Join the 'Alcoholism' group to help and get support from people like you.
New Guidelines Say Doctors Should Screen All Adults for 'Risky' Drinking
Posted 5 days ago by Drugs.com
MONDAY, May 13 – Primary care doctors should screen all adults for drinking problems, and offer them counseling if needed, new guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggest. Based on years of research, there is enough evidence that a quick screen at the doctor's office can spot "risky" drinking, according to the task force, an independent panel of medical experts that makes recommendations on screening and other preventive health services. The new guidelines, published online May 14 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, are the panel's "final" recommendations on screening for problem drinking. The last recommendations came out in 2004. Since then, more research has been conducted, explained task force member Dr. Michael LeFevre, a professor of family and community medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia. In particular, LeFevre said, there's ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Acute Alcohol Intoxication
Mother's Drinking Increases Risk of Infant's Death: Study
Posted 26 Feb 2013 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Feb. 26 – Children of women who are diagnosed with an alcohol disorder during pregnancy or within a year after giving birth have a three-fold higher risk of dying from SIDS – sudden infant death syndrome – compared to babies whose mothers do not have alcohol issues, according to a new Australian study. In the study, a mother's problem drinking was implicated in about one out of every six SIDS deaths, according to the researchers. Alcohol abuse by the mothers was also linked with about 3 percent of the deaths caused by something other than SIDS, the researchers found. "Maternal alcohol-use disorder is a significant risk factor for SIDS and infant mortality excluding SIDS," wrote researcher Colleen O'Leary, of Curtin University in Perth, and colleagues. The study was published online Feb. 25 and in the March print issue of the journal Pediatrics SIDS is defined as the sudden ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism
Drug, Alcohol Abuse More Likely Among High School Dropouts
Posted 19 Feb 2013 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Feb. 19 – The link between poor academic performance and substance abuse just got stronger, with a new U.S. government report showing ties between the two. High school seniors who dropped out of school before graduating were more likely to drink, smoke cigarettes and use marijuana and other illegal drugs, according to a new report from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The researchers said their findings should prompt communities to develop strategies to keep teens in school and prevent problems with substance abuse. "The fact that nearly one in seven students drops out of high school has enormous public health implications for our nation," SAMHSA Administrator Pamela Hyde said in an agency news release. "Dropouts are at increased risk of substance abuse, which is particularly troubling given that they are also at greater risk of poverty, not ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Substance Abuse, Acute Alcohol Intoxication
Alcohol Blamed for 1 in Every 30 Cancer Deaths: Study
Posted 14 Feb 2013 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Feb. 14 – For anyone who still thinks that drinking does not contribute to cancer, a new report finds that alcohol is to blame for one in every 30 cancer deaths each year in the United States. The connection is even more pronounced with breast cancer, with 15 percent of those deaths related to alcohol consumption, the researchers added. And don't think that drinking in moderation will help, because 30 percent of all alcohol-related cancer deaths are linked to drinking 1.5 drinks or less a day, the report found. Alcohol is a cancer-causing agent that's in "plain sight," but people just don't see it, said study author Dr. David Nelson, director of the Cancer Prevention Fellowship Program at the U.S. National Cancer Institute. "As expected, people who are higher alcohol users were at higher risk, but there was really no safe level of alcohol use," he stressed. Moderate drinking ... Read more
Related support groups: Cancer, Breast Cancer, Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Acute Alcohol Intoxication
Drinking Imbalance Could Put Marriage on the Rocks
Posted 5 Feb 2013 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Feb. 5 – Spouses who have very different drinking habits could have a rocky marriage, a new study finds. Researchers in Norway found the risk for divorce increases when one person drinks more than the other. For instance, compared to couples who both drink lightly, a couple's risk for divorce could triple when the husband's level of drinking is low but the wife is a heavy drinker, they said. "The risk of divorce is lowered if the spouses drink approximately the same amount of alcohol," said Fartein Ask Torvik, a corresponding author for the study and a researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. "This is not only true for those who drink excessively, there is also a reduced risk of divorce if both spouses abstain totally from alcohol. " Torvik said that, on average, divorced people drink more than married people. "To some extent, this is due to increased drinking ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Hangover, Acute Alcohol Intoxication
Solo Rock Stars Die Sooner Than Those in Bands
Posted 20 Dec 2012 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 19 – Rock and pop stars with a successful solo career are about twice as likely to die early as those in famous bands, according to a new study. The study also found that rock and pop stars who died of drug and alcohol abuse were more likely to have had a difficult or abusive childhood than those who died of other causes. Researchers looked at nearly 1,500 North American and European rock and pop stars between 1956 and 2006 and found that about 9 percent of them died during that time. The average age of death was 45 for North American stars and 39 for European stars. Performers included in the study included U.S. legend Elvis Presley and British singer Amy Winehouse. The difference in life expectancy between rock and pop stars and the general population widened until 25 years after stars achieved fame. It was only then that the death rate among European stars, but not ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Substance Abuse
Impulsive College Women at Risk of Drinking Problems: Study
Posted 8 Nov 2012 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Nov. 8 – Female college students who act impulsively when they're distressed are at increased risk of developing a drinking problem, a new study suggests. Alcohol dependence puts college women at danger for a number of negative consequences, including poorer school performance and increased risk of sexual assault, accidental injury and even death, according to the researchers. The study included 319 women (235 drinkers and 84 nondrinkers) in their first semester at a large university in the southeastern United States. The participants' drinking behavior, alcohol dependence symptoms and impulsive behavior traits were assessed by the researchers, and the students were followed for three months. Negative urgency (a trait in which a person tends to act rashly when having negative emotions) and lack of deliberation (a trait in which a person acts without thinking) both predicted ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Acute Alcohol Intoxication
Alcoholism Linked to Poor Sense of Empathy, Irony in Men
Posted 8 Nov 2012 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Nov. 8 – Alcoholic men tend to lack empathy and have a distorted view of irony, which suggests that they may have difficulty understanding complex forms of communication, according to a small new study. Empathy is the ability to understand another person's feelings, and irony is a communication technique that uses words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of the literal meaning, for example, saying "What a beautiful view" when looking out the window at a brick wall. The study included 22 male alcoholics and a "control" group of 22 men who weren't alcoholics. The men read stories with either an ironic or non-ironic ending and then completed a questionnaire about the story characters' emotional states and what they intended to communicate. In addition, the participants' ability to understand the ironic meaning of the story was also assessed and compared to their capacity ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Acute Alcohol Intoxication
Alcoholism Shortens Life More Than Smoking: Study
Posted 16 Oct 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Oct. 16 – New research suggests that people who are alcohol-dependent, particularly women, may be cutting their lives even shorter than smokers. In the study, German researchers found death rates were 4.6-fold higher among alcohol-dependent women and 1.9-fold higher among alcohol-dependent men, compared with the general population. "This paper confirms the well-known association between alcoholism and premature death," said Dr. James Garbutt, professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, who was not involved in the study. "It also supports the evidence that women are more likely to have more severe health problems from alcohol than men – 'sicker quicker.' " The report was published online Oct. 16 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. For the study, lead by Ulrich John, director of the Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine at ... Read more
Related support groups: Smoking, Alcoholism
Brain Recovery From Alcoholism Seen Soon After Abstinence: Study
Posted 16 Oct 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Oct. 16 – Two weeks of abstinence from drinking can reverse damage to the brain caused by chronic alcohol abuse, according to a new study. However, recovery may vary among different parts of the brain. The findings may offer new hope to recovering alcoholics, say authors of the study appearing online Oct. 16 and in the January 2013 print issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. "Shrinkage of brain matter, and an accompanying increase of cerebrospinal fluid, which acts as a cushion or buffer for the brain, are well-known degradations caused by alcohol abuse," Gabriele Ende, a professor of medical physics in the neuroimaging department at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Germany, said in a journal news release. "This volume loss has previously been associated with neuropsychological deficits such as memory loss, concentration deficits and increased ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Acute Alcohol Intoxication
Weight-Loss Surgery May Boost Risk for Alcohol, Drug Abuse: Study
Posted 15 Oct 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Oct. 15 – Weight-loss surgery may increase risk for the use or abuse of alcohol and illicit drugs, a new study suggests. Patients – 132 women and 23 men – who had undergone one of two commonly performed types of weight-loss surgery filled out questionnaires including items on their eating, smoking and recreational drug use before and after surgery. In general, use of such substances rose at the time of surgery with additional and incremental increases at one, three, six and 24 months after the procedure. Specifically, people who had a type of weight-loss surgery known as gastric bypass were at risk for increased alcohol use after the procedure. The findings are published online Oct. 15 in the journal Archives of Surgery. "This study does not mean that everybody who undergoes gastric bypass will become an alcoholic," said study author Dr. Alexis Conason, a researcher at the ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, Gastric Bypass Surgery
In Terms of Drinking, the Rich Are Different, Study Says
Posted 10 Oct 2012 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 10 – People who live in low-income neighborhoods in the United States are generally less likely to drink alcohol than those in rich neighborhoods, but certain groups of people in low-income neighborhoods are at increased risk for problem drinking, a new study finds. Black and Hispanic men in low-income neighborhoods are more likely to drink than those in high-income neighborhoods, and black men in disadvantaged neighborhoods are more likely to be heavy drinkers, the researchers found. The survey of nearly 14,000 adults also found that when black men and white women from poor neighborhoods drink, they are more likely to suffer drinking-related consequences such as physical fights, run-ins with police and trouble at work, compared to black men and white women in better-off neighborhoods. The study appears in the November issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Acute Alcohol Intoxication
Alcoholism Treatment Saves Families Money
Posted 25 Sep 2012 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, Sept. 25 – Treating alcoholics greatly reduces the financial burden their addiction places on their families, according to a small new study. Researchers looked at 48 German families with an alcoholic member. After 12 months of treatment, family costs directly related to the family member's alcoholism fell from an average of $832 per month to an average of $178 per month. The average costs associated with alcoholism decreased from about 20 percent to slightly more than 4 percent of the total pre-tax family income, the study found. In cases of relapse, treatment for alcoholism reduced the financial burden on families by an average of $80 per month. Two of the largest alcoholism-related costs to families prior to treatment were alcoholic beverages (an average of $310 per month) and cigarettes (an average of $114 per month). One year into treatment, those costs fell to $87 and ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Acute Alcohol Intoxication
Doctors Should Screen Adults for Alcohol Misuse, U.S. Panel Says
Posted 24 Sep 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Sept. 24 – A U.S. government advisory panel recommends that primary care doctors ask patients about their drinking habits and provide counseling to those who misuse alcohol. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force found that screening and intervention can help adults aged 18 and up who drink more than the recommended amount of alcohol cut back. However, the panel concluded there was not enough research on people under 18 to recommend for or against screening and counseling. The panel also recommended screening and intervention for pregnant women, although the evidence for effectiveness in this group was less strong than for the general population of adults. The draft recommendations, released Monday, echo the task force's 2004 guidelines on alcohol screening. "The overarching message is the same as it was back then. At least in the adult population, the evidence shows that ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Acute Alcohol Intoxication
Avoiding Alcohol May Cut Risk for Esophageal Cancer
Posted 17 Sep 2012 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Sept. 17 – Chronic drinkers who stop consuming alcohol can cut their risk for esophageal cancer in half within four to five years, according to a new evidence review. In the analysis of nine studies, Swedish researchers found drinkers' risk of this type of cancer is reversible if they stop drinking, but it takes them up to 16 years to return to the risk level of people who don't drink. The study by researchers at Lund University appeared in a recent issue of the journal Addiction, and included an outside commentary by a group including Boston University Medical Center researchers that found the new research "well done." The study, however, may not have accounted enough for other factors, such as the interaction of smoking and drinking on cancer risk, according to a university news release. Previous studies show that reducing cancer among non-smokers may be achieved with cutting ... Read more
Related support groups: Alcoholism, Alcohol Dependence, Esophageal Carcinoma
Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next (86 results)
Ask a Question
Further Information
Related Condition Support Groups
Alcohol Dependence, Alcohol Withdrawal, Alcoholic Liver Damage, Alcoholic Cirrhosis, Hangover, Alcoholic Gastritis, Acute Alcohol Intoxication, Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy, Alcoholic Psychosis, Alcoholic Gastritis with Hemorrhage, Alcohol Hepatitis, Toxic Reactions Incl Drug and Substance Abuse