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Posts Tagged ‘Alcohol addiction’

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Addiction formaly recognized as a chronic medical condition

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

British Columbia is the first province in Canada to formally recognize alcohol addiction as a chronic medical condition. It is hoped that this recognition will improve treatment for patients struggling with an addiction to alcohol.
　
The new policy emphasizes preventive measures and gives physicians more time and resources to treat patients. The goal is to identify patients struggling with an addiction to alcohol and to save the Canadian health care system money. The new changes will allow family physicians to spend more time with patients addicted to alcohol.
　
According to the British Columbia Medical Association, substance abuse cost more than $6 billion dollars in 2006. The British Columbia Medical Association was the organization that recommended the changes.

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Four Loko Kills Two Teens

Monday, February 7th, 2011

Two teenagers in southern California were found dead this week near an empty can of Four Loko.
　
Aaron Saenz, 15, and Chelsea Taylor, 16, were found in an empty apartment in Huntington Beach. Police had responded to a call from concerned apartment managers. The police found an empty can of Four Loko in the apartment and said that the teenagers died of drug and alcohol-related causes. The Orange County Coroner’s Office has not yet released a cause of death.
　
Four Loko and other caffeinated alcoholic drinks has been banned in Washington, Utah, Michigan, New York and Oklahoma. The beverages are still legal for sale in California. Four Loko sells four under $3 dollars and contains as much alcohol as five beers and as much caffeine as several cups of coffee.

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Alcohol Energy Drinks Being Pulled Off Shelves

Monday, December 6th, 2010

Massachusetts is now the fifth state to ban caffeinated alcohol energy drinks. The Alcoholics Beverages Control Commission filed an emergency regulation of the drinks. The Commission ordered the drinks removed from sale in retail stores.

This comes after the Food and Drug Administration warned four manufacturers of the drinks that caffeine is an “unsafe food additive.”

There is widespread concern that consumption of these drinks will make people believe they are less inebriated than they truly are – and that dangerous consequences will be the result.

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Consumption of Energy Drinks Increases Dependence on Alcohol

Thursday, December 2nd, 2010

A new study says that consuming one or two caffeinated energy drinks each week can increase blackouts, binging and dependence on alcohol.

“People that drink these energy beverages daily or weekly need to be careful about alcohol consumption,” said Harold C. Urschel, an addiction expert in Dallas.

The researchers were unsure exactly why these drinks increase alcoholism. It is believed that the combination of caffeine and alcohol increases the risk of alcohol abuse.

“Drinking alcohol and caffeine at the same time is like hitting the gas and brake at the same time,” said John Higgins of the University of Texas Medical School in Houston.

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Drug Addiction Could be Caused by Brain Inflammation

Friday, November 26th, 2010

New research has found that an episode of brain inflammation early in life may contribute to drug addiction. Inflammation of the brain is most often caused by a head injury or by a viral infection like encephalitis or meningitis.

The research study discovered that adult rats exhibited the same increased tendency toward an addictive-like response to methamphetamine, even when the rats’ exposure to lipopolysaccharide – a toxin produced by certain bacteria that triggers a strong inflammatory immune response – and the resulting inflammation of the brain – had happened early on in the rats’ development. The response was seen to be greater in male rats than in female rats.

“Our findings suggest that early life brain inflammation leads to long-lasting damage of the brain’s reward system,” said Lir-Wan Fan, PhD, of the University of Mississipi Medical Center and the author of the research study. “But this damage may not become apparent unless later unmasked by exposure to an addictive drug, like methamphetamine.”

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Alcohol Abuse Liked to Depression, Suicide and Homicide

Thursday, November 25th, 2010

Excessive drinking kills 1,500 people in New York City every year. Alcohol abuse in New York City also results in 100,000 hospitalizations and 78,000 trips to the emergency room every year.

The New York City Health Department said that those numbers more than doubled between 2003 and 2009.

The medical community has warned for years that alcohol abuse is linked to depression, suicide and homicide. Excessive drinking also contributes to diabetes, high blood pressure, cirrhosis of the liver, heart disease and strokes.

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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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Binge Drinking While Young Can Cuase Myraid of Health Problems

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

A new study has discovered that binge drinking during adolescence may permanently harm stress hormones. This can lead to mental disorders later in life. The study found that rats exposed to large amounts of alcohol in teenagers have altered stress responses in young adulthood. These changes could result in depression and anxiety disorders.

“Exposing young people to alcohol could permanently disrupt normal connections in the brain that need to be made to ensure healthy adult brain function,” said lead researcher Toni Pak.

A survey conducted in 2005 by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that 18.8 percent of people aged 12 to 20 years of age reported binge drinking in the past month. Binge drinking can cause a myriad of health and social problems.

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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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