A recent study conducted through the Université de Bretagne-Sud in France shows that there may be a connection between risky behavior and tattoos and piercings. The study’s findings are published in a recent issue off the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

The study is the first of its kind to be conducted in France and shows a connection between alcohol consumption and tattoos and piercings. The research found that body piercings and tattoos and are associated with more alcohol per liter of exhaled breath.

Corresponding author of the study, Nicolas Guéguen, is a professor of social behavior. He explained that many earlier studies have shown that those with body art are more liable to engage in risky behaviors than those without body art. Examples of such risky behaviors are fighting, theft, unprotected sex and excessive alcohol consumption.

The researchers conducted tests on four separate Saturday nights, a popular night for visiting clubs and bars among youth in France. The researchers collected breath samples from a total of 2,970 individuals, with the sample comprised of 1,710 males and 1,260 females.

The breathalyzer was utilized as the young people were exiting the club or bar and each individual was asked if they had tattoos or piercings. With the breathalyzer, the researchers were able to assess the amount of alcohol consumed among both those with body art and those without.

Experts in the field say that it may be necessary to remember that those who are in the age group that was examined are generally more likely to engage in risky behavior than those in other age groups. The association may have much to do with age, they say.

The researchers found that those exiting bars who had tattoos or piercings had consumed more alcohol than those without body art. This is the first time that the association between alcohol consumption and tattoos and piercings had been made in France.

The authors of the study say that physicians, educators and parents should consider tattoos and piercings as potential indicators that drinking is part of an individual’s choices. This might be helpful in beginning an open dialogue about alcohol consumption as well as other potentially risky behaviors.

While the research is helpful for identifying a potential sign of alcohol consumption, it is necessary to use caution to prevent tattoos and piercing from being used as a profiling or stereotyping tool.

A new study confirms that even small or moderate levels of alcohol consumed may lead to changes in DNA that affect breast tissue and these changes that are experienced can lead to cancer. The study followed over 29,000 women found that when they consumed even 10 grams of alcohol per day (about one drink), they significantly increased their risk for noncancerous lesions and cells.

Their risk was elevated by 15 percent, according to the study, of developing the changes. The condition is called proliferative benign breast disease.

Led by Dr. Graham Colditz from the Siteman Cancer Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, the study showed that consuming alcohol in late adolescence increased the risk of developing benign changes in the breast that lead to cancer.

Colditz explained that though the risks are significant, the information gained by the study provides an opportunity for young women to change. The findings are published in the May issue of the journal Pediatrics.

The American Cancer Society says that there is an increased risk of breast cancer for those who consume alcohol. Women who consume between two and five drinks per day increase their risk for breast cancer 1.5 times, compared with those who do not consume alcohol.

The researchers sought to examine whether introducing foalte levels that are high might reduce the risk of developing cancer among women who consume alcohol. The trial was introduced because alcohol is believed to make folate unavailable to the body. Folate is important for healthy sustaining of DNA.

The research team examined information collected in the Nurses’ Health Study II, which included information about women’s folate and alcohol and consumption. The researchers gathered data about alcohol consumption between the ages of 18 and 22.

The analysis revealed that folate intake did not affect the development of benign breast disease, yet alcohol consumption did have an impact. The researchers discovered that among 659 instances of benign breast disease, the greater amount of alcohol a female consumed, the greater chance she had of developing the changes in the breast associated with benign breast disease.

The findings show that alcohol consumed during early adulthood can have an important influence on the development of breast disease. While not everyone who has benign breast disease eventually develops cancer, it is a significant risk factor for the cancer.

The findings also highlight the importance of choices made during late adolescence and early adulthood. Early alcohol consumption can have a significant impact on later health.

Several Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions have restricted alcohol sales to only stores run by the government, as researchers report these findings for public health concerns. Researchers studied 89 local areas in British Columbia and found there was a 40 percent increase in numbers of private alcohol retailers from 2003 to 2008.

The liters of alcohol sold in those stores each year rose up to 84 percent and government stores declined slightly. For each private store per 1,000 people in the community, alcohol-related local deaths increased by 27.5 percent.

These findings don’t prove the culprit is necessarily privatization but there is a strong correlation between the rise in private retailers and such alcohol-related deaths, said Tim Stockwell, lead researcher at the University of Victoria in B.C. Stockwell says the provinces should think long and hard before heading further down the road of privatizing alcohol sales.

The findings also show relevance here in the United States where some states already control liquor sales, with the exception of beer and wine. In Virginia, the study already hit the news and the governor there is promoting a plan to privatize their state’s government-owned liquor stores.

These findings were based on the governmental date from 89 local "health" areas in British Columbia. The study concluded that in those communities an average of eight in every 10,000 people died because of an alcohol-related reason in the years between 2003 and 2008.

The pharmaceutical company Lundbeck enrolled more than 2000 alcoholics in the study. Two- thirds of them had never been treated for alcohol abuse. After the first month of using the drug Nalmefene, most started to drink less alcohol and have fewer "heavy drinking" days. After a year on the drug therapy, their alcohol consumption had been reduced by 50%.

Nalmefene is an opioid antagonist that reduces a person’s taste for alcohol and desire to drink. It can be prescribed once a day or on an "as needed" basis. The drug is proving promising in the treatment of other addictions, including opiate dependency and even behavioral-based addictions, such as gambling.

The new drug treatment is considered controversial because a person with an alcohol dependency may be able to drink in moderation. A Danish market research team advised the Lundbeck company that it may have difficulty selling the drug to physicians and addiction treatment specialists because the most usual protocol is to advise recovering alcoholics never to drink at all. Nevertheless, officials at Lundbeck said they planned to continue their experiments and anticipate making the product available.

"We are pleased that we now have reached a stage with Nalmefene where we can plan the regulatory process with expected submission of the (European Union marketing) application by the end of the year," said Anders Gersel Pedersen, director of development at Lundbeck.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved three drugs for alcoholism recovery programs. These include Antabuse (disulfiram), which causes people to become nauseous if they drink alcohol; Naltrexone (revia), which reduces alcohol cravings and blocks its effects in the brain; and acamprosate (Campral), which treats alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Researchers from the Center for Studies Of Addiction in the Treatment Research Center at The University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine studied 170 alcohol-dependent patients with major depressive disorders for 14 weeks. Two different drugs were used: Naltrexone, a drug used to treat alcohol dependence, and an antidepressant medication called sertraline. Everyone in the study received weekly cognitive behavioral therapy, a form of individual counseling effective in substance abuse treatment. However, one group took only Naltrexone; another group took only sertraline; one group took a combination of the two drugs; and finally, one group took no drugs at all, just placebos. The group that took the combination had a higher rate of alcohol abstinence (54%) compared to 21% in the Naltrexone-only group, 23% in the sertraline-only group, and 23% in the placebo group.

The authors of the study said that doctors treating addictions are often reluctant to use drug therapies, because they "do not want to treat drugs with drugs."

"Fortunately, this attitude is fading as scientists impart knowledge to professionals and the public about the possibilities of correcting the neurobiology of addiction by treating the addicted brain with certain medications," author Helen Pettinati wrote in her report published in the journal Psychiatric Times. "While these findings require replication, they provide a practical recommendation to integrate or combine two medications — one for treating alcohol dependence and one for treating depression. The combined pharmacotherapy, with some platform counseling that integrates support and advice for both disorders, can provide an aggressive approach to treating co-occurring depression and alcohol dependence."

Statistics compiled on 43,093 adults in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions found that 20% of those with major depressive disorders also had alcohol dependent disorders. Depression and alcohol dependence are risk factors for one another, and severity in one is associated with severity in the other. Alcohol dependence makes depression lasts longer. Patients who are depressed after they stop drinking are more likely to relapse into heavy drinking. Studies have also found that untreated depression predicts the worst outcome for alcoholic dependence.

The reason physicians usually do not treat the two disorders simultaneously is medications react with one another and with alcohol. Also, if the alcohol dependence is what causes the depression, then the depression will go away once the person stops drinking. In those cases, taking antidepressant drugs is not necessary.

Many physicians believe that genetic risk factors for mood disorders, including depression, may overlap for risk factors for alcohol dependence, which may be why the two disorders tend to "travel" together.

The findings referred to in Science Daily show how gender roles among heterosexual couples experience radical strains when the male partner experiences depression and the female tries to help. Depression is most often thought of as being a "woman’s" health issue and is often underreported among men. Therefore, little is known about how heterosexual couples handle it when the male is depressed.

The study underscores that women play an important role in helping their male partner manage depression. Since relationships are fundamental to how health decisions are made within the family dynamic, we need more research to better understand those dynamics.

The study found the "trading places" scenario to be most common pattern in heterosexual relationships. Partners typically took on atypical female and male roles in order to cope with the challenges created by the male’s depression. In these cases, men took on the homemaker role and the women went to work as the breadwinner.

In the "business as usual" scenario, the couples downplayed the problems caused by the male’s depression and held firm to gender roles despite the male’s struggle with depression as they maintained their careers.

In the "edgy tensions" pattern, the couples were caught in dysfunctional relationships. Each already held ideas of gender roles that differed from their partner’s view and they wrestled with resentment. Men often were involved with alcohol or illicit drugs to manage their depression.

The study was conducted on men from 20 to 53 years of age who had differing levels of education, from some high school to graduate level degrees.

In a recent study, published in the January edition of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, researchers examined the relationship between alcohol consumption and injury to determine how alcohol increases the risk for injury.

Corresponding author Ted R. Miller, senior research scientist at the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, and colleagues wanted to know the extent to which serious injury was due to the consumption of alcohol. The researchers examined the proportional decline in injury when alcohol was not a factor.

The researchers began by investigating data about national alcohol consumption and looking at metabolism rates for alcohol in order to establish the number of hours that were spent "alcohol positive" versus "alcohol negative" for heavy drinkers. The results indicated that alcohol use is heavily associated with hospitalized injury. For heavy drinkers, despite an ability to better tolerate alcohol than those who drink moderately, the risk for injury more than tripled when they were drinking.

When heavy drinkers were alcohol-positive, their risk was 4.5 times that when sober. While heavy drinkers can, within limits, tolerate alcohol better, they still significantly raise their risk for injury when drinking. In addition, heavy drinkers are 1.35 times more likely than non-heavy drinkers to experience an injury when sober. This may be due to the effects of a hangover.

The study also found that alcohol raises the risk for near drowning, assault and non-elderly fall. A large number of hospitalizations for injury are associated with alcohol; 36 percent of assaults resulting in hospitalization and 21 percent of injuries are connected with alcohol consumption by the person injured.

Moderate drinkers also have a high risk of injury requiring hospitalization. In fact, their rate is even higher than that of heavy drinkers. This is likely due to moderate drinkers being less accustomed to the effects of alcohol.

This information is helpful in understanding the risks of injury while under the influence of alcohol on beverage bottles. Understanding the significant rates of injury associated with heavy alcohol consumption may help consumers make wise alcohol-related decisions.

The research highlighted that alcohol does not help with the effects of certain diseases and can, in fact, cause a longer period of recovery after burns, injury and physical trauma. Alcohol is further known to hinder the response of anti-viral immunity, specifically in the liver. Alcohol alters the function of monocytes and consumption causes a double-negative result of decreasing anti-viral effects of IFN and increasing inflammation of pro-inflammatory TNFa.

The research team focused on two disease-related pathways. The results showed that the activation of both pathways resulted in increases in anti-viral cytokine IFN levels. However, the result was decreased by an alcohol treatment that was equivalent to four to five drinks per day for a week. Likewise, the stimulation of the pathways showed a rise in levels for the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNFa.

Researchers concluded that alcohol has a strong effect by inhibiting IFN production of monocytes regardless of the danger signal to both pathways. In addition, prolonged alcohol exposure changes the immune balance of the activation of the monocytes and thus impairs the host response.

A study conducted in Finland sought to understand the discrepancies between advances made among those with Type 1 diabetes, or those diagnosed early in life, and the worsening survival rate among those whose diabetes was diagnosed later.

The study’s findings reveal that alcohol has become a significant cause of death among those with Type 1 diabetes in the last three decades. In addition, the early onset Type 1 diabetes survival rates of those diagnosed during earlier childhood have gotten better over the years. By contrast, those diagnosed in later childhood and early adulthood, from 15 and 29 years, have gotten worse in the past 30 years.

In other words, those who were diagnosed early with Type 1 diabetes have seen a significant increase in survival rates, while those diagnosed later have seen a decline in survival rates.

Despite many advances in diabetes care, Type 1 diabetes is still associated with a short lifespan, often caused by acute or chronic complications. This is the first study to present information about the contrast between diabetes diagnosed early and later in life.

The researchers recruited 17,306 patients diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The subjects were all under 30 years old between 1970 and 1999. Over a time frame of approximately 21 years, the researchers examined the causes of death.

From 1970 to 2007, early onset patients experienced a significant improvement in survival rates, but the researchers explain that this is due to fewer chronic problems caused by diabetes during the first 20 years after diagnosis of the disease.

However, among patients who were diagnosed later, mortality went up over time, with acute and chronic problems worsening for these patients. The authors attribute the mortality rates to involvement with drugs and alcohol, in addition to acute diabetes complications.

In fact, the authors of the study report that 39 percent of deaths among patients diagnosed in later childhood or early adulthood were due to drug- and alcohol-related causes.

The authors of the study believe that the study’s findings highlight the value of strong relationships between doctor and patient, including communication and guidance as the patient enters the years when drugs and alcohol may present themselves as one of the issues the diabetic must face.

According to an article in Medical News Today, general practitioners in Scotland realized that on a single day last April there were more than 5,500 consultations that took place in their country related to alcohol. This equates to nearly 1.4 million visits to doctors in one year, making up 6% of all consultations for GP’s and over £28 million in costs to health systems. Most of us know that drinking large amounts of alcohol on a routine basis has serious consequences for our health and is also not a cheap habit to have.

Taxpayers in Scotland pay roughly £3.56 billion a year due to alcohol consumption and related healthcare costs. On an average Scotland day:

• Alcohol-related crimes and violence will cost £97.5 million and will kill five people.
• 98 people will enter a hospital due to alcohol-related incidents.
• 23 people will commit a drunken driving offense.
• There will be 450 victims of brutal crimes that will notice their assailants have been drinking alcohol.

The chairman of the BMA in Scotland, Dr. Brian Keighley, says their government has embraced policies on the challenges of alcohol misuse but there is a failure on the Scottish Parliaments’ side to support pricing to affect the drinking habits of the Scottish. Keighley says it is imperative that parliament support their legislation on introducing new pricing for alcohol sales.

Scotland’s BMA realizes that if this alcohol trend continues their services will struggle to handle this problem.