Posted by Lakeside on 15th June 2008
Impulsivity May Trigger Addiction, Researchers Say
British researchers say that impulsivity seems to trigger addiction and not the other way around, Science magazine reported June 6.
People with addictions are known to be more impulsive and engage in more thrill-seeking behaviors than non-addicts, but it has been unclear whether those behaviors predated drug use or were the result of addiction.
Researchers David Belin and Barry Everitt of the University of Cambridge attempted to answer the question by studying rats known to have thrill-seeking or impulsive personalities. The researchers connected the rats to a device that delivered cocaine directly to their brains and then gave the rats control over their drug use. They found that the thrill-seeking rats tried the drug immediately and in high doses, while the impulsive rats used the drug less quickly and in greater moderation.
However, the authors found that after 40 days of access to the drug the impulsive rats had become addicted and could not stop using cocaine even when punished with an electric shock, while the thrill-seeking rats had grown tired of the drug and stopped using.
The research study is published in the June 6, 2008 edition of Science magazine.
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Posted by Lakeside on 9th June 2008
The Co-Occurring Center for Excellence. Addressing mental disorders and alcoholism, addiction co-occurring.
The Co-Occurring Center for Excellence (COCE) was created by SAMHSA in 2003 to provide information and a range of services to mental health and substance abuse administrators and policymakers at state and local levels, their counterparts in tribal and Native populations, clinical providers, other providers, and all other agencies and systems through which clients may enter the treatment system.
COCE provides state-of-the-art and sustainable technical assistance, training, information and resources, and links to other resources that serve persons with co-occurring disorders.
http://www.coce.samhsa.gov/
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The Dual Diagnosis Recovery Sourcebook :
A Physical, Mental, and Spiritual Approach to Addiction with an Emotional Disorder
by Dennis Ortman
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Posted in Alcohol, Alcoholism, Contrast to other models, Drugs, Medication, Pharmacotherapy, Recovery, Relapse prevention, Symptoms of addiction, Target populations, Training | No Comments »
Posted by Lakeside on 14th May 2008
An extensive body of data shows concordant J-shaped associations between alcohol intake and a variety of adverse health outcomes, including
- coronary heart disease,
- diabetes,
- hypertension,
- congestive heart failure,
- stroke,
- dementia,
- Raynaud’s phenomenon, and
- all-cause mortality.
Light to moderate alcohol consumption (up to 1 drink daily for women and 1 or 2 drinks daily for men) is associated with cardioprotective benefits, whereas increasingly excessive consumption results in proportional worsening of outcomes.
Alcohol consumption confers cardiovascular protection predominately through improvements in insulin sensitivity and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
The ethanol itself, rather than specific components of various alcoholic beverages, appears to be the major factor in conferring health benefits.
Low-dose daily alcohol is associated with better health than less frequent consumption.
Binge drinking, even among otherwise light drinkers, increases cardiovascular events and mortality.
Alcohol should not be universally prescribed for health enhancement to nondrinking individuals owing to the lack of randomized outcome data and the potential for problem/alcoholic drinking.
Research; Alcohol and Cardiovascular Health. James H. O’Keefe; Kevin A. Bybee; Carl J. Lavie. J Am Colledge of Cardiology. 2007;50(11) ©2007 Elsevier Science, Inc.
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Under the Influence: A Guide to the Myths and Realities of Alcoholism
by James Robert Milam, Katherine Ketcham
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Posted by Lakeside on 1st May 2008
Difference in medical history classified by ICD-10 between male and female alcoholics.
The drinking history and current medical history of patients with alcohol dependence were surveyed in Japan and they were analyzed by demographics; gender, age and changes with time (2 stages).
The results showed that in the course of continued habitual drinking by patients with alcohol dependence, a wide range of physical complications occurred.
The main complications
- in men were gastrointestinal diseases and
- in women were mental and behavioral disorders, showing a gender difference in the medical history.
This result suggested that there is a high possibility that this will contribute to early discovery and early measures against alcohol related problems in women, which are difficult to bring out into the open.
Better alcohol education including mental health is important from an early age.
Nihon Arukoru Yakubutsu Igakkai Zasshi. 2008 Feb;43(1):25-34. Difference in medical history classified by ICD-10 between male and female alcoholics. Shinoda R, Mizukami Y, Nakagawa Y, Maruyama K.
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Posted in Alcohol, Alcoholism, Demographics, Disease of addiction, History, Men, Research, Stages of Change, Symptoms of addiction, Women | No Comments »
Posted by Lakeside on 27th April 2008
Thyroid function in depression and alcohol abuse : a retrospective study
Admission thyroid function tests were reviewed in 115 euthyroid patients with depression (66), depression and alcohol abuse (30), or alcohol abuse (19).
Estimated free thyroxine (EFT) levels ranged from 0.7 to 2.7 ng/100 ml (normal, 1.0 to 2.1).
Levels above 2.1 ng/100 ml were associated with agitation and values under 1.1 with alcohol abuse.
Mean EFT levels differed significantly among six diagnostic subgroups and paralleled rank order for severity of depression (none, secondary, reactive, single uncategorized, recurrent, psychotic).
Alcohol abuse negatively affected EFT: there was a significant decrease of mean EFT level from nonabusers to abusers and, further, to intoxicated abusers. A positive association between EFT level and severity of depression, and a negative one with alcohol use, were significant when other variables considered were controlled. These two factors accounted from 28.2% of variability in EFT levels, with a minimal additional contribution of medication effect.
T. Kolakowska and M. E. Swigar. Thyroid function in depression and alcohol abuse: a retrospective study. Arch of general Psychiatry. Vol. 34 No. 8, August 1977
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Posted in Alcohol, Alcoholism, Research, Symptoms of addiction | 1 Comment »
Posted by Lakeside on 16th April 2008
Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: The Science of Addiction
This new, 30-page, full-color booklet explains in layman’s terms how science has revolutionized the understanding of drug addiction as a brain disease that affects behavior.
The ‘Science of Addiction’ booklet discusses the reasons people take drugs, why some people become addicted while others do not, how drugs work in the brain, and how addiction can be prevented and treated.
The booklet is available to read, download or order at: http://www.drugabuse.gov/scienceofaddiction/
http://www.drugabuse.gov/scienceofaddiction/sciofaddiction.pdf
Publication Year: 2007
Publisher
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
6001 Executive Boulevard
Bethesda, md 20892
Phone: 301-443-1124
Website: http://www.nida.nih.gov
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Posted in Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Disease of addiction, Drugs, Loss of control, Research, Symptoms of addiction | No Comments »
Posted by Lakeside on 1st April 2008
Work Stress and Alcohol Use
Employees who drink heavily or who abuse or are dependent on alcohol can undermine a workforce’s overall health and productivity.
To better understand the reasons behind employee abusive drinking and to develop more effective ways of preventing problem drinking in the workforce, researchers have developed a number of paradigms that guide their research.
One such paradigm is the alienation/stress paradigm, which suggests that employee alcohol use may be a direct or indirect response to physical and psychosocial qualities of the work environment. Although in the alcohol literature, work alienation and work stress traditionally have been treated as separate paradigms, compelling reasons support subsuming the work-alienation paradigm under a general work-stress paradigm.
Researchers have developed several models to explain the relationship between work stress and alcohol consumption:
- the simple cause-effect model,
- the mediation model,
- the moderation model, and
- the moderated mediation model.
Of these, the moderated mediation model particularly stands out, because it simultaneously addresses the two fundamental issues of how and when work stressors are related to alcohol use.
Recent research supports a relation of work related stressors to elevated alcohol consumption and problem drinking. Future research should focus on the relation between work stressors and alcohol use among adolescents and young adults, because they are just entering the workforce and are the most likely to engage in heavy drinking. Longitudinal studies also are needed to better explain the relation between work stress and alcohol use.
By Michael R. Frone, Ph.D. Alcohol Research & Health, Vol. 23, No. 4, 1999
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Posted by Lakeside on 26th March 2008
The Role of Stress in Alcohol Use, Alcoholism Treatment, and Relapse
By Kathleen T. Brady, M.D., Ph.D., and Susan C. Sonne, Pharm.D.
Addiction to alcohol or other drugs (AODs) is a complex problem determined by multiple factors, including psychological and physiological components. Stress is considered a major contributor to the initiation and continuation of AOD use as well as to relapse.
Many studies that have demonstrated an association between AOD use and stress have been unable to establish a causal relationship between the two. However, stress and the body’s response to it most likely play a role in the vulnerability to initial AOD use, initiation of AOD abuse treatment, and relapse in recovering AOD users.
This relationship probably is mediated, at least in part, by common neurochemical systems, such as the serotonin, dopamine, and opiate peptide systems, as well as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Further exploration of these connections should lead to important pharmacological developments in the prevention and treatment of AOD abuse.
Studies indicate that treatment techniques which foster coping skills, problem solving skills, and social support play a pivotal role in successful treatment.
In the future, individualized treatment approaches that emphasize stress management strategies in those patients in whom a clear connection between stress and relapse exists will become particularly important.
Alcohol Research & Health, Vol. 23, No. 4, 1999
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12-Step Recovery Theory And Application