A new study at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Social Work has shown significant reductions in alcohol and substance use among formerly incarcerated men through a unique combination of critical dialogue and capacity-building projects.
Tag: Alcohol Abuse
Using smartwatch sensors to detect, measure, intervene, and prevent alcohol use in the moment
Prevention, intervention, and treatment measures have historically been used to address alcohol use and abuse. New research has explored the use of a smartwatch application to bridge the gap between prevention and intervention, tracking a person’s drinking habits and providing real-time personalized prompts while they are drinking to potentially help them moderate their consumption. These results will be shared at the 47th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Retrospective Study Based on Electronic Health Records Finds Popular Diabetes and Weight-Loss Drugs Associated with Reduction in Incidence and Recurrence of Alcohol-Use Disorder by at Least Half
A new study by researchers at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine reveals that the popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic are linked to reduced incidence and recurrence of alcohol abuse or dependence.
‘Deaths of despair’ among Black Americans surpassed those of white Americans in 2022
A new analysis by researchers at UCLA Health found that mortality rates of middle-aged Black Americans caused by the “deaths of despair” — suicide, drug overdose and alcoholic liver disease – surpassed the rate of white Americans in 2022.
Heavy Alcohol Use May Increase Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Middle-aged Adults
Heavy alcohol use may increase middle-aged adults’ risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, according to research to be presented this week at the American Physiology Summit in Long Beach, California. The Summit is the flagship annual meeting of the American Physiological Society (APS).
College Students Appear Resistant to Using 988 Crisis Phone Line
The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline launched across the U.S. nearly 2 years ago. But college students — who are particularly vulnerable to substance use problems and related mental health crises — appear disinclined to use it, according to new research.
Homelessness leads to more drug, alcohol poisoning deaths
Reducing homelessness by 25% could save almost 2,000 lives lost to opioid overdoses, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
Sharp rise in severe, alcohol-related liver injury during pandemic
Researchers found increasing cases of the alcohol-related liver illness from 2016 through 2020, but the rise was particularly pronounced the year COVID-19 arrived in the U.S. in 2020, which saw a 12.4% increase over 2019 levels.
Education and peer support cut binge-drinking by National Guard members in half, study shows
A new study shows promise for reducing risky drinking among Army National Guard members over the long term, potentially improving their health and readiness to serve. The number of days each month that Guard members said they had been binge-drinking dropped by up to half over the course of a year of either online only education or online and peer-based support.
Ignoring Native American data perpetuates misleading white ‘deaths of despair’ narrative
An increase in “deaths of despair” in recent decades has been frequently portrayed as a phenomenon affecting white communities, but a new analysis in The Lancet shows the toll has been greater on Native Americans.
Alcohol causes 1 in 20 deaths in Massachusetts
Alcohol’s health, safety and economic toll on the Bay State residents far outstrips revenues from state alcohol taxes, according to a new report from Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH).
Symptoms of Insomnia May Reduce Likelihood of Alcohol-Induced Blackout
Heavy drinkers with symptoms of insomnia, such as difficulty falling or staying asleep, may be less likely to suffer alcohol-induced blackouts, according to a study co-authored by a Rutgers researcher.
Trials of Alcohol Use Disorder Treatments Routinely Exclude Sex, Gender, Race, and Ethnicity from Consideration in Outcomes
The manifestation of alcohol use disorder (AUD) and its social, health, and psychological implications depend in part on patient demographics. Yet researchers routinely exclude those demographics from analyses of non-medicinal AUD treatment trials, a review of studies has found. Consequently, little is known about how sex, gender, race, and ethnicity influence the effectiveness of those treatments, or which treatments are indicated — or not — for specific patients and communities. This is despite the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act in 1993 requiring that NIH-funded studies include diversity of sex/gender and race/ethnicity in their participant samples and analysis. Problematic alcohol use, which has high prevalence and low treatment rates, is a leading contributor to preventable death and disease. Non-pharmacological treatments include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing (MI), contingency management, twelve-step programs, and more. Inequalitie
Childhood loneliness linked to stress and problem drinking in young adults
Research from the Arizona State University Department of Psychology has shown that young adults who experienced childhood loneliness have higher stress levels and more problem drinking behaviors.
Alcohol Consumption Carries Significant Health Risks and No Benefits for Young People; Some Older Adults May Benefit From Drinking a Small Amount of Alcohol
The new analysis from the Global Burden of Disease estimates that 1.34 billion people consumed harmful amounts of alcohol (1.03 billion males and 0.312 billion females) in 2020.
Pregnant Women’s Drinking Correlates with Their Partner’s Drinking
Pregnant women’s use of alcohol correlates with that of their partner, a new study from the University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University Hospital shows.
Misuse of stimulants linked to other drug abuse
College students who misuse stimulant drugs or nootropics like Adderall or Ritalin are also likely to drink heavily and use other drugs, according to new research from the University of Georgia.
How Adolescents Used Drugs During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Among adolescents ages 10 to 14 in the U.S, the overall rate of drug use remained relatively stable in the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one change was a decreased use of alcohol, but an increased use of nicotine and misuse of prescription drugs.
Preventing suicide among a ‘hidden population’ in public housing
New research suggests that African American families living in public housing are a “hidden population” when it comes to national suicide prevention efforts.
Preventive interventions can improve mental health outcomes in children, teens and young adults
Offering interventions to young people in the general community can prevent the emergence of certain mental health disorders, according to the first comprehensive systematic review to address this question. The results appear in the May/June issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry, which is published in the Lippincott portfolio by Wolters Kluwer.
Overlapping Genetic Influences on Alcohol Consumption and Dependence
UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers found that a common measure of alcohol consumption — asking “how often do you have an alcoholic drink?” — is susceptible to bias, and has led to incorrect conclusions about biological influences on…
How more alcohol availability hurts finances for some people
A new study provides the best evidence to date that an increase in the availability of alcohol is linked to more financial troubles among the disadvantaged.
Increase in pleasurable effects of alcohol over time can predict alcohol use disorder
A new study out of the University of Chicago Medicine following young adult drinkers for 10 years has found that individuals who reported the highest sensitivity to alcohol’s pleasurable and rewarding effects at the start of the trial were more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder (AUD) over the course of the study.
Stay-at-home orders tied to an increase in harmful alcohol consumption, study finds
Binge drinkers increased their alcohol consumption by nearly 20% during COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, according to new research by public health experts at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth). Their study, published in the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, is one of the first to analyze the association of stress caused by the pandemic and dangerous alcohol consumption.
Excessive Alcohol Consumption During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Study Highlights
• The full impact of COVID-19 on alcohol use is not yet known, but rates have been rising during the first few months of the pandemic
• There’s an urgent need for public health and medical responses to address harmful alcohol use
Concussions are associated with cognitive, behavioral, and emotional health consequences for student athletes
Concussions can have a compounding effect on children, leading to long-term cognitive, behavioral, and emotional health consequences, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), who published their findings in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.
Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics at UIC receives $8M from NIH
The University of Illinois at Chicago received $8.2 million from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to continue the Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics and its research on how alcohol affects genes through epigenetics — chemical changes to DNA, RNA or proteins that alter the expression of genes without directly modifying them.
UTEP Center to Study How Men Overcame Alcohol Abuse
A new study at The University of Texas at El Paso will look at the psychological factors that led some Hispanic men to successfully change their heavy drinking behavior in order to help others make similar changes. The study begins during Alcohol Awareness Month.