The implementation of minimum unit pricing (MUP) legislation is associated with significant reductions in alcohol-specific deaths among those from the most socio-economically deprived areas in Scotland, suggests a new study published in The Lancet.
A new study shows promise for reducing risky drinking among Army National Guard members over the long term, potentially improving their health and readiness to serve. The number of days each month that Guard members said they had been binge-drinking dropped by up to half over the course of a year of either online only education or online and peer-based support.
New research from Boston Medical Center found that alcohol screening rates dropped substantially during the first COVID-19 surge.
The relationship between alcohol use and burn injuries is a negative one in multiple ways. Not only are about 50% of adults who sustain burn injuries intoxicated at the time of injury, suggesting that alcohol use may have contributed to the incident, but alcohol use among burn-injured patients is associated with more severe complications, delayed recovery, and increased morbidity and mortality.
A multi-disciplinary team of Indiana University researchers is focusing their efforts on a growing public health concern: binge and “high-intensity” drinking—extreme drinking behaviors that are increasingly prevalent among college-age adults.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has awarded Wake Forest University School of Medicine a renewal grant of $8 million over five years for research on alcohol use disorder. With the support of the grant, the Wake Forest Translational Alcohol Research Center will build upon a highly productive translational alcohol research program that was established with prior support from the NIH.
New research from the University at Buffalo provides the most comprehensive assessment to date of drinking patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with four clinically prevalent mental health disorders in the U.S.
Increasing the proportion of non-alcoholic drinks on sale in online supermarkets could reduce the amount of alcohol people purchase, suggests a study published today led by researchers at the University of Cambridge.
Heavy alcohol use creates a vicious cycle: It changes signaling pathways in the brain, which in turn affects cognitive functions like decision-making and impulse control — and makes the individual more likely to drink. The mechanism behind this may involve the brain’s immune system, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.
From septic shock to sticker shock. Keep up with this ever-growing, changing sector. Below are some of the latest stories on healthcare on Newswise.
New research led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis identifies a common genetic signature that may increase a person's risk of developing substance use disorders. The work eventually could lead to universal therapies to treat multiple substance use disorders and potentially help people diagnosed with more than one.
In a recent analysis, researchers found sex differences in the health and neurodevelopmental outcomes of people exposed to alcohol before birth.
A tool allowing research participants to self-identify beyond binary categories of male and female performed well in a study of college student drinking. The study, published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, demonstrates a method to conduct research that is more inclusive of the increasing number of individuals identifying as transgender, nonbinary, and other genders who may be at higher risk for alcohol use disorders. The study encourages the development of future research instruments that capture a broader diversity of genders in order to promote a more representative body of scientific knowledge and a more complete understanding of health influences and outcomes.
Over the past 20 years, the death rate from drug poisonings in the U.S. has tripled and suicide and alcoholic liver disease death rates have increased by 30 percent — particularly among middle-aged white Americans. Daniel Hungerman, professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame, and his co-authors studied the connection between a sharp downturn of religious participation in the late 1980s and the swift rise in these "deaths of despair" among white Americans ages 45 to 54 in the early 1990s.
A shot of a liver-produced hormone called FGF21 sobered up mice that had passed out from alcohol, allowing them to regain consciousness and coordination much faster than those that didn’t receive this treatment, UT Southwestern researchers report in a new study. The findings, published in Cell Metabolism, could lead to effective treatments for acute alcohol intoxication, which is responsible for about 1 million emergency room visits in the U.S. each year.
For people with alcohol use disorder (AUD), there is a constant, vicious cycle between changes to the brain and changes to behavior. AUD can alter signaling pathways in the brain; in turn, those changes can exacerbate drinking.
A new national study published in BMC Public Health suggests that problematic social media use in early adolescents is associated with both positive and negative alcohol beliefs, which play a key role in predicting alcohol use and, potentially, the development of alcohol use disorder later in life.
Fluctuating impulsivity in college students is linked to increased positive thoughts about alcohol, heavier drinking, and more negative consequences, a new study suggests—information that could inform more effective intervention programs to reduce alcohol harm. Almost a third of young adults report binge drinking in the past month, and 16% meet criteria for alcohol use disorder in the past year. Impulsivity, a tendency to act rashly without considering consequences, is known to be associated with heavier drinking. A predictive behavioral model theorizes that impulsive people are particularly predisposed to certain beliefs about alcohol and that this influences their consumption. These beliefs—alcohol expectancies—determine how individuals perceive the positive and negative effects of drinking. Positive expectancies (e.g., increased sociability) are linked to higher alcohol use, while negative expectancies (e.g., becoming impaired) are thought to restrain drinking behavior. Recent resea
Adults with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) seeking to moderate their drinking respond differently to interventions depending on their age, a new study suggests.
Newly arrived immigrants drank decreasing amounts of alcohol in their first two years in the United States, according to a study of Latino immigrants living in Miami-Dade County in Florida.
A computer-based intervention associated with reduced binge drinking episodes among high school students could yield a cost savings of eight thousand euros, according to a Spanish study published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research. The study found the computer-based intervention cost-effective, resulting in societal savings of €8,000 for each binge drinking episode averted. Computer and web-based interventions can potentially reach a far larger number of students than face-to-face screening and intervention.
Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University and institutions across the country have identified a pill used to treat a common skin disease as an “incredibly promising” treatment for alcohol use disorder.
Prazosin, a medication FDA-approved for hypertension and used off-label for alcohol use disorder, may help prevent drinking relapse in people with cardiovascular or behavioral symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, according to a new study involving active-duty soldiers.
A new screening instrument has the potential to more accurately identify fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), reducing missed and erroneous diagnoses in affected children and facilitating treatment and support, a new study suggests. Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is a known cause of birth and growth defects and neurobehavioral issues.
In a new preclinical study, scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine showed that even modest amounts of alcohol can accelerate brain atrophy, which is the loss of brain cells, and increase the number of amyloid plaques, which are the accumulation of toxic proteins in Alzheimer’s disease.
A newly published animal study found that chronic alcohol consumption may create conditions in the body that can facilitate infection by SARS-CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. The study, published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, found that chronic alcohol use increased the levels of an enzyme that helps the virus enter the cells and, therefore, may increase the risk for COVID-19.
Doctors who drink more are less likely to offer screening and counseling about alcohol use to their patients. According to a systematic review of research published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, frequency and quantity of health care providers’ alcohol consumption were inversely associated with their clinical practices to help patients reduce unhealthy alcohol use. Doctors who drank three days a week or more were less likely to screen their patients for alcohol use, and those who drank larger quantities of alcohol offered less screening and counseling to their patients about unhealthy alcohol use.
Along the shores of Africa’s Lake Victoria in Kenya roughly 2.9 million years ago, early human ancestors used some of the oldest stone tools ever found to butcher hippos and pound plant material, according to new research led by scientists with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and Queens College, CUNY, as well as the National Museums of Kenya, Liverpool John Moores University and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.
A detailed snapshot of proteins by PNNL scientists marks a big step toward a diagnostic blood test for a deadly form of liver disease – alcohol-associated hepatitis.
In a new study from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, scientists have demonstrated that the connection between dopamine and counterfactual information, which is related to the psychological notions of regret and relief, appears altered by alcohol use disorder.
Women are able to recall details of sexual assault and rape with accuracy, even if they have drunk – or expected to drink – moderate amounts of alcohol.
An increase in "deaths of despair" in recent decades has been frequently portrayed as a phenomenon affecting white communities, but a new analysis in The Lancet shows the toll has been greater on Native Americans.
In a new study published by JAMA Network Open, Dr. Elisa Bandera, Dr. Nur Zeinomar from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and colleagues found that a higher risk of mortality in Black breast cancer survivors is associated with a history of cigarette smoking along with regular alcohol consumption at the time of diagnosis.
For teens at elevated risk of developing alcohol use disorder (AUD), close relationships with parents can help mitigate their genetic and environmental vulnerability, a new study suggests. The offspring of people with AUD are four times more likely than others to develop the disorder. Increasing evidence suggests that this heritable risk may be either amplified or mitigated by the quality of parenting.
People with psychiatric vulnerabilities that increase their risk of misusing alcohol appear more likely to drink heavily around the time of ovulation, especially on weekends, a new study suggests.
As Dry January continues its rise in popularity, no- and low-alcohol craft beer options make it easy for the 79 percent of drinkers who say they could be motivated to forego alcohol for the month, according to a survey from Illinois-based Go Brewing
Alcohol exposure in early pregnancy can change gene function during the tightly regulated embryonic development, and consequently cause developmental disorders - especially neurodevelopmental disorders.
Zero-proof cocktails are the perfect alternative for feeling festive as the ball drops without experiencing the next-morning hangover. We’ve rounded up a list of our top picks of Eat Fit-approved zero-proof cocktails for ringing in the new year.
Mothers drank alcohol less frequently as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, according to a small study of Ohio women, but another result was more concerning to researchers.
The transition to telehealth-based care at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was followed by an increase in initiation of and engagement with specialty alcohol treatment, according to a study of health records at one large U.S. health system. The study, published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, found the greatest increases in odds of initiating treatment were among 18- to 34-year-olds, a group that has historically been less likely to seek treatment for alcohol problems. Notably, the transition to telehealth did not appear to worsen racial and ethnic disparities in treatment for alcohol problems and may have facilitated treatment for specific populations. The findings provide timely considerations for structuring post-pandemic models of health care for alcohol use problems.
Fathers who acknowledge binge drinking are less involved with their children, according to new research in several countries that have traditionally been understudied. Globally, men are increasingly involved in children’s development. The latest analysis, in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, explores fathers’ binge drinking in relation to the quality of their parenting, and suggests that preventing or treating heavy alcohol use among fathers may have broad benefits for families. Previous studies around the world have flagged the harms of parents’ problematic alcohol use on family relationships and children’s development. Paternal alcohol use disorder, depression, and marital satisfaction are known to be important for parenting. Heavy drinking, which is related to notions of masculinity, has been linked across cultures to more punitive parenting, child abuse and neglect, and intimate partner violence. Little is known about how heavy alcohol use impacts fathers’ relationships
Youth who underwent metabolic and bariatric surgery as teenagers are at heightened risk for alcohol use, according to the first study to document long-term alcohol use and associated issues in this population. Researchers found that after eight years, nearly half of study participants had alcohol use disorders, symptoms of alcohol-related harm, or alcohol-related problems. Results were published in the journal Annals of Surgery.
Patients in the Emergency Room (ER) should be blood-tested for hazardous drinking rather than evaluated by questionnaires alone, according to a new study comparing alcohol use screening methods. A sizeable minority of patients attend the ER for alcohol-related reasons (12–15% in the UK). That proportion is growing, a US study has found. The ER offers valuable opportunities to identify hazardous drinking and intervene with treatments that can help patients reduce their alcohol use. This requires efficiently and reliably screening ER patients for risky consumption. Validated methods include the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) — and its shorter version, AUDIT-C —which are among the most frequently used screening questionnaires. Another, the Timeline Followback Questionnaire (TLFB), is a retrospective self-administered survey estimating daily alcohol consumption over a specific prior period. In contrast, phosphatidylethanol (PEth), a metabolite of ethanol, is a direct and
An analysis of combined pharmacotherapy for reducing drinking and smoking validated findings that measuring reductions in the amount of drinking, not just abstinence, was an effective outcome for alcohol medication trials.
Alcohol’s health, safety and economic toll on the Bay State residents far outstrips revenues from state alcohol taxes, according to a new report from Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH).
Penn State researchers co-led a large genetic study that identified more than 2,300 genes predicting alcohol and tobacco use after analyzing data from more than 3.4 million people. They said a majority of these genes were similar among people with European, African, American and Asian ancestries.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, college students drinking outside the home or at home alone experienced a wider range of drinking consequences compared to those more frequently drinking at home with others, either in-person or virtually, according to a new study. Drinking at home also carried considerable risk. The findings, published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, suggest that intervention and prevention efforts may be more effectively tailored by considering the contexts in which students are drinking.
Online retailers are doing a “woeful” job of alerting consumers to alcohol health information and warnings, according to the results of a University of Auckland-led study.
Giving some homeless mothers with young children a place to live may do little to help them if it is not combined with support services, a first-of-its-kind study showed.
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