Alcohol

Alcohol shrinks brain

"Heavy alcohol consumption might exaggerate brain shrinkage in social drinkers. Chronic heavy alcohol consumption should be avoided," according to Dr. Motoo Kubota and colleagues from Chiba University in Japan report in the July issue of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. Alcohol, among the various forms insults both physically and mentally, now turns out to potentially...

Maternal alcohol consumption linked to behavioral problems in children

Even small amounts of alcohol consumption is linked with deliquent behaviour of the chilren later in life,according to the new study. Dr. Virginia Delaney-Black, of Children's Hospital of Michigan, the co author of the study,has come out with the finding that in comparison to the teetotallers ,women who drank the equivalent of one cocktail a week during pregnancy were three times more...

Alcohol linked to brain activity

A largest study on how alcohol affects the brain in elderly people was carried out by researchers in the USA. Nearly two thousand senior citizens were investigated to discover the link between drinking and the health of their brains. The results show that alcohol is really a double-edged sword.// It has been found that any level of drinking caused brain shrinkage, which ultimately has...

Drink alcohol for intelligence

Moderate drinking may actually improve brain power, according to Japanese research. It is thought that an ingredient of alcoholic drinks may help prevent or restrict the hardening of the arteries which could lessen blood flow to the brain. // However, there are other factors linked to moderate alcohol consumption which could also be linked to improved IQ. The researchers, at the Na...

Alcohol within the body

Scientists believe a common liver disease may be caused by the production of alcohol within the body. Fatty liver disorder is thought to affect around one in four people in developed countries. It particularly affects obese people. The condition is currently untreatable, and one in ten sufferers go on to develop cirrhosis of the liver, which in turn increases the risk that cancer...

Alcoholism Drug Fails To Prevent Drinking Relapses

The Food and Drug Administration approved naltrexone for the treatment of alcoholism in 1994. At that time, the only other drug therapy available was disulfiram, or Antabuse, which provokes a sickening reaction to alcohol.// A new study casts sobering doubts on earlier claims that an alcoholism drug can truly treat the addiction. The government is sponsoring a large trial comparing na...

Alcoholics are prone to disability

According to a new study alcoholics are prone to a kind of disability. Researchers at Pope University, have found the effects of the study of alcohol on the health of aged people between 51 and 62.// Those with a history of persistent problem drinking were 20 per cent more likely to report disabilities with respect to work or sedentary activity. Heavy drinkers ran a 10 per cent greate...

Moderate alcohol consumption protects against dementia

Daily moderate consumption of alcohol, which has already been shown to help prevent heart disease and strokes, may also ward off Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.// The study also found that it doesn't seem to matter what people drink - the effect is the same. Researchers say moderate alcohol consumption between one and three drinks a day may protect against dementia. Th...

Alcohol decreases risk of dementia

According to a new study carried out by researchers at Erasmus University in the Arizona moderate consumption of alcohol provides some protection// against dementia. We already know that moderate alcohol consumption - one to three drinks a day - reduces cardiovascular risk. Since blood vessel disease also affects the brain, might alcohol also protect against dementia. According to this...

Tobacco and alcohol connected to larger health problems

Patients in hospital who smoke and have a history of alcohol problems have poorer general and mental health. Doctors surveyed almost 400 patients// to find if there was a link between health status and smoking habits. They classified them into four groups:current tobacco use only, history of alcohol problems only, both, or neither. The patients with both current tobacco use and past alc...

Acute Pancreatitis On The Rise Due To Alcohol Consumption

Researchers say increasing alcohol consumption may be partly to blame for patients suffering from acute pancreatitis. Acute pancreatitis is mainly caused // by alcohol abuse and gall stones. It produces a sudden attack of severe upper abdominal pain, often accompanied by nausea and vomiting. An attack usually lasts about 48 hours. Researchers say pancreatitis has a poor prognosis overall...

The Use Of Antioxidants To Diminish Effects of Alcohol During Pregnancy Questioned

Researchers say taking antioxidants during pregnancy may prevent birth defects in babies born to women who abuse alcohol. When pregnant mice // were exposed to ethanol and also given an antioxidant, researchers saw a 36-percent reduction in limb malformations in the offspring. Ethanol is the intoxicating agent in liquor. Researcher say the nutritional status of alcoholics isn’t the best,...

Alcohol Consumption Questioned

There has been a great deal of controversy over whether drinking alcohol negatively affects bone health in women. A new study reports that moderate // drinking does not increase the risk of osteoporosis. Researchers in London conducted a study looking at identical twins, alcohol consumption, and bone health. For the study 46 pairs of identical twins were surveyed. In each set of twins,...

Guide for physicians launched to help them identify alcohol disorders

A new guide to help physicians identify and treat patients with alcohol disorders have been //launched by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, US. Alcohol disorders often go undetected in people. The new guide describes effective methods for early screenings and interventions, meant for helping the physicians and patients. When correct method of screening is coupled with...

Alcohol injures stress hormone response

According to some researchers at the University of Chicago,restoring alcoholics have impaired stress responses that lead to cognitive problems. //A group of 50 male alcoholics detoxifying in hospital were compared to 35 non-alcoholic controls in a test of stress hormone response and memory and problem solving. All participants were placed under stress by being required to do mental arithmetic and...

Role of wives of Alcoholics

According to a new study out of Texas suggests the characteristics of women married to alcoholic men may play a role in the problem. Clinical and Experimental Research, found women married to alcoholics tend to be less likely to be homemakers// and more likely to meet the criteria for alcoholism themselves. They also were found to more likely to smoke and use illicit drugs. On the oth...

Women on HRT should avoid alcohol

Many studies published in the recent past have argued about the implications of Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) on women who use them to manage menopausal symptoms. A new study, however, has gone further to show that women who are on HRT add to the risk of developing breast cancer// if they consumed alcoholic beverages. The study polled more than 44,000 women on their alcohol consump...

Effect of alcohol drinking on breast cancer

Breast cancer has been associated to many risk factors like age, hormone replacement therapy and obesity, together with alcohol consumption. Several earlier studies have linked alcohol to breast cancer but they have not been consistent// and also because smoking often accompanies drinking, researchers have not been sure that alcohol was the most important factor. Now, researchers from...

Good news for moderate alcohol drinkers!

A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggested that moderate drinking may reduce the risk of heart disease in some individuals. The study was conducted over a 12-year period with 38,077 male doctors, who included// dentists, veterinarians, optometrists, osteopathic physicians and podiatrists, aged 40 to 75 years. The study focused on the relationship between quantity and frequ...

Hypertensives could benefit regular alcohol consumption

A recent study reported by researchers in the Journal of Hypertension indicates that hypertensive patients could reduce their cardiovascular morbidity and improve their atherosclerotic risk profile by consuming alcohol on a regular basis. The researchers indicated that serum lipoprotein(a), a powerful predictor of organ damage, was reduced with regular alcohol consumption. The researchers studied...

Sense of smell impaired in alcoholics

A study published in the March issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research reported that alcohol abuse can dampen the sense of smell. Researchers from the University Clinics of Innsbruck studied the sense of smell in 30 alcoholics and 30 healthy people who were matched for age, gender and smoking status. They used "Sniffin' Sticks", which are pen-like devices that dispense...

Antiseizure Drug in help for Alcoholics

A study indicated an epilepsy drug would help alcoholics quit drinking. Texas Health Center researchers have found that more than 50% of the alcoholics who took Topiramate, an anti-seizure drug quit or cut back drinking sharply. In comparison with the placebo treatment, those given Topiramate were six times more likely to abstain from drinking. It is believed that the drug acts against the chemic...

Alcohol is no tonic for sleep

Although alcohol can initially help someone fall asleep, it can also disrupt sleep in the latter part of the night, reports the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.// "Three or more drinks will cause the average person to fall asleep sooner than usual," says researcher Shawn Currie of the University of Calgary. "However, falling asleep faster is the only real benefit o...

Alcohol and Sun Don’t Mi

New research suggests you may want to leave the alcohol at home next time you head to the beach. It may contribute to painful sunburn.Researchers found those who consumed //alcohol at the beach had more severe sunburns than nondrinkers and were more likely to need a pain reliever after the sunburn. Drinkers also had a significantly greater body surface area sunburned than nondrinkers and...

Link Between Alcohol and Decrease in Brain Size

A new study was conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health on nearly 2,000 men and women, age 55 and older. Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging// to determine their brain size, infarcts and white matter lesions, which are changes in the brain correlated with the risk of stroke and to study if a link existed between low to moderate alcohol consumption and a decrease i...

Alcoholism Influenced By Both Genetics & Family Environment

In a study involving identical and non-identical twins, researchers conducted telephone interviews with 1,213 sets of male-male twins, average age 50.// The researchers’ goal was to better understand the hereditary and environmental effects on developing alcoholism -- not by studying the twins themselves, but by interviewing the twins’ children (ages 12 to 26) and the mothers of those children. <...

Alcohol Dependence Gene Identified

Scientists believe they have found a gene that predisposes people to become alcoholics. According to results from a study // involving 262 families with alcoholic members all were assessed for three genes in an area on chromosome 15 that had previously been linked to alcoholism. Results showed one of the genes -- GABRG3 -- did appear to influence alcoholism risk. Researchers aren’t sure...

Link Between Alcohol Consumption And Cardiovascular Disease

A new study shows alcohol consumption may benefit the cardiovascular system in seniors by lowering // blood levels of inflammatory markers. Researchers studied nearly 2,500 seniors ages 70 to 79 who consumed moderate levels of alcohol (one to seven drinks per week), consumed high levels of alcohol (more than eight drinks per week), and did not consume any alcohol. Researchers...

Alcohol Consumption During Pregnancy Not Safe

New research indicates that even light to moderate drinking should be avoided as it may interfere with learning and memory in children as late as // adolescence. Researchers define light drinking as three or less drinks per week, and moderate drinking is more than three drinks a week, but less than one drink per day. Previous studies have shown that drinking heavily during pregnancy coul...

Alcohol Found To Increase The Risk of Gout

A new study shows Beer and liquor significantly increase the risk of gout. Wine connoisseurs fear not. However the consumption of wine did not // appear to be a factor.Overall, the risk for gout was 2.5-times higher in men who drank more than 50 grams of alcohol daily, the equivalent of four or five drinks. Even those who consumed 10 to 15 grams a day, about one drink, had a 30-percent increase i...

Abstinence From Alcohol With The Help Of An Injection

Naltrexone, also known as ReVia, is an approved drug for the treatment of alcohol dependence. But one of the problems with the drug is it is taken orally, which can reduce medication compliance and can be absorbed // differently in the body. A new study looks at an injection of naltrexone and the benefit of its use for alcoholics. For the study 315 alcoholics participated and they were...

Could Midlife Alcohol Drinking Lead To Dementia ?

Some studies suggest heavy drinking increases the risk of dementia , some find light to moderate drinking may protect against the condition, // and others still find no association at all. In a study carried out among around 1,000 men and women between the ages of 65 and 79 who were followed over 23 years, researchers reported frequent drinking in middle age (defined as several times a m...

Decrease in Brain Size Linked To Alcohol Consumption

In a new study conducted on nearly 2,000 men and women, age 55 and older researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to determine // their brain size, infarcts and white matter lesions, which are changes in the brain correlated with the risk of stroke and to study if a link existed between low to moderate alcohol consumption and a decrease in brain size of middle-aged adults. As alcohol...

Alcohol Consumption After Heart Surgery Questioned

A new study shows moderate consumption of alcohol may cut the rate of reblockage following surgery to open clogged arteries.// Researchers evaluated 225 men after they had undergone a percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), a procedure to open blocked arteries with a stent. Less traumatic than bypass surgery, a stent opens the artery but may cause inflammation resulting in renarrow...

Irregular Heartbeat Linked To Alcohol

New research shows consuming large quantities of alcohol may increase the risk of developing an irregular heartbeat.// Researchers studied more than 47,000 men and women. Participants were given questionnaires that assessed how often they drank and what type of alcohol they consumed. It was found that men consumed an average of about 28 grams of alcohol each day, while the women consume...

The Benefits of Alcohol Consumption Questioned

To analyze the benefits of alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease researchers studied nearly 2,500 seniors ages 70 to 79 who consumed // moderate levels of alcohol (one to seven drinks per week), consumed high levels of alcohol (more than eight drinks per week), and did not consume any alcohol. Researchers say, their study is the first to focus on the association between alcohol...

Cutting down on alcohol may reduce cigarette craving

In a study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental, researchers of University// of Chicago have found out that smoking is related to alcohol consumption, and reduction to alcohol intake may help the smokers to smoke less. Scientists for the study think that people who want to quit smoking needs to abstain from drinking in order to experience the lesser effects of...

Women may be more at risk of liver injury from alcohol

Women may have less tolerance to alcohol intakes than men, suggests a research report made public at the Digestive Disease Week 2005//. Researchers of University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine had said that drinking alcohol within limits might mean different things to women than their male counterparts. Women may be more at risk of liver injury from alcohol consumption than men even...

Alcohol linked to loss of memory

Drinking continuously for a short time can affect your memory and your learning //capabilities. A new study done on mice says that consuming alcohol daily for even as less as eight weeks can impair your memory and other cognitive functions like learning. Researchers from St. Louis University School of Medicine said that not only the memory gets affected; the cognitive impairment can re...

Alcohol more harmful to women

A study conducted at University of Heidelberg in Mannheim, concludes that women appear to develop alcoholic brain damage more rapidly than men.// The study also states that women become dependant on alcohol not as frequently as men do. This will have a revolutionary impact on the general alcohol consumption pattern if men and women. Therefore it becomes more important to prevent alco...