling the strain of addicts needing government help and relying on its services.

“There are a lot of people on the wait list and there are not enough resources in the state to help people. We are trying but everything is very, very stretched,” said Colleen Smith of Willamette Family Inc., the drug treatment center in Eugene.

Willamette Family’s women and children drug treatment center serves about 60 people in the community. Since last year, the waitlist has increased to about a six month period. Smith said that the significant increase in requests for government help for treatment services has strained the system. There has also been a marked increase in pregnant women needing drug treatment in the area.

“We get referrals from out-of-county people all the time, being put on the waitlist. A lot of times you’ll have people calling multiple treatment centers having their names put on waitlists,” Smith said.

The drug treatment center is now taking action to help people in dire need of treatment. Willamette Family is pooling resources with other drug treatment centers in the area and adding more beds to their center.

“It’s really important so that they don’t give up hope, because with the shame and guilt there’s also a lot of hopelessness, and in turn that can also lead them to go back out and use more drugs and alcohol,” Smith said.

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Scottish Dying of Alcohol Related Diseases

Wednesday, October 13th, 2010

People in Scotland are dying from alcohol-related diseases at double the rate of the previous generation. According to Dr. Peter Rice, a psychiatrist who runs the Tayside Alcohol Problems Service, adults in Scotland now drink twice as much alcohol as their parents. Dr. Rice expressed concern that cancer resulting from alcohol use is increasing in the country.

 ”There is a considerable amount of health harm through alcohol,” said Dr. Rice. “Death rates have doubled over the last generation. For younger people, alcohol-related harm is a considerable risk. This current generation probably drinks twice what their parents did and we’ve seen rates of harm and alcohol death go up.”

Scotland has one of the fastest growing rates of liver disease and cirrhosis in the world. Excessive alcohol intake also contributes to strokes, high blood pressure, heart disease and weight gain.

“Cancer rates are falling in Scotland but not those related to alcohol,” said Rice. “Mouth and liver cancer are probably the two best examples.”

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More Drink Now Than 20 Years Ago

Monday, October 11th, 2010

According to a new study, more people are drinking alcohol now than 20 years ago. The data from the study is gathered from more than 85,000 respondents and suggests that many factors, including social, economic and ethnic influences and pressures, were responsible for the increase.

“The reasons for the uptick vary and may involve complex sociodemographic changes in the population, but the findings are clear. More people are consuming alcohol now than in the early 1990s,” said Dr. Raul Caetano, dean of the University of Texas Southwestern School of Health Professions and the lead author of the study.

The study findings suggests that continuous monitoring of alcohol consumption is necessary to better understand the reasons that affect use. Monitoring also would help to detect as early as possible signs that rates of risky drinking behaviors like binge drinking may be rising.

“Changes in the population due to aging, the influx of immigrant groups, and a decline in mean income level because of economic recessions can all impact trends in drinking and problems associated with drinking,” Caetano said.

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