Improving the Old, Embracing the New: Implications of Alcohol Research for Future Practice
Gary Rosenberg, Weissman Andrew in Behavioral and Social Sciences in 21st Century Health Care: Contributions and Opportunities, 2021
Because alcoholism is a complex disease, there are likely to be many genes involved in increasing an individual’s risk for alcoholism. Scientists are looking for these genes and have found locations on chromosomes where they are likely to be. One important contributor to the study of the genetics of alcoholism is the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), a NIAAA-supported multisite study at six centers. This study, which was begun in 1989, assessed individuals from multigenerational families with a prevalence of alcoholism. Each of these families contained at least three first-degree relatives with alcohol dependence. Using a variety of cutting edge tools and techniques from molecular biology, neurochemistry, statistics, and clinical research, COGA scientists found highly suggestive evidence for chromosomal “hot spots” (areas of potential linkage to alcohol dependence) on chromosomes 1 and 2, and more modest evidence on chromosomes 4 and 7. In addition, locations for the genes involved in the expression of evoked potential responses, a high-risk marker for alcoholism, were also identified. These findings bring us a step closer to finding the genes underlying the genetic vulnerability to this chronic disease.
Nutraceutical Intervention for Treatment of Alcoholism and Drinking Problems
Raj K. Keservani, Anil K. Sharma, Rajesh K. Kesharwani in Nutraceuticals and Dietary Supplements, 2020
Drunkenness is considered as a desire for liquor and incapability to discontinue consumption. It is conveyed by a bodily addiction and an augmented tolerance for liquor. Drunkenness involves a bodily dependency on liquor, but other prompting features include hereditary, mental, and social motives. The craving for alcohol increases day by day as the person consumes and their body starts developing acceptance and even demands for more to attain the desired effects. As the time progresses, the bodily addiction continues to increase. Even if a person wants to stop his drinking problem, the individual may experience painful indications of withdrawal that cause them to go back to alcohol for relief. As the habit grows, an individual suffering from intoxication will feel as if they need to drink to function and feel any sense of normality. Their health will begin to decline, they may have distress at family or work, there may be confusion of their assets, and they may even face legal difficulties as a result of their actions while drunk. Alcoholism also leads to family and work problems and can also cause grave health complications such as liver diseases (Jones and Dekker, 2000).
Informal Social Controls and the Liberalization of Drug Laws and Policies
Ross Coomber in The Control of Drugs and Drug Users, 2020
In the United States, there is a widespread belief that the current system of drug controls rests on sound scientific evidence about the chemical nature of the drugs being regulated. Caffeine and alcohol are legally available, according to popular opinion, because they are comparatively benign drugs. They are “good” drugs. They possess some potential for harm when used to excess, but they can be used moderately (at least by adults) without significant risk. With alcohol, this view is abetted by the conventional wisdom that alcoholism is a disease, and that people who become alcoholics have some biological or psychological predisposition to its abuse. Put another way, alcoholism is attributed to defects in the drinker rather than the drink. With caffeine, most Americans would be hard pressed to name any harmful effects, and most do not regard it as a psychoactive substance. Few children drink coffee or tea, but this does not seem related to a belief that caffeine might harm them, since there are few qualms about children consuming caffeine in chocolate and carbonated beverages.
The efficacy of neurofeedback for alcohol use disorders – a systematic review
Published in The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, 2023
Forum Dave, Ravikesh Tripathi
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a major public health issue that affects 237 million men and 46 million women worldwide, with high-income nations having the highest prevalence (Global Status Report on alcohol and health 2018). Alcohol is responsible for 5.3% of fatalities (3 million) and 132.6 million disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), accounting for 5.1% of all DALYs (Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health 2018). Despite significant advances in understanding the central mechanisms underlying alcohol addiction and identifying related risk factors, alcoholism continues to be a serious medical and social concern. Only, 19.8% of individuals with lifelong AUD are ever treated, and 45–75% of those that are treated relapse a year later (Hunt et al. 1971; Grant et al. 2015). Psychotherapies and pharmacological options, such as naltrexone, disulphiram and acamprosate are now approved as recommended treatments; however, they are usually ineffective (Azevedo and Mammis 2018). As a result, improved or adjuvant therapies that may enhance or facilitate alcoholism therapy are urgently needed.
Party frequency, party-safety strategies, and sexual victimization among first-year female college students
Published in Journal of American College Health, 2022
Ernest N. Jouriles, Alison Krauss, Kelli S. Sargent, Jamie Nguyen, Michele Cascardi, John H. Grych, Renee McDonald
Safety-planning strategies also have been examined in other research literatures. For example, having a specific safety plan for dates (e.g., a transportation plan if one wants to leave a date and informing a friend of a date location) is associated with reduced risk for severe sexual assault.15 Likewise, the use of alcohol-related protective strategies (e.g., eating before drinking, alternating alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages) can mitigate the likelihood of adverse consequences experienced during and after a period of drinking.16–18 In short, theory and research suggest that the use of safety-planning strategies might help reduce risk for sexual victimization, but little empirical research has examined the role of party-safety strategies in relation to party attendance and risk for sexual victimization.
Factors associated with prolonged intensive care stay among self-poisoned patients
Published in Clinical Toxicology, 2022
Giulia Naïm, Thomas Lacoste-Palasset, Aymen M’Rad, Laetitia Sutterlin, Adrien Pépin-Lehalleur, Caroline Grant, Jean-Michel Ekhérian, Nicolas Deye, Isabelle Malissin, Sebastian Voicu, Bruno Mégarbane
At least one electroencephalogram and/or brain imaging (computed tomography-scan or magnetic resonance imaging) were obtained in 182 (76%) and 109 patients (46%), respectively. Delayed awakening (n = 62, 26%) was attributed to direct sedative effects of the involved toxicants (n = 27, 44%), encephalopathy in relation to a hypoxic event or insufficient blood flow (n = 21, 34%), oversedation (n = 7, 11%), stroke or intracranial hemorrhage occurrence (n = 6, 10%) and/or metabolic impairments (n = 1, 2%). Encephalopathy responsible for confusion and/or agitation without consciousness impairment and attributed to the involved toxicants was observed in 31 patients (13%). Withdrawal syndrome in chronic alcoholics, drug users and psychoactive drug-depending patients was reported in 19 patients (8%).
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