A recent post on Reading Eagle addresses the reality that the holiday season can be one of the most anxiety-filled seasons of the year for people who are striving to maintain their alcohol addiction recovery. While the members of a recovering addict’s family are not directly responsible for that person’s progress toward sobriety, their level of support can be helpful in seeing a loved one through a difficult time.

Helping create a supportive atmosphere for a loved one or friend who has recently completed alcohol rehab, or is currently in the rehab process, may mean big changes – such as carrying out family celebrations without alcohol. Some families may even consider moving the date of a home-based party to later in the winter to help ease the stress for their loved one who is a recovering addict.

Several non-alcoholic beverages should be available freely, such as sparkling juices, but not promoted in such a way as to embarrass or put the person on the spot. While some members of the family will definitely notice the change, it’s also important to reiterate that when the person completes rehab successfully and moves toward long-term recovery, everyone benefits.

If friends are invited to participate in holiday gatherings where a person in recovery is present, experts ask party hosts to make sure these friends know that they can offer their support without judgment. Sometimes a person experiencing rehab from alcohol addiction may choose for the first time not to attend a family event – and this is a decision family members and friends should honor, realizing recovery comes first before the rest of their life can be carried out successfully.

Another tool people may use to maintain a focus on their recovery is to engage the support of a sponsor or 12-step support group. Many offer chapter meetings at whatever city the person may be visiting during the holidays.

Holiday Season Can Bring Stress for Those in Alcohol Rehab is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

While some who begin their early adulthood enjoying new freedoms through experimentation with alcohol, many of those individuals “age out,” trading partying for full-time employment as they graduate college and enter the work force.

However, for some, the party continues and the consequences are grave. The longer young adults prolong their abuse of alcohol, the longer they expose their bodies to increased risk of liver disease and multiple types of cancer.

A recent study by researchers based at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse showed that over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in substance abuse resulting in hospitalization. Between 1999 and 2008, there was a dramatic increase in hospitalizations for alcohol and drug overdose for those between the ages of 18 and 24.

The analysis showed that there was a 25 percent increase in hospitalizations related to alcohol overdose. In addition, there was a 56 percent increase observed in hospitalizations for drug overdose and a 76 percent increase for cases in which a combination of alcohol and drug overdose warranted hospitalization for those aged 18 to 24. The findings are disturbing, given the increased awareness among this age group about the risks associated with heavy alcohol and drug use.

The report also found that in 2008, a third of all hospitalizations for overdoses included some consumption of alcohol. For all individuals aged 18 and older, there were 1.6 million hospitalizations for overdoses in 2008. The total cost for these hospitalizations was $15.5 billion. Approximately half of the hospitalizations included alcohol overdoses. The findings support concern that heavy alcohol consumption represents a significant public health cost.

Many of the overdoses are occurring at an age when parents may still have significant influence in their children’s alcohol-related decision-making. Parents who suspect that their college-age son or daughter may be at risk for dangerous alcohol consumption should strive to keep communication open about alcohol and drug use.

The report findings are published in the September issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Alcohol Trends in Young Adults is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

The problem of substance abuse in Ireland is not garnering unprecedented attention, but some advocacy groups are trying to draw attention to another negative impact of substance abuse in the country – the impact on Ireland’s children. Alcohol Addiction Ireland has been campaigning for over three years to draw attention to these silent victims of substance abuse.

Parental Substance Abuse Impacts Children

The National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) in Ireland recently released a new report titled “Parental Substance Misuse: Addressing its Impact on Children.” The report was a compilation of all known significant international research which dealt with the topic of substance abusing parents and its impact on their children.

Those closest to the research said that the report makes plain that, compared to children whose parents are not abusers of alcohol or drugs, children whose parents abuse substances are significantly more apt to “experience a cascading chain of problems.” Those problems may include:

• Impaired mental health
• Poor academic performance
• Problems with social skills
• An increased likelihood that they themselves would suffer substance abuse problems

Alcohol and drug misuse lead to poor parenting, stressful family situations, and sometimes foster care or homelessness for children. For the child, this can create desperate feelings of emotional isolation frequently associated with social marginalization. Sadly, according to this report, the problems engendered by parental substance abuse do not end with childhood, but are likely to cause suffering throughout their adult lives and in many cases, even into the third generation.

How to Help Addicted Parents & Their Children

Steps to help solve the problem suggested within the report focused on a couple of key areas. First, the report highlights the necessity of better coordination among adult addiction services, child and family services, and the medical profession. Since addiction does not impact only one person, it only makes sense to more effectively coordinate healing efforts, too. Recent estimates suggest that somewhere between 61,000 and 104,000 children under the age of 15 years live with an alcoholic parent.

The study further suggests improvements in the area of prenatal substance abuse prevention. One study of women who came through the Coombe Women’s Hospital discovered that nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of the 43,318 women surveyed admitted to drinking while they were pregnant. Drinking during pregnancy can be extremely damaging to the baby, raising the risk of fetal alcohol disorders.

Alcohol Abuse in Ireland

Ireland consumes more alcohol per capita than any other European country. The rate of alcoholism in the country is climbing and it is taking a heavy toll on the country’s children. It is estimated by some that one in 10 adults in Ireland is alcoholic; other estimates predict that the rate of alcoholism is even higher.

The misuse of mood-altering substances never affects only the person who abuses drugs or alcohol but instead impacts a minimum of four to five other people around them – most often children. The negative impact of substance abuse on children can make childhood a period of emotional desperation and the scars do not go away, but continue to impact lives all the way into adulthood.

Children of Drug Addicts Are More Likely to Have Problems as Adults is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Complete details regarding the singer’s motivation are unknown, but friends who have spoken out on Sarah’s behalf say that it is no coincidence that her decision followed hard on the heels of a break-up with long-time fiancé DJ Tom Crane. Mr. Crane is reported to have long requested that Ms. Harding seek help in reforming her “party” lifestyle.

Other reports point to pressure from other Girls Aloud members, asking Ms. Harding to clean up her act, as the catalyst for her decision to enter drug rehab. Unconfirmed rumors have been buzzing that fellow group members wanted Sarah to be in better shape for a reunion and issued an ultimatum to “get help or lose out.” Friends around Ms. Harding say they had been suggesting for months that the celebrity seek out professional help.

Details are unclear, but what does seem clear is that Ms. Harding has been dealing with alcohol addiction for some time. Her entry into drug rehab was listed as encompassing treatment for depression as well. Since alcohol abuse and depression are often partnered, it isn’t much of a leap to believe that the singer is battling on both fronts. Friends say that she “hit bottom” and is ready to get her life back on track.

The singer had been involved in making a new adult comedy film, was looking into a much anticipated Girls Aloud tour, and from the outside seemed to be enjoying many blessings that youth, talent and beauty can provide. Ms. Harding’s words immediately following the split from her fiancée expressed fear, excitement and optimism. Then reports surfaced that she had followed Mr. Crane abroad in an effort to patch up the relationship. Alcohol abuse had apparently robbed Ms. Harding, as it has so many others, of the meaningful relationships which make up a happy life.

More recent reports indicate that her former fiancée has agreed to stand by Ms. Harding as she seeks alcohol treatment and may even attend counseling sessions with the star. While some tabloid reports have been distinctly cruel in mocking her drug rehab check-in, most of the press seems sympathetic toward her efforts. Having a support network to back up her alcohol treatment greatly improves her chances of overcoming alcohol addiction and depression.

Girls Aloud Singer Sarah Harding Entering Drug Rehab is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

The study further showed that those who are combined heavy smokers and heavy alcohol consumers are put at more extreme risk. Those individuals who smoked and drank heavily were by far the highest cancer risk for UADT cancer. The cancer risk was highest for those who only drank liquors and lowest for beer and wine drinkers, according to Medical News Today.

The group of scientists performing the study gathered their research from seven different centers in Argentina, Brazil and Cuba and focused on groups where these types of cancer frequently occurred. The risk was greater for those who were smokers versus non-smokers and lower for alcohol consumers alone.

Over time the risks associated with the cancer decreased steadily the longer the person went without smoking or drinking. The researchers noted that most of these types of cancers could easily be prevented if the individuals quit either of these two habits, drinking or smoking tobacco.

For those who had never smoked, alcohol barely contributed to a risk for these kinds of cancers. None of the links between the two vices were statistically significant.

Heavy Alcohol and Cigarette Use Contributes to Risk of Cancer is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

They’re wrong, say researchers.

In a study published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, May 2011, researchers from the Centre for Adolescent Health in Melbourne, Australia, and Seattle’s Social Development Research Group evaluated how parental treatment of teen drinking worked to promote or prevent the behavior. Nearly 2,000 adolescents, aged from seventh grade to ninth grade, were surveyed to learn about their alcohol consumption and challenges they had experienced from it.

While frequency of consumption and problems they reported differed from participants in Victoria, Australia, as compared to participants in Washington State, one finding remained the same: when they were permitted to consume alcohol around adults, the youths consumed more alcohol by the time they entered their freshman year of high school. They also noted more negative impacts by their ninth grade year than did their peers, according to recent news reports on the study.

Researchers concluded that parents should implement complete forbiddance of alcohol for teens, anywhere, anytime, to prevent future problems and further consumption. They believe youth respond best to clear-cut, direct guidance about alcohol being off-limits, rather than the convoluted message they receive when parents try to allow teens to consume small amounts of alcohol. Researchers also suggest that parents keep any alcohol in their home in an area teens can’t access.

Parents Who Allow Teens to Drink Sending Wrong Message, Says Study is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Even light drinking is associated with high BMI and decreased brain volumes, lower levels of important metabolite compounds in the brain, and lower glucose activity in the frontal lobe—an area that can experience deterioration due to alcohol dependence. Researchers from the Northern California Institute for Research and Education in San Francisco, University of California, San Francisco, and University of California, San Diego investigated whether the BMI of alcohol-dependent adults independently affected their regional measure of brain structure, metabolite concentrations, and neocortical blood flow. The researchers’ findings show that alcohol-related brain injuries in alcoholics may be caused by the deadly combination of excessive drinking, elevated BMI, and chronic cigarette smoking.

Because ethanol contains almost as many calories as fat, it is the main contributor to abdominal obesity in drinkers who drink 2–3 drinks per day. Unlike other areas of the body that are affected by excess weight, abdominal obesity can lead to greater health risks, including risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even dementia. Neurologically, high BMI in overweight and obese non-alcoholic individuals has been related to brain injury due to lowered concentrations of brain metabolites. Similarly, the researchers sought to determine whether alcoholics are at the same risk of brain injury due to their increased BMI in the overweight or obese range since heavy alcohol consumption is the main source of their excess weight. Because obesity among the U.S. population has progressively been rising in the past few years, the link between brain injury among alcoholics and non-alcoholics was significant to the researchers’ investigation.

In their study, lead researcher Dieter Meyerhoff, lead author Stefan Gazdzinski, and associate Susan Tapert retrospectively examined data on 54 alcohol-dependent men who has undergone treatment for their alcohol use to analyze the effects of alcohol dependence on their neurobiology. At the time of their study, the participants had been abstinent from alcohol for one month following their treatment and had BMI between 20–37 kg/m2. The participants’ BMI, brain volume, metabolic concentrations, and blood flow were measured through structural and perfusion MRI as well as from a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging scanner.

Researchers controlled such factors as the participants’ age, smoking status, and level of alcohol consumption during the study. As a result, higher BMI was related to lower levels of metabolite concentrations and blood flow in the frontal lobe. While it has generally been believed that alcohol abuse is the sole cause of poor brain health, the researchers found that high BMI is also associated with brain injury in alcoholics. Because alcoholics tend to increase their BMI due to their high drinking intake, they are at risk of obesity and adverse effects on the brain. Conclusively, the metabolic changes that occur as a result of their drinking may be the root of the alcoholics’ brain injuries. Furthermore, brain injury was exacerbated by chronic smoking in these alcoholics, in comparison to the non-smoking alcoholics.

The researchers explain that the occurrence of brain injury in the study’s population is complex. They suggest that the alcoholic men may have poor brain functioning due to their excessive drinking, which made decision-making more challenging when it came to consuming alcohol and food. In turn, obesity caused by their heavy drinking could have led to brain injury in these men, making the process a very cyclical action. In either case, better self-care is needed to help individuals suffering from alcoholism and obesity, including alcohol treatment, weight loss management, improved diet, and exercise in order to recover their general brain health.

Professor Gazdzinski is now a researcher at Jagiellonian University in Poland, Dr. Tapert is a professor of psychiatry at UCSD and director of Substance Abuse/Mental Illness in the VA San Diego Healthcare System, and Dr. Meyerhoff is a professor of radiology at UCSF and San Francisco Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center. Their new study will be available in the December 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and is currently published online.

Source: Medical News Today, Link Between Excessive Drinking, Poor Brain Health, Obesity, September 9, 2010

Alcohol Dependence Linked to Obesity, Poor Brain Health is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

The study, published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, was conducted by Mildred M. Maldonado-Molina, Ph.D., and Alexander C. Wagenaar, Ph.D., of the Department of Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, University of Florida, College of Medicine, Gainesville.

The researchers examined non-alcoholic deaths in Florida and other states’ rates of alcohol-related deaths using data from the US National Vital Statistics System of the National Center for Health Statistics. The data is based on information provided by physicians on individual death certificates.

Over the 36-year period, they observed 432 deaths per month in Florida. Through the study, they estimate that a 10 percent increase in tax would lead to a 22 percent decline in alcohol-related deaths. The study did not include deaths from alcohol-related accidents, crime, or violence.

Maldonado-Molina said that their study shows that raising taxes on alcohol can affect the death rate from cirrhosis of the liver, pancreatitis, gastric diseases, certain cancers, and cardiovascular disease.

A previous study by the same researchers looked at the effects of substantial tax increases in Alaska, and found that the increased taxes helped reduce the alcohol-related mortality rate. The researchers decided to conduct a similar study in Florida because Alaska has a substantially higher rate of alcohol-related deaths than the national average and is very different in characteristics when compared to other states.

The last time alcohol taxes were raised in Florida was in 1981, when the per-gallon tax on beer increased from $0.40 to $0.48, the per-gallon wine tax went from $1.75 to $2.25, and the per-gallon tax on spirits went from $4.75 to $6.50.

Wagenaar explained that due to inflation, Florida’s alcohol taxes are a quarter of what they were in the 1960s, so returning them to the 1960s levels would save about 1,500 lives per year.

Sources: Science Daily, Alcohol Taxes Can Reduce Death Rates Among Chronic Heavy Drinkers, August 9, 2010

Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, Effects of Alcohol Taxes on Alcohol-Related Mortality in Florida: Time-Series Analyses From 1969 to 2004, July 23, 2010

Increasing Alcohol Taxes Could Save Lives, Florida Study Shows is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

Alcohol consumption increases the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine into the brain, which creates a pleasurable feeling. The dopamine D4 receptor gene (DRD4) seems to be involved in reward-seeking behavior, and previous research suggests that people who carry a variant of this gene (one that includes seven or more repeats of a certain section of the gene) may be more prone to experiencing cravings caused by drinking cues.

In the study, participants were brought into a makeshift pub and were asked to rate a series of commercials. After rating some commercials, participants were told there would be a 30-minute break and that they could have any alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks at the bar. Those who knew what the study was about (confederates) were told to order alcoholic drinks immediately, and the researchers looked at which participants followed their lead. Saliva samples were also taken from participants for DNA analysis.

The researchers found that when the confederate was seen having three to four alcoholic beverages, participants with the 7-repeat form of the gene drank twice as much alcohol as those without the gene. But when the confederate had only one drink, there was no difference in consumption between those with the gene variant and those without. This suggests that people with the DRD4 variant gene may be more influenced by social drinking cues, which would increase the risk of developing an alcohol-use disorder.

The authors noted that the risk is especially higher for those with the variant gene when spending time with peers who drink heavily.

Sources: Science Daily, Can I Buy You a Drink? Genetics May Determine Sensitivity to Other People’s Drinking Behavior, July 23, 2010

Psych Central, Rick Nauert, PhD, Genetics Influence Drinking Decisions, July 23, 2010

Genes May Determine Susceptibility to Social Drinking Cues is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment

In an annually commissioned survey conducted by Australia’s Alcohol Education and Rehabilitation Foundation (AER), 1,014 participants were polled on their attitudes regarding alcohol consumption and behaviors. Approximately one of out every three women surveyed (30%) admitted to drinking alcoholic beverages while pregnant or breastfeeding. Most surprisingly, these women still choose to engage in alcohol consumption even though 90% of the survey’s participants agree that drinking while pregnant should be avoided, and 87% agree that drinking should be avoided while breastfeeding.

In response to this new data, Australian health experts are prompting the renewal of health warning labels on the country’s alcoholic beverages. By integrating more informative health advisory statements on all alcohol products, health experts are hoping that this alarming statistic of drinking mothers can be reduced. Prenatal alcohol exposure has the potential to cause Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) which create irreversible mental, physical, and developmental damage to the baby. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and FASD can cause such alcohol-related birth defects as facial deformities, growth deficiencies, lung, heart, and kidney abnormalities, central nervous system impairment, impaired cognitive development, and behavioral disorders. All of these effects are permanent, yet are completely preventable if the woman abstains from alcohol while pregnant. According to AER’s survey, 8% of Australians still find it acceptable to drink in moderation during pregnancy, and 9% believe it is acceptable to drink while breastfeeding. Even though alcohol products are exceptionally hazardous to one’s health, their product information still remains drastically less informative than such average food products as a carton of milk. AER believes that educating the public on the dangers of alcohol consumption should be a priority health concern for Australia.

In the U.S., the Surgeon General advises that pregnant women or women who may become pregnant should completely abstain from alcohol consumption due to the severe potential risks to the fetus. According to the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (NOFAS), alcohol consumption remains the leading cause of mental retardation and birth defects in the U.S., where 50% of births are unplanned. The U.S. is one of 43 countries worldwide that mandate health warning labels on alcohol products, and one of 14 countries that require a product statement regarding the dangers of alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Even though knowledge of alcohol’s health risks are publicly well known, the inclusion of warning labels directly on alcohol products will provide this crucial information to potential consumers at that critical moment of decision-making. Currently in Australia, alcohol manufacturers are not required to include a health advisory statement on alcohol’s risk of disease or illness on their products, nor are they mandated to list their products’ ingredients. Health officials and the community at large in Australia would prefer to have health warning labels required for such a hazardous product as alcohol, and some are supporting legislation in government to implement mandatory product regulation.

There currently is no national data on the prevalence of FASD in Australia, which causes health experts to believe that the issue has been under-addressed to the general public as well as under-researched. According to AER, FASD is most widespread among undereducated communities, lower-socioeconomic regions, and households that have a lack of health resources. Integrating a health warning label to alcohol products would provide these targeted populations with much needed information to help them make better decisions regarding their families’ health and wellbeing. The rate of FASD costs national economies, like that of the U.S., billions of dollars each year in direct and indirect expenses. The requirement of a health warning label on alcohol products costs virtually nothing extra to manufacture, and the result of healthier families pays itself off. 

One in Three Pregnant or Breastfeeding Women Drink Alcohol in Australia is a post from: Drug Addiction Treatment