Copyright 2012 Medical News TodayLatest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/alcohol/admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin)editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors)en-us Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241436.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241436.phpResearchers from Dalhousie University found that, individuals are almost two times more likely to cause a vehicle collision if they consume cannabis within three hours of driving than individuals not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The study is published today on bmj.com...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241245.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241245.phpAn analysis of research on physical punishment of children over the past 20 years indicates that such punishment is potentially harmful to their long-term development, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal)...Pediatrics / Children's Health Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241171.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241171.phpMost studies have found that binge drinking is associated with a loss of alcohol's protective effect against ischemic heart disease (IHD) and most studies have found an increase of coronary risk among binge drinkers...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241123.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241123.php A study conducted by Dr. Karen Ersche, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, England, and published in Science, reveals that one sibling who is addicted to drugs, and the other who is not, have similar brain abnormalities. These abnormalities come from an area of the brain that is vital for aiding people in exhibiting self control...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240951.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240951.php When it comes to addiction, sex matters. A new brain imaging study by Yale School of Medicine researchers suggests stress robustly activates areas of the brain associated with craving in cocaine-dependent women, while drug cues activate similar brain regions in cocaine-dependent men. The study, expected to be published online Jan...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240956.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240956.php The first few weeks of college are a critical time in shaping students' drinking habits. Now Penn State researchers have a tailored approach that may help prevent students from becoming heavy drinkers. "Research shows there is a spike in alcohol-related consequences that occur in the first few weeks of the semester, especially with college freshmen," said Michael J...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240958.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240958.php A study based on more than 87,000 women and 47,000 men in the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, looks at whether there is a link between colon cancer and alcohol, and if so at what level of consumption, and the importance of a family history of the disease. A total of 1,801 cases of colon cancer were diagnosed during follow-up from 1980 onwards...Colorectal Cancer Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240960.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240960.php A meta-analysis done by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) into the relationship between alcohol consumption and heart disease provides new insight into the long-held belief that drinking a glass of red wine a day can help protect against heart disease. "It's complicated," says Dr. Juergen Rehm, director of social and epidemiological research at CAMH. Dr...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Thu, 26 Jan 2012 02:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240770.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240770.phpScientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have identified a potential target for the development of anti-craving medications for people with addictions to stimulants such as methamphetamine. The discovery centres on a brain receptor related to the chemical dopamine, which has a complex role in addictive behaviours...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240732.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240732.phpChanges in the endocannabinoid system may have important implications for psychiatric and addiction disorders. This brain system is responsible for making substances that have effects on brain function which resemble those of cannabis products, e.g., marijuana...Psychology / Psychiatry Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240740.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240740.phpOn any given weekend, at least 10 percent of students at a single college could be hosting a party, and on average, party hosts who live off campus are drinking more and engaging in more alcohol-related problem behaviors than are the students attending their bashes, research suggests...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240820.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240820.phpNicotine is a nitrogen-containing chemical - an alkaloid, which is made by several types of plants, including the tobacco plant. Nicotine is also produced synthetically. Nicotiana tabacum, the type of nicotine found in tobacco plants, comes from the nightshade family. Red peppers, eggplant, tomatoes and potatoes are examples of the nightshade family...Smoking / Quit Smoking Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240703.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240703.phpAlexithymia describes a person's state of deficiency in understanding, processing, or describing emotions, and even though the rate for alexithymia in those with substance use disorders is reported to be almost 67%, there are few studies that have evaluated therapy in alexithymic SUD patients...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240612.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240612.phpMinuscule amounts of ethanol, the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, can more than double the life span of a tiny worm known as Caenorhabditis elegans, which is used frequently as a model in aging studies, UCLA biochemists report. The scientists said they find their discovery difficult to explain...Seniors / Aging Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240648.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240648.phpIn the past year, 45.9 million Americans above the age of 18 years, or 20% of 18 year-olds, experienced mental illness, according to a new national report. Mental illness amongst those aged between 18 and 25 years (29.9%) was more than double as high, compared with people aged 50 years or older (14.3%)...Mental Health Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240539.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240539.phpSome 45.9 million, or around 1 in 5 American adults (age 18 and over) experienced a mental illness in the past year, according to the US government's latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health, released this month...Mental Health Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240543.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240543.phpA study of a controversial housing project that allows chronically homeless people with severe alcohol problems to drink in their apartments found that during their first two years in the building residents cut their heavy drinking by 35 percent. For every three months during the study, participants drank an average of 8 percent fewer drinks on their heaviest drinking days...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240538.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240538.phpNearly one out of seven college students surveyed at a Texas university has participated in the Choking Game, a dangerous behavior where blood flow is deliberately cut off to the brain in order to achieve a high, according to a study by The Crime Victims' Institute at Sam Houston State University...Pediatrics / Children's Health Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240493.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240493.phpHarvard scientists have developed the fullest picture yet of how neurons in the brain interact to reinforce behaviors ranging from learning to drug use, a finding that might open the door to possible breakthroughs in the treatment of addiction...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240496.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240496.phpSince mephedrone was made illegal in the UK in 2010, the street price of the drug has risen while the quality has degraded, which in turn may have reduced use of the drug. New research published online reveals that young people who continued to use mephedrone after it became illegal would switch to a new legal high if it were pure and rated highly by their friends or on the Internet...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240452.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240452.phpObservational epidemiologic studies relating wine and alcohol to health all suffer from the fact that they, of necessity, compare people who prefer certain beverages, but not the beverages themselves. While there have been many intervention trials in animals, randomized trials in humans are less common...Heart Disease Thu, 19 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240471.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240471.phpTeenagers are more susceptible to developing disorders like addiction and depression, according to a paper published by Pitt researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study was led by Bita Moghaddam, coauthor of the paper and a professor of neuroscience in Pitt's Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240412.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/240412.php The authors of a study published online on Tuesday that was designed to overcome the difficulties of obtaining accurate and reliable data in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome research, say their findings reinforce the warning that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy...Pregnancy / Obstetrics Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240411.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240411.phpA group of international health experts has called for a special session of the United Nations (referred to as UNGASS - United Nations General Assembly Special Session) to focus global attention on mental, neurological, and substance use disorders as a core development issue requiring commitments to improve access to care, promote human rights, and strengthen the evidence on ef...Mental Health Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240382.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/240382.phpResearchers know that adolescents with a family history of alcoholism (FHP) are at risk for developing alcohol use disorders. Some studies have shown that, compared to their peers, FHP adolescents have deficits in behavioral inhibition...Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs