Sober N Clean

The conventional wisdom used to be that alcoholics had to hit bottom before they got better. But it can be a long, slow way down. A new government Web site called "Rethinking Drinking" aims to help people recognize problem patterns earlier and catch themselves before they fall.

"Most people don't know what 'drink responsibly' means -- they think it means not getting tanked," says Mark Willenbring, director of treatment and recovery research at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. "But there are levels of drinking that raise your risk for alcohol problems just like high cholesterol raises your risk for heart disease."
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Behind the NIAAA's effort is a new understanding that there is a spectrum of alcohol-use disorders, which some experts hope will replace the current criteria for "abuse" and "dependence." The old definitions were based on observing addicts in treatment. Several large studies of drinking in the general population show that some patterns clearly pave the way for future problems.

The NIAAA say you are at "low-risk" for serious problems if you consume no more than four standard-size alcoholic drinks a day for a man or no more than three for a woman. That may sound like a lot, but you can't drink like that every day. The weekly "low-risk" limit is no more than 14 drinks for a man or seven for a woman. Drinking more daily, or weekly or both carries higher risk of abuse or dependence.

At www.rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov, you can plug in your average consumption and see how you compare with the general population and problem drinkers. Since this is anonymous, you can try different amounts and see what they mean.

Some 37% of Americans always stay within the daily and weekly limits, according to the site. Only two in 100 of them progress to serious alcohol problems.

But 19% of Americans exceed either the daily or weekly levels; one in 12 of those people has already progressed to alcohol abuse or alcoholism. About 9% of Americans exceeds both the weekly and daily limits; half of them have alcohol problems.

Very few Americans exceed the weekly limits without exceeding the daily limitations, according to Dr. Willenbring. That contrasts with drinking patterns in Europe, where people are more likely to have wine with lunch and dinner on a daily basis.

About 35% of Americans don't drink at all. "That can be a real eye-opener for people who drink heavily and surround themselves with other people who drink a lot," says Ann Bradley, an NIAAA spokeswoman.

Even "low-risk" drinking can be risky for people with bipolar disorder, liver disease, abnormal heart rhythm and chronic pain, the Web site notes. It also links to a list of dozens of medications that can react adversely with alcohol, including drugs for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, pain and depression.

The limits are lower for women than men not just because of their size. According to the NIAAA, women's bodies tend to have less water so the alcohol tends to become more concentrated and more damaging to organs like the liver.

The Web site also notes that being able to "hold" a lot of liquor is actually a warning sign of dependence. And driving and judgment can be impaired even if you don't feel a buzz.
Safer Spirits

Most people are at low risk for alcohol problems if they stay within these limits:

* Men: No more than four standard-size drinks on any single day and no more than 14 weekly.
* Women: No more than three standard-size drinks on any single day and no more than seven weekly.

*Source: NIAAA

Knowing the size and strength of a "standard" drink is critical, so the site has a size chart and a content calculator. Some cocktails contain as much alcohol as three standard drinks. A wine bottle usually holds five 5-oz. glasses.

"Rethinking Drinking" leaves it up to you whether and when to change your habits, though it notes that alcohol is a factor in many fatal accidents and increases the risk of heart and liver disease, depression, sleep disorders, diabetes and many cancers. One section discusses the merits of cutting down versus quitting completely. Another lists pros and cons to consider—including "I'd need another way to wind down."

In focus groups when the site was tested, "some people got very quiet and engaged when they got to this part. It turned into an intervention," says Maureen Gardner, who co-authored the program.

The site also lists strategies for changing drinking habits, from "space and pace" (no more than one per hour) to "avoiding triggers" (recognizing external situations and internal emotions that tempt you to drink). An "urge tracker" lets you record times when you wanted a drink and why, what you did and what you might have done differently. A section on "refusal skills" helps you plan ahead to say no in social situations.

Dr. Willenbring hopes the site, and a downloadable print version, provides a tool for doctors, clergy and others who counsel people concerned about their drinking habits.

Awareness already seems to be rising, says Eileen Travis, director of a New York City Bar Association program that assists lawyers with substance abuse. "We get calls all the time from people who say they think they have a problem and want to stop before it gets bad—many more than in the past, when the only people we dealt with were in trouble in some way," she says.

Studies show that just five minutes of discussion with a primary-care doctor can reduce heavy drinking by 25%. Exploring online all by yourself might be just as useful.
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source: Wall Street Journal

New Zealanders are drinking more according to the latest figures, and that means more weekend binges and young people lured onto alcopops, says the agency promoting responsible use of alcohol.

During 2008 the total volume of alcohol available for consumption increased 3.4 percent to 486.4 million litres from 2007, Statistics New Zealand said today.

The volume of pure alcohol available per person aged 15 years and over increased 3.3 percent to 9.5 litres. It was the highest volume since 1994.

Spirits and spirit-based drinks now represent 14.3 percent of the total alcohol available for consumption, continuing a steady increase since 1996.

Consumption of spirits increased to 8 million litres, up 5.5 percent on the previous year and now accounts for 25 per cent of the total consumption of alcohol per capita.

"People are drinking more; on one level it is as simple as that, said Alcohol Advisory Council of New Zealand (ALAC) chief executive Gerard Vaughan.

The figures on their own, if they showed people were increasing their drinking across the week and in a responsible manner, would not be a concern, but ALAC knew that wasn't the case, he said.

Other statistics showed the huge harm and cost on the police and hospital systems, he said.

With its drinking age, alcohol availability and drink-driving restrictions, New Zealand had a liberal drinking environment, he said.

While acknowledging that alcohol was an enjoyable part of New Zealand life, the big harm was from our drinking patterns. "Unfortunately New Zealanders do not drink in a sophisticated manner. We are a country that tends to save up our drinking for a Thursday, Friday and Saturday night and drink large amounts."

Mr Vaughan said increase in spirit consumption was driven by the emergence of the relatively-recent ready-to-drink products, or alcopops.

That was concerning because of its packaging, high sugar, masking of the alcohol taste and high alcohol content made them attractive to younger drinkers. They were also priced to appeal.

"If your intention is to get out of it then it won't cost you that much."

ALAC had tracked community attitudes over the last five years and seen significant shifts in understanding of problems of binge drinking.

"But I think we haven't really made the impact into the binge drinking culture.

"It's taken us 100 years to firmly establish a problematic drinking culture. We need to think this is about generational change."

The Statistics NZ figures are taken from the New Zealand Customs Service, based on duty paid, and indicates how much is actually released to the market but not what is actually consumed.

Beer was still the most popular type of alcoholic beverage in New Zealand and last year there were 322.5 million litres of beer available, which makes up 66.3 percent of the total beverage available for consumption. Wine was up 2.3 percent to 94.2m litres

Meanwhile, the number of cigarettes available for consumption was up 4.3 percent, to 2.5 billion in 2008.
This increase in cigarettes contrasted with a decrease in the amount of tobacco available for consumption, which was down 3.7 percent to 870 tonnes in 2008.

At least one in five men in developed countries are at risk of abusing or becoming dependent on alcohol during their lifetimes, researchers in the United States said on Sunday.

The risk is about half that for women, who have an 8% to 10% chance of becoming dependent on alcohol. And despite the popular belief that nothing works, there is help in the form of several effective treatments, they said.

"This is a serious problem," Dr. Marc Schuckit of the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System and the University of California said in a telephone interview.

He said men have roughly a 15% lifetime risk for alcohol abuse, and a 10% risk for alcohol dependence.

"Once you carry one of these diagnoses regularly, you tend to cut your life short by 10 to 15 years," he said.

His findings, published in the journal Lancet, are meant to guide doctors on how to spot and treat their patients for alcohol dependence disorder.

This includes a range of problem drinking behaviours such as spending too much time drinking, having trouble stopping once started, skipping important life events to drink or recover from a binge, and setting and exceeding a self-imposed limit on the number of drinks a person plans to consume.

The definition also includes more classic signs of alcohol addiction such as withdrawal.

They said repeated heavy drinking increases the risk of a temporary bout of depression by 40%. And 80% of people who are dependent on alcohol are regular smokers. Some 40% to 60% of the risk of problem drinking can be explained by genes, and the rest by environmental factors, Schuckit said. That may explain why women have a lower lifetime risk.

"This is a cultural issue. More women than men are lifelong abstainers. A higher proportion of women than men never open themselves to the possibility of alcoholism be-cause they never or very rarely drink," Schuckit said.

He said heavy drinking raises the risk of heart disease and cancer, even in those who do not smoke. And despite perceptions that treatments do not work, he said most patients with alcohol-use disorders do well after treatment.

About 50% to 60% of men and women with alcohol dependence abstain or show substantial improvement in a year after treatment, which can include drugs such as Forest Laboratories Inc's Campral or acamprosate, naltrexone, also known as Revia and Depade, and disulfiramacamprosate or Antabuse. Schuckit said these should be used in combination with therapy aimed at helping people change their behaviours.
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source: The National Post

Adults who supply booze to other people's children without parental consent will soon be liable for a hefty fine.

Police Minister Jim Cox yesterday announced the crackdown to prevent the "horrific, unpleasant and sad" effects of underage binge drinking at private parties.

The law changes were prompted, in part, by the case of Penguin boy Taylor Forward who was supplied with vodka and fell into a campfire at a friend's party in 2005.

"Too often we hear and see the effects of young people being supplied with alcohol and left unsupervised," Mr Cox said.

"Not only can this result in direct harm from excessive alcohol consumption, it also means young people are at risk of forming binge-drinking behaviours and not learning responsible drinking."

The change means the adult supervisor at the party would take full legal responsibility for the actions of underage drinkers at the event.

That could create a scenario where invitations to underage parties could go out with parental consent forms granting children permission to drink.

"I think if invitations went out and parents were prepared to take responsibility for other under 18s, and a permission slip was put in there, that would be a great idea."

Mr Cox rejected suggestions the laws would have the effect of normalising underage drinking, but would allow parents to introduce their children to alcohol in a controlled way.

Assistant Commissioner Phil Wilkinson was confident the new legislation could be policed.

"As it stands at the moment, on private premises it is legal for underage people to drink, so this extends it and gives parents an additional level of control over what their children do," Assistant Commissioner Wilkinson said.

Taylor Forward's mother Vicki welcomed the move, which follows a 3 1/2-year fight for legislative change.

"This is not to stop everyone drinking when they are under 18 but it is about having more control and accountability to protect kids," Mrs Forward said.

State Schools Parents and Friends Associations president Jenny Branch said underage parties were still a big problem.

In 2007 the National Drug Strategy household survey found 22 per cent of teenagers over the age of 14 drank alcohol on a weekly basis.

"I have heard of cases where kids go out every weekend -- parents feel like they are losing kids to places they don't want them to be and a life they don't want their children to be in," Ms Branch said.

"Hopefully these new laws will give children and parents the opportunity to negotiate what is responsible and what is not."

Australian Hotels Association state manager Steve Old lauded the proposed crackdown.
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source: The Mercury

Teenagers die from alcohol related illness or injury more than anything else.

With that in mind the Sydney Western Area Health Service is desperatley pleading with parents to educate their teens about the risks of excessive drinking.

Sydney West Area Health Service Drug and Alcohol Network Acting Nurse Manager Cathleen Addison-Wilson said it was estimated more than 40 per cent of 16-17 year olds occasionally binge drink.

Furthermore, up to 22 per cent of boys and 18 per cent of girls aged between 12-16 years old reported drinking on a weekly basis. .

"Alcohol impacts upon an individual’s capacity to make rational choices and evidence is clear this is even more so for adolescents, placing them at further risk of harm and injury from misadventure," said Ms Addison-Wilson.

"Over recent years, we’ve seen an increase in `alcohol-pops’ – pre-mixed alcohol and soft drinks. When young people consume these drinks, which are in effect a stimulant and depressant mix, they are more likely to black out and take part in anti-social behaviour."

Ms Addison-Wilson said parents should know where their teenage children were when they out for the evening and who they were with.

"Most alcohol related issues occur when young people are returning home," she said.

Ms Addison-Wilson suggests parents make a 'contract' with their adolescent to pick them up, regardless of their level of intoxication.

"This has been shown to reduce the chance of injury, assault and anti-social behaviour," she said.

Ms Addison-Wilson said it was vital for parents to communicate with their teenager as they became more exposed to alcohol – through their mates, peers and the media.

"The attitudes and actions of teenagers are often heavily influenced by what they see and hear at home. If you choose to discuss your own alcohol use with your teenager, it is important not to glorify your own behaviour," she said.

"Be careful not to sound hypocritical. If you drink, try to avoid getting drunk in front of them."
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source: Street Corner

The middle class people over the age of 45 are now the most frequent drinkers in England, new NHS figures show.

The findings add to growing concern over middle class drinkers and the damage their habits are doing to their bodies.

Earlier this year a report by the National Audit Office, the Government watchdog, warned that 10 million Britons were now drinking to "hazardous" levels.

A survey conducted by the NHS Information Centre shows that 30 per cent of men and 19 per cent of women in the highest earning bracket admitted that they had drunk alcohol five nights or more in the previous week, twice as much as in the lowest wage bracket.

The middle aged were also much more likely than young people or thirtysomethings to drink frequently.

The highest rate was among men aged 55 to 64, 33 per cent of whom said that they had drunk five or more days out of the last seven.

Among women, 19 per cent of 65 to 74-year-olds admitted that they drank that often.

By contrast just 12 per cent of male and 5 per cent of female 16 to 24-year-olds said that they drank that frequently.

And overall 22 per cent of men and 13 per cent of women said that they had gone without alcohol for two days or less in the previous week.

While previous studies have concentrated on younger binge drinkers this is the first to suggest so starkly that middle class over 45-year-olds top the league table for frequent drinking.

The survey also found that levels of obesity have almost doubled in 14 years, from 16 per cent of men and 13 per cent of women in 1993 to 24 per cent of both sexes in 1997.

The breakdown of the figures on alcohol contained in the annual Health Survey for England report also show that almost one third of men and more than one quarter of women admit they drank excessively at least one day in the previous week.

It also discloses that few people know the recommended daily alcohol limits.

Men are advised to drink no more than three to four units a day, the equivalent of two pints of beer, and women two to three glasses of wine, the amount contained in one and a half standard glasses of wine.

Less than a third of people knew their safe limits, the study shows.

The survey also showed that while most knew that they should be eating five portions of fruit and vegetables every day, only 14 per cent of men and 11 per went of women knew how much should be contained in a portion, the survey also found.

Dr Mark Davies, medical director of the NHS Information Centre and a practising GP, said it was of "concern" that messages of safe alcohol intake, as well as those on exercise levels and healthy eating, did not seem to be getting through to all sections of the population.

Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary, said: "Labour's neglect over issues like obesity and alcohol abuse will leave a terrible legacy for the next Government to try and fix" and called for urgent action on public health problems.
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source: Telegraph

The specific pathway through which binge drinking contributes to clogged arteries has been identified by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers.

Alcoholic beverages contain ethanol, which is mostly converted into acetaldehyde. The Rochester team found that binge drinking-related levels of acetaldehyde make immune cells called monocyctes more likely to stick to blood vessel walls and cause inflammation that contributes to blood vessel blockage — atherosclerosis.

The study contributes to a growing body of evidence that drinking patterns have as much, or more, impact on cardiovascular disease risk than the total amount of alcohol consumed. The findings also may help efforts to develop new treatments to counter atherosclerosis, which can lead to heart attack and stroke, the researchers said.

“Factors like binge drinking have been linked to increased risk for heart disease, and the newer inflammatory model is beginning to explain how,” study leader John Cullen, an assistant professor in the department of surgery, said in a medical center news release. “One of our experiments found that acetaldehyde, at levels found in the blood after binge drinking, increased the number of monocytes that can adhere to cells lining blood vessels by 700 percent.”

The study was published in the current issue of the journal Atherosclerosis.

Binge drinking means having five or more drinks for men and four or more drinks for women in two hours, according to the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Some studies have suggested that an irregular pattern of heavy drinking increases the risk of heart attack about two-fold.

An estimated 65 percent of Americans drink alcohol, and 15 percent reporting binge patterns, the researchers said.
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source: health.com

A group that spent 10 months reviewing Wyoming's alcohol laws advocates increasing state alcohol taxes and using the money to fund programs aimed at cutting underage and binge drinking.

The Wyoming Prevention Framework Communities group also recommended to state lawmakers that the state require mandatory training for alcohol servers and ban sales to drunk people.

The group, which is made up of representatives from all 23 Wyoming counties and the Wind River Indian Reservation, released its report Thursday.

Binge and underage drinking are two of the state's top health issues, according to Ernie Johnson, a University of Wyoming criminal justice instructor who managed the review effort.

"We have minimized the concerns for too long," he said.

The report recommends "substantially" increasing the tax on all alcohol products to equal the national average, with top priority going to a beer tax hike. Beer in Wyoming is now taxed at 2 cents a gallon - the lowest in the nation. The national average is 26 cents a gallon.

The group acknowledged that the tax hike is the most controversial recommendation in the report.

"It also has the greatest potential for generating and providing much-needed resources for Wyoming communities," the report states.

In advocating for the higher tax, the report notes that Wyoming's current tax rate hasn't changed since it was set in 1935.

The report recommends creating a system for providing local governments with the tax money in order to address binge and underage drinking. However, there wasn't consensus among the review group on the best way to achieve those ends.

Mike Moser, executive director of the Wyoming State Liquor Association, opposed raising alcohol taxes when he met with the group in May. Doing so would punish responsible drinkers along with people who abuse alcohol, he told the group.

The report suggests mandatory server and owner training as ways to cut down on the sale of alcohol to underage drinkers and people who have already had too much to drink.

Liquor retailers, working with the state's Liquor Distribution Division, already offer a training program on serving alcohol responsibly. However, Wyoming law does not require servers, managers or owners to participate.

The report offered statistics showing that most of the citations and infractions handed out during alcohol stings went to people who hadn't received server training.

The review group also recommended legislation that would ban alcohol sales to drunk people and prohibit drink specials that promote excessive drinking. The report cited research showing such laws can reduce alcohol-related problems, like car crashes, if they are adequately enforced.

Wyoming is one of three states that doesn't have a law prohibiting alcohol sales to drunk people.
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source: Billings Gazette

When you think of Thanksgiving, turkey, football games and getting together with family usually comes to mind. But what also happens at Thanksgiving is an excess of youth drinking.

Officer Phil Powers, Hopkinton's school resource officer, said that in his 21 years on the police force he has found that the Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving is the busiest drinking night of the year for youth. It's busier than New Years Eve or graduation. And the problem is both with underage drinkers, many home from college for the first time, and with young legal drinkers in their twenties who are getting together with old high school friends and end up drinking to excess. Unfortunately, in too many cases these young people also get in a car and drive.

As parents, we all want to keep our kids safe. So what can you do?

# For kids under 21, have a conversation with them about your expectations about drinking; be clear that the law is no drinking until 21 and that you expect that they will follow it. This is critically important for kids who are coming home from college where there may be a different level of tolerance for underage drinking. Know where they are going and be there to check in with them when they get home. And never provide alcohol to anyone under 21; it's against the law.

# For kids over 21, talk to them about responsible drinking and the dangers of drinking till you are intoxicated when poor decisions are made about everything from driving to sexual activity. Reinforce the importance of identifying a designated driver before anyone starts drinking. Be sure they understand that it is illegal to buy liquor for anyone under 21 and that they can be criminally and civilly prosecuted if a problem occurs.

# For all kids, let them know that if they encounter a problem and can't get home safely, then you are always willing to come get them. Traffic crashes are the number one killer of teens and over one third of teen traffic deaths are alcohol related. Be a positive role model in your own use of alcohol. Kids listen to what you say but they also are influenced strongly by how you behave.

To help bring awareness to this problem, the beFREE! Project held a Sticker Shock campaign this past Wednesday in two retail stores, Colella's Supermarket and Hopkinton Wine and Spirits. BeFREE! youth with adult chaperones placed stickers on multi-packs of beer, wine coolers, and other alcoholic beverages that appeal to young drinkers. The stickers read "Hey You!! It is illegal to provide alcohol to people under 21!" Preventing underage drinking is everyone's responsibility and we need to work together to reduce underage access to alcohol and to teach young adults over 21 how to drink responsibly, if they choose to drink.

Studies show that talking to your kids about alcohol does make a difference in their behavior. So take a few minutes before this holiday to let your kids know your expectations, even if you have said it before. They need a reminder!
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SOURCE: MetroWest Daily News

A recent study shows that alcohol consumption, even in moderation, might shrink brain size.

The study, conducted by Carol Ann Paul at the Boston University School of Public Heath, tested 1,839 people ranging in age from 33 to 88. The participants were asked how much they drank per week and underwent an MRI procedure to measure their brain volume.

Results show a 1.5 percent difference in the total brain volume of a non-drinker to that of a heavy drinker. Heavy drinkers were defined as those who consumed 14 or more drinks a week.

Moderate drinking, which includes the amounts that have been shown to prevent heart disease, also resulted in a smaller brain volume than that of a non-drinker.

"There was a significant negative linear relationship between alcohol consumption and total cerebral brain volume," the authors of the study wrote.

"I don't think it is going to change [what I do]," said Bryant Kubik, a junior in communications. "As you get older, your brain capacity is going to shrink anyway."

Research shows that as people age, the brain sees a small amount of natural brain shrinkage, about 2 percent for every 10 years, but greater amounts of shrinkage in certain areas of the brain have been linked to diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Kubik said he was not surprised by the results of the study. "If you drink a case of Natty Light a day, you're probably not going to be doing too good," he said.

Kubik and Ben Fox, a senior in theater, agreed that this information was not going to have much of an effect on college life.

"In a college atmosphere they're still going to do what they do," Fox said. "They'll still party and jump in Mirror Lake on Michigan Week and I'll probably be one of them."

Seventy-one percent of OSU students drink once a week or less, according to statistics from the Student Wellness Center.

Participants in the study reported low overall alcohol consumption and that men were more likely to be moderate or heavy drinkers than women.

Despite men being more likely to drink, the association between drinking and brain shrinkage was stronger among women.

The findings are published in the October issue of Archives of Neurology.
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source: http://www.thelantern.com

Alcohol is by far the most widely abused substance in the province and also accounts for 57 percent of road accidents, far higher than the rest of the country.

These figures were part of a collaborative report by the Medical Research Council, the Humans Sciences Research Council, and the University of Cape Town on substance abuse trends in the Western Cape, which reviewed studies conducted since 2000.

Professor Charles Parry of the MRC said Friday urgent intervention was needed to curb the misuse of alcohol.

"We need to counter advertising by the industry. Alcohol ads have to be restricted to late night when children are not watching TV, there must be signage at the point of sale on the harm caused by abusing alcohol, communities need to enforce the closure times of outlets in their areas, including shebeens, and there should be an absolute ban on novice drivers drinking and driving for at least three years."

Parry said the trauma units should steer drunken patients to intervention programmes.

He also wants to see the establishment of an alcohol health promotion foundation, to be funded by the liquor industry.

It could send messages on the harmful effects of alcohol misuse, offer alternative enterprises to shebeen owners, and run intervention programmes in communities.

The collaborative report was presented recently at a substance-abuse conference hosted in Cape Town by the provincial departments of health and social development.

It showed that alcohol remained a significant substance of abuse in the province but was not often a key focal point for prevention and treatment services.

This was despite the fact that alcohol abuse placed a tremendous burden on the health and social welfare sectors in both urban and rural areas.

Studies, including an HSRC household survey, pointed to higher levels of problem drinking among coloured communities. The research council said 18 percent of coloureds abuse alcohol compared to 11 percent of blacks, 7 percent of whites and 1 percent of Indians.

Cape Town has more alcohol-related violent deaths than other metros in the country, according to the latest National Injury Mortality Surveillance System report. Drunkenness was responsible for 59 percent of violent deaths in the city, compared to 47 percent of violent deaths in Durban and Johannesburg, and 51 percent in Pretoria.

Cape Town also has the dubious distinction of being the city with the highest number of alcohol-related road deaths. A staggering 59 percent of road accidents were due to alcohol, compared to 47 percent of road deaths in both Durban and Pretoria.

According to the report, alcohol use is also strongly associated with risky sexual risk behaviour. The outcomes of studies conducted on HIV prevalence, substance abuse and associated high-risk practices over the past eight years, all echo the same concerns: the need for interventions to address the growing substance abuse problem and its links to risky sexual behaviour.

The report says there are not enough treatment centres for women, blacks, rural dwellers and poor people.

"With increasing pressure to treat young methamphetamine-using clients, it is highly likely that access to treatment for older alcohol-dependent persons has become increasingly difficult in the Western Cape," the reports says.

The Demographic and Health Survey reported that binge drinking at weekends was higher among women than men, but 25 percent of men and 6 percent of women in the Western Cape consumed alcohol in a "hazardous or harmful manner".

The Western Cape has one of the highest rates of foetal alcohol syndrome in the world.

source: Saturday Argus

Alcohol disrupts genes needed to maintain healthy bones, which can lead to a decrease in bone mass and bone strength, a new study says.

In previous research, the study authors, from Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Chicago, showed that giving rats large amounts of alcohol caused significant decreases in bone density and bone strength, but the mechanisms responsible for these effects weren't clear.

In this new study, rats were injected with an amount of alcohol equivalent to binge drinking for three days or chronic alcohol abuse for four weeks in humans. When they examined genes responsible for bone health, the researchers found that alcohol affected the amounts of RNA associated with these genes. RNA acts as the template for making proteins, the building blocks of bones and other tissue.

Alcohol increased the amount of RNA associated with some genes and decreased the amount of RNA associated with other genes. These changes in RNA disrupted two molecular pathways -- the Wnt signaling pathway and the Intergrin signaling pathway -- responsible for normal bone metabolism and bone mass maintenance, the researchers said.

The findings, published recently in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, could help in the development of new drugs to minimize bone loss in people who abuse alcohol. Such drugs also might help people at risk for osteoporosis.

"Of course, the best way to prevent alcohol-induced bone loss is to not drink or to drink moderately. But when prevention doesn't work, we need other strategies to limit the damage," study co-author and bone biologist John Callaci, as assistant professor in the department of orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation, said in a Loyola news release.
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source: Health Day News

An alcohol specialist nurse service has been praised by the government's financial watchdog for making significant cost savings through improvements in care.

The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen and University Hospitals Trust's specialist nurse service was singled out by the National Audit Office in a report calling for improvements to alcohol services.

Under the Liverpool initiative, patients identified by either a nurse or doctor as having an alcohol-related problem are referred to the ASN service.

They are then screened with a special questionnaire and given advice where appropriate.

The alcohol specialist nurse can also liaise with other medical staff, prescribe medication for acute alcohol withdrawal and develop follow-up pathways so patients can be managed in primary care.

Originally set up in 2004, the service has expanded to include four nurses, one funded by the hospital, with the others funded by Liverpool PCT.

The ASN service has reduced average alcohol consumption in patients treated, reduced re-admission and saved £175,000 in a 20-month period through earlier discharges.

Lynn Owens, nurse consultant at the PCT and one of the nurses who runs the service, said similar clinics could help other hospitals save money and improve patient care.

She told NT: 'It reduces the necessity to stay in hospital when patients come in with other co-morbidities and conditions. We are also better able to treat them in their own homes.

'There is no waiting list, [patients] get treatment when they need it, with dignity and compassion,' she added.

The NAO's report, Reducing Alcohol Harm: Health Services in England, surveyed all PCTs in the country and found that one-quarter had not fully assessed alcohol problems in their areas. It also found that 42% had no alcohol strategy and 31% could not provide details of expenditure on alcohol services.

'There is scope to secure better value for money from PCT expenditure on alcohol services, which is not usually based on a clear picture of need,' the report concluded.
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source: Nursing Times

There’s a common misconception about alcoholism that an alcoholic is one who can’t stop drinking once he or she starts.

This is false.

Alcoholics can stop drinking; they do it all the time. Alcoholics are people whose illness creates a mental environment that justifies starting again. The starting and stopping makes the drinker believe he can stop at will.

A guy we’ll call Don showed up recently to talk about his anger and anxiety. There was no question that Don was anxious, but did he have an anxiety disorder? They are two very different things.

His position was that he only had a drinking “issue” when he had too much stress or when unfortunate circumstances conspired to cause him emotional pain. He maintained that when the stress subsided, his drinking decreased and so, it became a non-issue. He was, incidentally, referred for smelling like alcohol at work and as it turned out, had been warned several times before.

What Don and his anger management and anxiety counselor didn’t adequately understand was that Don’s drinking had helped to create the very circumstances he became angry and anxious about and that he categorized as “stress.”

Periodically, Don couldn’t keep up with his body’s demand for more alcohol and would quit, cold-turkey, albeit not without several days of shaky hands, sleepless nights and sweaty palms.

Usually, within a week of “quitting,” Don’s disease convinced him he was healthy enough to “handle it this time,” and the cycle would continue. The only change was that the drinking increased and the consequences became more severe.

Don’s story is considerably more common than many of us are aware. Thanks to Don’s employer, he’ll start getting the help that he needs and maybe this time it really can be different.
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source: Illinois Northwest Herald

Johnson’s study to evaluate effectiveness of anti-nausea medication in reducing alcohol craving, binge-drinking tendencies in 300 young adults ages 18 to 25

University researchers are preparing to launch a study that has the potential to influence the way alcohol dependence in young adults is treated.

Bankole Johnson, chair of the department of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences, will lead a clinical test of the effectiveness of ondansetron, traditionally used as an anti-nausea medication, in treating alcohol abuse in adults ages 18 to 25.

“Ondansetron ... contains a chemical that reduces [the] craving for alcohol and binge drinking,” Johnson said.

The clinical study will involve eight weeks of treatment with the drug, Johnson said, including two sessions of psychosocial intervention and follow-up monitoring. Three hundred people who are currently binge drinking will take part in the study, he said, most likely including a number of University students.

The study — which will take about four years to complete, according to Johnson — is being funded by a $3.2-million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Raye Litten, associate director of the division of treatment and recovery research at NIAAA, said the institute is particularly interested in Johnson’s study because of the young age of the population Johnson will be testing.

Litten said the average age of people who participate in NIAAA clinical trials is about 40, despite the fact that the average age of the onset of alcohol dependence is 20 to 21. According to Litten, high risk drinking behavior — which he defines as drinking more then five drinks in one night for men and drinking more then three drinks for women — can lead to longer term effects in this younger age group including dependency.

“If he finds this [drug] is effective, you could treat people as they develop [dependence] at an earlier age, rather than let it progress,” Litten said, adding that currently, most people take at least eight years to seek treatment for alcohol abuse.

“This could prevent long-term effects much better than letting [abuse] go on for years and years,” he said.

An earlier study conducted by Johnson concluded that ondansetron is not very effective in treating later-onset alcohol abuse, Litten said, but also found the drug is more effective for cases of early onset alcohol abuse, making it an “ideal drug to test on this population.”

The study also will focus on the effect of genetics on treatment response, Johnson said.

“If a person has a certain genetic profile, he or she may respond better to the drug ... and have fewer side effects,” Litten said, expanding upon the genetic aspect of the study. “It would be nice, before you give someone a drug, to know if they have a chance to respond to it.”

If his hypothesis is confirmed, Johnson said doctors could be able to offer medication targeted toward binge-drinking students for the first time.

During the month of October, many people push their livers to breaking point as every pub, club and restaurant runs its interpretation of the Bavarian beer festival, Oktoberfest.

But one organisation is hoping to buck the trend and encourage alcohol abstinence for a good cause.

Called Ocsober, the fundraising initiative by non-profit organisation Life Education urges Australians to embrace sobriety for one month to raise money for drug and alcohol awareness among school students.

Statistics collated by the Drug Info Clearinghouse revealed one third of Australian teenagers engage in binge drinking, with those who start before the age of 15 becoming five times more likely to become alcohol-dependent than those who don't start until they are 21.

During Ocsober, a fleet of mobile Life Education centers will visit more than 120,000 school students to raise awareness of the dangers of binge-drinking.

Brisbane students at Middle Park Primary School will tomorrow release personal messages attached to balloons, as part of a sobering reminder for adults to halt alcohol abuse this month.

"When you read what the children have written, it moves you to tears," Ocsober Project Manager Michael Fawsitt said.

"How can any of us tell a 12-year-old that we can't stop drinking alcohol for one month for such an important cause?

"Ocsober is about the future health and well-being of our children and it's up to adults to set an example and give children the best opportunity to grow up safe and healthy."

The Australian Family Association has supported the fundraising gimmick, as has the Community Alcohol Action Network.

Australian Family Association spokesman John Morrissey said the use and abuse of alcohol was deeply rooted in Australian culture.

"For young people, drinking is ingrained as a rite of passage," Mr Morrissey said.

"Yet, for all of this, drinking is celebrated as if it were quintessentially Australian."

He said the responsibility fell upon adults to lead by example.

Those adults keen to support the cause, but unable to resist the occasional cold one have been accounted for since participants are allowed to buy "leave passes".

"If you have a special event during October and you need a break from your Ocsober campaign, there's an easy option so you don't break your commitment to a whole month without alcohol," the guidelines read.

"Simply buy a one day or two day Leave Pass and then complete your Ocsober month as planned."

Families, friends and colleagues are encouraged to band together and remain grog-free for 30 days, beginning in October.

Life Education CEO Jay Bucik said rather than being a "wowser" event, Ocsober was more about encouraging adults "get real" about their alcohol intake.
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source: Brisbane Times

Aged just 21 and in rehab without her baby boy, Dannielle Adamo is the public face of a binge-drinking culture that has spun out of control.

Every Saturday she would drink a carton of Vodka cruisers on her own - a staggering 24 x 275ml bottles - and then go to the bottle shop to buy other drinks.

With the State Government now committed to reducing drinking hours in pubs and clubs and targeting underaged drinkers, Ms Adamo has gone public over her rapid slide into alcohol abuse to warn others.

She began binge drinking pre-mixed drinks with friends at weekends as a teen because she wanted to fit in and feel more confident.

The party for Ms Adamo is over, after she decided it was time to hand her son over to her ex partner and check herself into a rehab clinic to treat her alcohol abuse.

Far from the traditional image of an old drunk sleeping rough on the streets, Ms Adamo is part of a new breed of young alcoholic.

Her story comes as a report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed the number of people seeking treatment for alcohol as the main drug of abuse for a growing number of addicts.

Yesterday, Ms Adamo supported Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione's push for licensed premises to close at 2am to address Sydney's binge-drinking culture.

"I think it's a good idea," Ms Adamo said.

It was not until Ms Adamo faced her second drink-driving charge last month that she decided to check herself in to rehabilitation centre Selah at Berkeley Vale on the Central Coast.

After crashing into a power pole on September 14, she decided to hand herself in to police.

Handing over her 14-month-old son Jayden to her ex-partner while she underwent a 10-month program was the most difficult thing she has ever had to do.

"It's good that I did it now before anything worse happened, I never drove drunk while he was in the car," she said

Last weekend she was refused bail in court and was jailed.

"That made me open my eyes a little bit," she said.

Ms Adamo grew up in Morrisett near Newcastle and worked in a juice bar before having Jayden.

She said she would begin drinking about 4pm on Saturday with a pack of pre-mixed vodkas.

"Now I'm finding out a lot about myself that I never knew and why I used to drink, how I can stop and how I can live a life without alcohol," she said.
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source: Daily Telegraph

The more you drink alcohol, the smaller your total brain volume gets, according to a new study by Wellesley College, Massachusetts.

The study found that even moderate alcohol consumption can lead to decline in brain volumes.

Lower brain volumes have been linked to progression of dementia and problems with thinking, learning and memory.

In the study involving 1,839 adults, the participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a health examination.

"Most participants reported low alcohol consumption, and men were more likely than women to be moderate or heavy drinkers," the authors write.

"There was a significant negative linear relationship between alcohol consumption and total cerebral brain volume," they added.

The research team led by Carol Ann Paul, MS, of Wellesley College also found that although men were more likely to drink alcohol, the association between drinking and brain volume was stronger in women.

This could be due to biological factors, including women's smaller size and greater susceptibility to alcohol's effects.

"The public health effect of this study gives a clear message about the possible dangers of drinking alcohol," the authors write.

"Prospective longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these results as well as to determine whether there are any functional consequences associated with increasing alcohol consumption.

"This study suggests that, unlike the associations with cardiovascular disease, alcohol consumption does not have any protective effect on brain volume," they added.

The report appears in the October issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
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source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

How do you know when your drinking is out of control? Take our simple questionnaire, compiled by doctors from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, to find out

Many people drink alcohol for enjoyment, so it can be hard to know when regular use of alcohol has developed into a serious problem. Many of the problems associated with alcohol misuse are caused by having too much to drink at the wrong place or the wrong time If you think you may be drinking too much answer the following questions.

1. Do you ever worry that you drink too much?

2. Have friends or family expressed concern about you about your drinking habits?

3. Do you find you can drink a lot without becoming drunk?

4. Do you need to drink more to have the same effect?

5. Have you tried to stop drinking, but found that you were unable to for more than a few days?

6. Do you carry on drinking even though it is interfering with your work, family or relationships?

7. Do you need a drink to start the day?

8. Do you get shaky, sweaty or anxious a few hours after your last drink?

9. Have you experienced blanks in your memory, where you can’t remember what happened for a period of hours or days?

10. Is your judgement affected by alcohol, so that you do things that you normally wouldn’t, such as starting fights or arguments, having unprotected sex with strangers or becoming violent.

If you answer yes to more than three of these questions, it is indicator of alcohol misuse.

Questionnaire compiled by Dr Jim Bolton and Dr Martin Briscoe, consultant psychiatrists and members of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Public Education Editorial Board
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source: The Times

9/22/2008 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- Now in its third year, a campaign managed by officials with the Military Health Systems and the Tricare military health plan continues the effort of Defense Department leaders to reduce excessive and binge drinking among 18 to 24 year olds serving in the armed forces.

The "That Guy" campaign has two goals: to reduce alcohol abuse and to raise awareness of the negative short-term social consequences of excessive drinking.

It was developed in response to findings of the DOD's survey of health-related behaviors, said Chuck Watkins, the "That Guy" campaign program manager. The "That Guy" campaign tells cautionary tales of excessive drinking and its consequences in a way to which young servicemembers can relate.

Mr. Watkins, who has been involved for the past three years on the harm-reduction campaign, said its style is unlike that of other health-promotion campaigns.

Its use of edgy humor and peer-to-peer mentoring captures the essence of who "That Guy" is and ways to prevent abusing alcohol and becoming the subject of ridicule, he said.

"Most recently, the survey detected there has been an uptick in binge drinking among junior enlisted of about 2 percent, and now about 56 percent of junior enlisted said they have engaged in binge drinking at least once in the past month," Mr. Watkins said.
"'That Guy' is anyone who, after drinking an excessive amount of alcohol, loses their self control," he said. "This frequently has humiliating or embarrassing results, and some of us may be older (than) 18 to 24 and have been 'That Guy' perhaps in our distant past."

DOD surveys have found that while men are more likely to engage in binge drinking, it can apply to anyone who, because of excessive drinking, "behaves in a manner where your friends just don't want to be around you or copy you," Mr. Watkins said.

Early data shows that attitudes are changing, he noted.

"That early data does indicate that attitudes ... toward excessive drinking have begun to shift in a positive direction," Mr. Watkins said.

Offering support, particularly for servicemembers who recently have returned from combat, is part of educating them on the negative health consequences of excessive drinking, he said.

"Deployment is definitely a risk factor for disorders such as anxiety and binge drinking, and each of the four armed services have several programs that address these programs both through prevention and treatment," he said.

Small and large military installations around the world actively participate in the "That Guy" program.

"We have nearly 150 installations that are involved that range from the giant installations to the smallest," Mr. Watkins said.

The campaign is based on social marketing research concerning changing behaviors, Watkins emphasized, and is not an abstinence campaign. He added that officials want people to think before they take their next drink and to avoid becoming "That Guy."

"The aim is to raise awareness, and ultimately change drinking behavior among the targeted audience," he said. "An example is while most people agree that drinking and driving is unacceptable, maybe they don't feel that same way about getting just totally wasted, as long as they don't harm anyone other than themselves. But what we are trying to do is point that out and promote peer disapproval about out-of-control behavior."
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source: Air Force Link, http://www.af.mil