Heavy alcohol consumption, specifically three or more glasses of liquor a day, is associated with an increased risk of death from pancreatic cancer, according to a report in the March 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Parents who are both present and engaged are the very best way of preventing teenagers from consuming large quantities of alcohol. Adolescents who smoke, stay out with their friends, and have access to alcohol – from their parents, for example – when they are as young as 13 are at greater risk of becoming binge drinkers in their late teens, reveals a new thesis from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Check the end of this report for a link to download the full-text thesis.
A study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory demonstrated that drug addicted individuals who have a certain genetic makeup have decreased gray matter density – and therefore fewer neurons – in areas of the brain that are essential for decision-making, self-control, and learning and memory. The research, conducted by scientists from Brookhaven Lab, Stony Brook University, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is reported in the March 7, 2011 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Nearly half of American teen drinkers would rather have a shot of liquor than a bottle of beer, a new study finds. The golden brew and malt beverages only come a distant second and third, and wine barely registers on the radar. Teens who prefer liquor are much more likely to indulge in high-risk behavior, like binge drinking, drinking and driving, smoking tobacco or marijuana, and having multiple sexual partners, researchers also found.
Rutgers Alcohol Problem Index (RAPI), a widely used index for assessing adolescent drinking-related problems, was found to be effective at predicting the future alcohol dependence of teen-age drinkers, according to an Indiana University study which also found that the association was stronger for adolescent female drinkers. The results are available now online in advance of print in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Check the end of this report for a link to download a free copy of the RAPI.
Experts agree that long-term alcohol abuse is detrimental to memory function and can cause neuro-degenerative disease. However, according to a study published in Age and Ageing by Oxford University Press, there is evidence that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption may decrease the risk of cognitive decline or dementia. The publisher made the original full-text study available for free for an undetermined amount of time; check the end of this report for a download link.
It is known that education decreases the incidence of cardiovascular disease. New research published in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Public Health demonstrates that education is also correlated with lower blood pressure and a decrease in other factors which influence health such as alcohol, smoking, and weight gain. Check the end of this report for a link to download the original, open access study.
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.
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