Drinking and alcohol dependence has increased substantially among women, particularly white and Hispanic women born since 1945, new study finds. Alcohol use and dependency appeared to remain stable for men, while young Americans report having more lifetime alcohol problems than older Americans.

The influence of genetics increases as young women transition from taking their first drink to becoming alcoholics. A team of researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that although environment is most influential in determining when girls begin to drink, genes play a larger role if they advance to problem drinking and alcohol dependence.

Alcohol can make people frisky, chatty and, as any bouncer knows, feisty. Now, a new brain scan study shows drinking actually dampens the biological ability to feel fear. When people drink, these lowered fear levels can lead to liquor-fueled courage that can ultimately make people more aggressive.

The odds of substance use for lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) youth are on average 190 percent higher than for heterosexual youth, according to a study by University of Pittsburgh researchers published in the current issue of Addiction.

Drug abusers who used a computer-assisted training program in addition to receiving traditional counseling stayed abstinent significantly longer than those who received counseling alone, a Yale University study has found.

Can you fight the disease of alcohol addiction and still be a social drinker? Making such a stance was heretical only a generation ago. Yet controlled drinking, as it is called, has emerged as an accepted treatment option for those who find abstinence too daunting.

If an individual receives a physical punishment such as whipping, it will stir up endorphin receptors, activate the "production of happiness" and eventually remove depressive feelings. A group of drug addicts volunteered to test the new method of treatment: the results can be described as good and excellent.

New research revealed that, like excessive gaming or virtual sex, e-mail and text messaging might be part of a compulsive-impulsive spectrum disorder and a form of addiction.

The risk of suffering depression increases 41% in smokers, in comparison with non-smokers. This was the conclusion of a study undertaken with 8,556 participants.

A drug used to treat the symptoms of psychosis in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may also be a useful medication for individuals who are addicted to alcohol.