Alcohol Addiction News and Research

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WA alcohol regulations sparks debate

According to the liquor industry tightening alcohol regulations by toughening availability of alcohol in Western Australia will only serve to push addicts and binge drinkers onto other drugs.

23 Jun 2011

Drinking restrictions for the elderly

According to a new report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, people over the age of 65 are being advised not to drink more than half a pint of beer a day.

23 Jun 2011

Australians getting fatter but living longer and smoking less: Health report card

Experts formulating a report on Australia’s health related figures say that Australian men and women are living longer than ever thanks to a drop in deaths from notorious diseases and cancer, but the rising weight has left the door open to a host of new health problems. The key finding of a major study released today was that excess weight carried by one in four children and more than 60 per cent of adults was contributing to an increase in chronic diseases across the country.

19 Jun 2011

Hand sanitizer ingested by recovering alcoholic patient

Authorities are having another look at their provision of alcohol-based hand rub after an alcoholic patient drank six bottles of hand sanitizers at The Alfred hospital, Melbourne, Australia. This was the alcohol equivalent of about 20 glasses of beer. Doctors reported the incident in The Medical Journal of Australia yesterday.

19 Jun 2011

Children of parents who drink, likely to take up the bottle: Study

According to a latest survey of young teenagers, children who see their parents drunk are twice as likely to regularly get drunk themselves. Poor parental supervision also raises the likelihood of teenage drinking, said the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

17 Jun 2011

Alcohol related hospital admissions rise sharply: Report

The number of alcohol-related hospital admissions in England has exceeded one million in a year for the first time say reports. The reports reveal that the number of drink-induced hospital visits has more than doubled since 2003, with a 12 per cent year-on-year increase between April 2009 and March 2010 pushing the total to 1,057,000.

29 May 2011

People who have close relative with type I alcoholism react more positively to alcohol

Scientists have long known that people who have a close relative with alcohol problems themselves run an increased risk of starting to abuse alcohol. The reason for this has not been known, but a new study from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, provides part of the answer.

24 May 2011

Teen alcohol consumption associated with computer use

Teenagers who drink alcohol spend more time on their computers for recreational use, including social networking and downloading and listening to music, compared with their peers who don't drink.

9 May 2011

When Government usurps responsibility, people are more likely to abdicate

We hear much talk about preventive care, but nobody has defined it. From the content of the discussions, I deduce that what the health bureaucrats actually refer to would be better characterized as “early detection.” Early detection is what occurs when a physician finds a disease in its early stages that might have been prevented by earlier measures. But who can take those measures? Not the physician, only the patient. There is only one person living the patient’s life; it is the patient. I cannot live his life for him.

9 May 2011

Alcohol and raised cancer risk: Report

These numbers come from the Cancer Council analysis that reveals the number of cancer cases caused by long-term drinking in Australia is far higher than previously thought, following strong international evidence of its link to a broader range of cancer types.

1 May 2011

Northern Territory alcohol purchasing laws tighten

According to new laws nearly 11,000 people in Alice Springs and Katherine have to obtain other forms of identification to buy alcohol later this year. Some residents in the towns now use Tangentyere identification or other cards to meet a photo ID requirement. The Northern Territory Government is changing its ID scanner system and will only accept driving licenses, proof-of-age cards and passports.

13 Apr 2011

Biological Psychiatry publishes Omeros' PPAR-gamma addiction program

Omeros Corporation today announced that research on the PPAR-gamma agonists it is developing in its Addiction franchise has been published in the April 1, 2011 issue of the Journal of Biological Psychiatry.

7 Apr 2011

Cliffside encourages patients to continue antidepressant use despite health risks

Cliffside Malibu, one of America's leading drug and alcohol treatment centers, is strongly urging its patients who are currently taking antidepressants not to stop, despite a new study and subsequent media reports that such drugs could raise the risk of heart attack or stroke in middle-age men taking the medications.

7 Apr 2011

TZDs might serve as new agents for addiction treatment

Thiazolidinediones are a class of medications that are commonly prescribed to treat type-2 diabetes, while fibrates are a structurally-related class of medications that are prescribed to modulate lipid levels in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients to help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

6 Apr 2011

Northern Territory will soon see tough alcohol regulations

Residents of Australia’s Northern Territory have been plagued by alcohol related crimes and have urged the government to come to their aid. Drink-related social problems in the ‘Red Centre’ have even led federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to call for a second federal intervention in towns such as Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine.

31 Mar 2011

Scots drinking too much: Report

According to a survey by Britains’s NHS, people of Scotland are drinking too much. Deaths related to alcohol are at an all time high in the country. The survey finds that Scots are consuming an additional 1.2 litres of pure alcohol per year. Alcohol-related deaths and hospital admissions are four times higher since the 1980’s. A recent report has also showed that alcohol related deaths were six-fold higher among the poor people.

21 Mar 2011

Heavy drinking related to pancreatic cancer: Study

According to the latest research, heavy drinkers have an increased risk of dying from pancreatic cancer. The study has shown that non-smokers who have three or more drinks of hard liquor a day face a 36 percent higher risk of dying from pancreatic cancer, compared with non-drinkers. Smoking is a definite risk for pancreatic cancer. The report is published in the March 14 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

15 Mar 2011

2007 financial crisis linked to increase in patients seeking treatment for prescription drug and painkiller addiction

The 2007 onset of the financial crisis that upended the U.S. economy and impacted global markets correlated closely with unprecedented numbers of patients seeking treatment for prescription drug addiction and painkiller abuse, according to leading rehabilitation center Cliffside Malibu. The Cliffside Index, the percentage of patients admitted for treatment related to those medications, rose over 60 percent between 2007 and 2008, and has continued to increase each year.

15 Feb 2011

Personalized feedback can serve as effective tool for people with addictive behaviors

As mental health care costs and problem gambling rates continue to rise, University of Missouri researchers are developing a personalized feedback tool that could serve as an effective and inexpensive way for people with addictive behavior-related problems to get the help they need.

7 Feb 2011

Major breakthrough: Genome-based medicine for treatment of alcoholism

For the first time in alcohol addiction research, UVA investigators have successfully treated alcohol-dependent individuals with medication that is tailored specifically to match their genetic profile.

21 Jan 2011