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.

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.

The problem is a complete contrast to most other nations where this is typically a problem among teenagers and young adults, according to researchers. However, in Chinese society alcohol is thought to be a societal tool that holds value. It is encouraged for older men and women to drink during lunches or dinners in order to improve relationships with business associates or friends and to help maintain a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.

It appears that binge drinking has even become prevalent among the moderate drinker. New research proves that a person’s pattern of drinking is associated with an increased risk for death. Research also shows a higher chance of cardiovascular problems and injuries, both intentional and unintentional, that occur among even those with light to moderate drinking patterns.

The researchers studied almost 50,000 Chinese, with 53% being women 15 to 69 years old in 2007. All of the participants were personally interviewed regarding their sociodemographic factors and their present drinking patterns. The results proved that almost 36% of current drinkers had at least one alcoholic drink in the past year. Male drinking was 55.6% and binge drinking was defined as over 50 to 40 grams respectively, in just one day during the past year.

Interestingly, in China, the drinking rate increased with the amount of higher education and income levels. Researchers say this may be because in China people with greater educational achievements gain a higher status in social circles and thus are more inclined to partake in these social interactions.

Whether in a pool or in the ocean, alcohol adds great risk to swimming. Just as it does for non-swimmers, alcohol negatively affects ones judgment while increasing the likelihood that they will engage in high risk behavior. For the ocean swimmer this could mean swimming further out than is actually safe or insensitivity to body temperature from an extended period in cold water leading to hypothermia. In some cases, the body loses its designed ability to drive blood to its core to maintain necessary body core temperature. For surfers it could mean choosing to attempt waves that don’t match their true skill level. Swimmers at the neighborhood pool are also at risk after consuming alcohol. Divers with impaired judgment may strike their head on the diving board or attempt to dive into water that is far too shallow.

Boating, even fishing, becomes more dangerous when alcohol is being consumed. In fact, alcohol is related to 60% of boating fatalities. Boat operators with as little as .1% blood alcohol content (BAC) have a 16x greater likelihood of dying in a boating accident compared to boat operators with 0% BAC. This is because not only judgment, but balance, vision and ability to react are all impaired when alcohol is consumed. Something as simple as standing in the boat can lead to tragedy when the person falls overboard because they were drinking alcohol.

Finally, not only will alcohol make it more likely for people on the water to end up in a dangerous situation, alcohol can also make it harder for those people to escape the danger. One example: drinking alcohol produces physiological changes that can affect a person’s ability to call for help. Normally, when water enters a person’s windpipe it precipitates a reflex action to close the windpipe. Alcohol can make it difficult for the person in danger to maintain an even and regular breathing pattern. In fact, alcohol can trigger spasms which close the airway entirely.

Water sports are part of the joy of summer. Sharing cocktails or a beer with friends in the great outdoors can also be a fun way to relax and enjoy the vacation months. It is important however to realize the inherent danger of combining these two pastimes and choose instead to enjoy your pleasures unmixed.

Type I alcoholism is less severe but more common than type II alcoholism, which has a strong genetic risk. Type I alcoholism is characterized by a relatively late onset of alcoholism in people with healthy social skills and a low prevalence of family alcoholism, according to the authors.

The researchers gave three alcoholic drinks or a placebo to 51 men and women who either had a positive family history of alcoholism (FHP) or no family history of alcoholism (FHN). They found that FHP patients reported more stimulant-like effects from the alcohol than FHN patients, said Harriet de Wit, a professor in the psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience department at the University of Chicago.

This finding suggests that even children of type I alcoholics may inherit characteristics that change the way the respond to alcohol, which may increase their risk for alcohol abuse. Stimulant-like subjective effects from alcohol and many other drugs are often associated with an increased risk for abuse, according to the researchers.

First author Anna H.V. Soderpalm Gordh, an assistant professor at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, said that this study tells us that some people are more sensitive to the rewarding properties of alcohol, which may lead to alcohol abuse.

She added that people should be aware of their reaction to alcohol. If you think you might feel happier or more rewarded than your friends when you drink, try to slow down or stop drinking. People who find it difficult to slow down or stop drinking should seek treatment.

Source: HealthDay News, Some More Sensitive to Effects of Alcohol, Study Finds, May 16, 2011
 

A study from the Loyola University Health System offers evidence that injuries sustained while intoxicated may be more dangerous than previously understood. The researchers found that binge drinking could change the body’s immune system response when orthopedic surgery is performed.

Led by bone biologist John Callaci, PhD, the study was conducted on animal models. It was recently published in the April 20, 2011 edition of the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

Previous research published in the American Journal of Orthopedics showed that a high rate of patients with fractures tested positive for alcohol in their blood and almost a third were shown to be legally drunk. Additional studies have associated alcohol with longer hospital stays and higher infection rates for trauma patients.

After an injury, the immune system produces an inflammatory response. However, in cases of severe injury, the inflammatory response can overwhelm the system and cause organ failure or acute respiratory distress syndrome. When determining when to perform necessary orthopedic surgery, physicians must take into account the levels of the inflammatory response.

The researchers found that in animal models, measuring blood markers of the inflammatory response may be unreliable if the patient has consumed alcohol. When the rats were injected with the equivalent of 2.5 times the legal limit of alcohol for driving and had an injury (in this case, broken legs), the alcohol actually boosted the inflammatory response.

Binge alcohol consumption resulted in contradictory signs of inflammatory response levels. When the researchers tested the chemical markers in the blood, the alcohol seemed to be suppressing the inflammatory response. When the lungs were examined, however, the opposite was found. Alcohol had actually boosted the inflammatory response.

The authors of the study believe that the difference in measurements between the blood and the lungs of intoxicated animals shows that it is possible that alcohol is causing doctors to have a false sense of the inflammatory response in persons that require surgery after binge drinking results in injury.

The research conducted at Loyola University requires further study to determine whether the results can be duplicated in humans, but the results provide a platform for examining the higher risk of elevated inflammatory response after binge drinking.

In a survey of more than 3,000 people, researchers at Massey University in Auckland found that those with a family member or friend who is a heavy drinker generally provided low ratings to their own health and well-being.

When these individuals were compared with those who did not have a heavy drinker in their lives, they also performed at a lower level on standard measures of general health, such as chronic pain, anxiety and depression symptoms. Overall, these individuals had a lower satisfaction with life.

Sally Casswell, the lead researchers on this study, shared that the average effect was similar to what has been found in other studies of people caring for someone with a disability.

She suggests that there is a relationship between exposure to heavy drinkers and reduced personal well-being and poorer health status in the sample of the cross-sectional general population. More pointedly, she says that exposure to heavy drinkers could have a negative impact for others.

Casswell did acknowledge, however, that the findings do not prove that being around a heavy drinker caused the problems the participant experienced. Instead, she suggests that it is just a snapshot at one point in time and a correlation cannot be determined from this snapshot.
 

Although Tyler Jensen drove the car first, Hershey then got into the driver’s seat and offered to show them “how it’s done.” Hershey had the car going around 100 miles per hour when a truck pulled out onto the road in front of the Lancer. Although Hershey hit the breaks and swerved, the car hit the embankment and rolled over. When emergency personnel arrived, Jon Jansen was dead and his son, who complained of chest pains, was trying to revive him.

After the incident, Hershey’s blood alcohol level tested at .06. Although .06 is less than the legal BAC limit of .08, he also tested positive for marijuana. Hershey is facing charges for vehicular homicide, driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, and reckless endangerment. Although blood alcohol content testing is often used in legal proceedings to prove that a person was too drunk to drive, other evidence can lead to a DUI conviction even where the BAC has not reached .08.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41925835/ns/us_news/
 

Sometimes, however, women choose unhealthy ways of relieving stress, such as smoking or drinking alcohol. While substances like tobacco and alcohol may be widely believed to lower stress levels, their use can lead to a higher risk of heart disease and many types of cancer.

A recent study examined the potential factors that might be involved in a woman’s decision to drink. As part of the Women and Alcohol in Gothenburg population study through the Sahlgrenska Academy, occupational therapist Christina Andersson looked at the ways that everyday life affect how women make decisions about drinking.

Her examination through the University of Gothenburg revealed that women who are satisfied with everyday life and participate in leisure activities are rarely associated with problematic alcohol consumption.

One analysis asked 851 women between the ages of 20 and 55 about various aspects of everyday life, including work, leisure activities, how housework is divided and how much free time they have. They were also asked to report their level of personal satisfaction in each of the areas of everyday life.

Andersson’s examination found that alcohol dependence and abuse, high alcohol consumption and high episodic drinking were highly associated with women who were less involved in leisure activities. This association was present even if the women had ample time to themselves. Being satisfied with work and housework divisions was not necessarily linked to lower drinking rates.

Further, the data gathered by the population study showed that alcohol dependence was more likely among women who drink to deal with the stresses of everyday life (such as drinking to help them sleep or to combat negative feelings), along with those who drink more often and those who drink in isolation.

The effects of drinking to deal with stress can often result in adding stress, rather than alleviating its symptoms. Those struggling with alcohol dependence often struggle with employment and relationships, both with family and friends.

Women are encouraged to seek the help of a doctor or therapist if they feel that the stress of everyday life is motivating them to seek relief in alcohol. A qualified therapist may be able to help in finding a leisure activity that helps provide a healthy alternative to drinking.
 

Previous research indicated that drinkers are more likely to abuse stimulant drugs, including amphetamines.

"The idea behind the present study was to follow that study up with one in which we determined whether moderate drinkers were also more likely to work to receive amphetamine in the laboratory," said lead author of the new research, Dr. Craig Rush.

Dr. Rush and his colleagues divided 33 participants into moderate drinkers who consumed more than seven drinks a week, and light drinkers who had fewer than seven a week. Both groups took pills that had either high, low or zero doses of amphetamines, and then they worked at computer tasks in order to receive more pills. Both kinds of drinkers were willing to work harder for high doses of amphetamines. However, moderate drinkers were not interested in low doses, although the light drinkers were.

Dr. Rush concluded that even moderate drinking could therefore increase vulnerability to the effect of amphetamines.

This study appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.