Alcohol News

The realization dawned gradually as researchers analyzed data from NIAAA’s 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). In most persons affected, alcohol dependence (commonly known as alcoholism) looks less like Nicolas Cage in Leaving Las Vegas than it does your party-hardy college roommate or that hard-driving colleague in the next cubicle.

Excessive alcohol use causes an estimated 79,000 deaths per year in the United States. Most people are unaware that close to half of these deaths (approximately 36,000 annually) result from chronic alcohol-related illnesses rather than acute causes such as motor vehicle crashes and falls.

A Winnipeg man who has struggled with alcoholism for decades says he has filed a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission over the lack of a treatment program that's free of religious or spiritual elements. Rob Johnstone said he has battled alcoholism for 40 years and can't find a treatment program that doesn't rely on religion or spirituality as part of the recovery process.

Women who drink moderate amounts of alcohol don't gain as much weight in midlife as those who abstain, a study has found. However, drinking should not be heralded as a new diet, said the authors and alcohol abuse experts. But some of the link might not be due only to alcohol consumption but to other things drinking women tend to do.

We tend to think of alcohol as primarily a disinhibitor, but this can't really explain its varying effects. Sometimes it seems to make us loud and boisterous, sometimes quiet and contemplative, sometimes sad and depressed, along with all the shades and combinations of these, and other emotions. Similarly psychologists have found that alcohol can have all sorts of counter-intuitive effects. Studies have even shown that after drinking people can become less aggressive and less likely to engage in risky sexual behaviours. Doesn't sound like alcohol does it? So, how can we understand and explain all these different states?

Moderate alcohol consumption prior to a traumatic event like a car crash or sexual assault has been linked to higher rates of flashbacks among victims. Researchers from University College London also found, however, that no increase in flashbacks was reported by those who drank heavily before their trauma.

What are the odds of Bad Blake, Jeff Bridges’ alcoholic, chain-smoking country singer, overcoming and/or surviving his demons? The premise [of the movie "Crazy Heart"]: Otis "Bad" Blake ( Jeff Bridges) is a 57-year-old country singer and songwriter who has fallen on hard times. He's an alcoholic and chain smoker. He's experiencing frequent blackouts and episodes of vomiting from the alcohol, and he has jitters when he goes more than a few hours without a glass of whiskey. While playing in a small nightclub in Santa Fe, N.M., he becomes romantically involved with a newspaper reporter played by Maggie Gyllenhaal and befriends her 4-year-old son, Buddy (Jack Nation). But he continues to drink.

Journal of Current Issues in Crime, Law and Law Enforcement recently published a research study of the Hoboken bar scene identifies a connection between the drinking establishments’ secondary wait staff and customers’ irresponsible behavior and alcoholism.

The dreaded morning-after feeling could be a thing of the past after scientists in South Korea came up with a technique that allows drinkers to avoid a hangover, Sky News reported Thursday. A team of researchers added extra oxygen to drinks and found that the body was then able to metabolize the booze quicker and eliminate the alcohol quicker — cutting down the after affects.

Public service advertising campaigns that use guilt or shame to warn against alcohol abuse can actually have the reverse effect, spurring increased drinking among target audiences, according to new research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Instead of the intended outcome, researchers in this first-of-its-kind study showed that the ads triggered an innate coping mechanism that enables viewers to distance themselves from the serious consequences of reckless drinking.