Alcohol | Addiction Treatment Strategies

New research to be presented at next week’s International Conference on Drugs and Young Peopleshows that many 12-17year olds are attracted to drinking alcoholic energy drinks (AEDs), especially when they look like soft drinks or regular energy drinks.
The research undertaken by the University of Wollongong presents the views of Australian adolescents talking about alcohol energy drinks. These products – which combine alcohol, soft drinks, and ingredients such as caffeine and guarana – are a relatively new entry to the alcopop market.
Almost half of those surveyed (43%) agreed that they would be more likely to purchase an…

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Recent research has implicated the endogenous opioid system in the development of alcohol use disorders. The A118G polymorphism of the OPRM1 gene has been shown to confer functional differences to mu-opioid receptors, such that the G variant binds beta-endorphin three times more strongly than the A variant. The goal of this study was to test whether the A118G polymorphism is associated with sensitivity to the effects of alcohol.
METHODS: Participants who were either homozygous for the A allele (n = 23) or heterozygous (n = 15) received intravenous doses of alcohol designed to reach three target levels of breath…

Thanks in part to studies that follow subjects for a long time, psychologists are learning more about differences between people. In a new article published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, the author describes how psychologists can use their data to learn about the different ways that people’s minds work.
 
Most psychology research is done by asking a big group of people the same questions at the same time. “So we might get a bunch of Psych 101 undergrads, administer a survey, ask about how much they use alcohol and what their mood is, and just look and…

Parents with tweens or teens often wonder how to effectively parent their children so that the kids can make sound decisions even when their parents are not around, including decisions about drugs and alcohol.
 
A recent study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs has confirmed that parenting style, in fact, does have an influence on their child’s impulsiveness, including control over their drinking, and the possibility of alcohol problems. Julie Patock-Peckham, Ph.D., and colleagues broke parenting styles into three categories: authoritarian (emphasis on rules and obedience and lack of discussion), authoritative (clear…

Researchers showed that human subjects with the 118G variant of the mu-opioid receptor released dopamine from the ventrial striatum of the brain in response to alcohol, while those with the more common 118A variant of this receptor did not. They then demonstrated that mice carrying the gene for the 118G receptor variant showed a fourfold higher peak dopamine response to alcohol compared to mice with the 118A receptor variant gene. … > read full article
Related articles
Genetic variant that can lead to severe impulsivity identified (addictionts.com)
Neurological protein may hold the key to new treatments for depression…

Researchers have known for decades that alcohol can initially deepen sleep during the early part of the night but then disrupt sleep during the latter part of the night; this is called a “rebound effect.” A new study of the influence of gender and family history of alcoholism on sleep has found that intoxication can increase feelings of sleepiness while at the same time disrupt actual sleep measures in healthy women more than in healthy men.
Results will be published in the May 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.
“It’s clear that a substantial…

Current alcohol consumption guidelines are inadequate for the prevention of cancer and new international guidelines are needed, states an analysis in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
 Guidelines in some countries are not currently based on evidence for long-term harm. Most guidelines are based on studies that assessed the short-term effects of alcohol, such as social and psychological issues and hospital admissions, and were not designed to prevent chronic diseases. As well, in some countries, alcohol producers were either part of working groups defining sensible drinking or instrumental in dissemination of the…

The vodka Red Bull, or VRB, has become a favorite cocktail among some young revelers. (One fan even made a video homage, to the tune of Rupert Holmes’ 1979 hit “Escape:The Pi?a Colada Song.”) But scientists say that tipplers of caffeine-laden energy drinks mixed with alcohol may have a tougher time knowing when to stop than those who imbibe booze alone.
Researchers at Northern Kentucky University tested students’ reaction times while drinking Red Bull with vodka. The students who drank the buzzy cocktail felt more alert and peppy than students who were just quaffing vodka, but were just as bad at controlling their…

Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR) has received a $10 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to provide DNA extraction, basic genetic testing, and repository services for more than 46,000 saliva samples, in support of national research efforts to determine the genetic and environmental factors that lead to alcoholism.
 
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, alcohol abuse and its related problems cost the United States billions of dollars each year in lost productivity; illness; property destruction, violence, and crime; and social welfare…

Young drinkers are more likely than other underage drinkers to get alcohol from their family, according to data from the most recent National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Nearly one-half of youths ages 12 to 14 who drank alcohol in the past month obtained the alcohol from a parent, guardian, or other adult family member* (31%) or took the alcohol from their own home (15%). In contrast, 27% of underage drinkers ages 15 to 17 and 18% of those ages 18 to 20 reported getting alcohol from family or their home the last time they drank. These findings suggest the need for increased parental education on the effects of early alcohol use as well…