Alcoholism
Gender Makes a Big Difference When Consuming Alcohol
The argument that there is no difference between men and women often does not hold water. Sure, educational ability and mental capacity are often gender neutral, but the impact of liquor intake is not.
According to a Fox News piece, alcohol can take a greater toll on women than men, physically, mentally and socially. Women can become intoxicated more quickly than men and do not absorb and metabolize alcohol the same way. Women also have less water in their bodies and therefore the alcohol they consume is more concentrated.
Age can also be a factor for women. As they get older, alcohol consumption will have an even greater impact on women than it did when they were younger. As a women ages, the amount of water in the body decreases, making it harder to metabolize alcohol.
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Alcoholism: Its Ties to Domestic Violence and the Disruption of Families
By Catherine H. Knott, Ph.D.
Sue and Tom* were married less than a year before Tom’s alcoholism began to have a negative effect on their marriage. Tom was eight years older than Sue, a graduate student at a prestigious university; she was an at-home mom for their first child, but would shortly start graduate school herself. The drinking problem was insidious at first. Tom’s three or four beers every evening hardly seemed something to worry about. When he added a shot of whiskey every night, he excused it by saying he was under a lot of pressure from the difficult classes he was taking. But without making the link to the drinks at first, Sue became more and more upset by Tom’s unpredictable and often angry and out-of-control behavior.
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Signs of a High-Functioning Alcoholic
By Susan Campbell
It is not always easy to spot an alcoholic. Not everyone who has a drinking problem is falling down on a park bench with a brown paper bag concealing the bottle in their hand. Nor is every alcoholic spending their evenings perched on a bar stool ordering round after round to satisfy an addiction.
For the high-functioning alcoholic, it is very easy for those around him or her to never have a clue that there is even a problem as the alcoholic hides it well. The New York Times recently featured a piece that discussed a new book about people who operate this way: “Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic” (Praeger Publishers).
Terrorist Attacks Lead to Increased Use of Alcohol
In the aftermath of terrorist attacks such as September 11, 2001, the Oklahoma City Bombings of 1995, and the Intifada uprisings in Israel, more people are turning to alcohol use and abuse. According to researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and the University of Michigan, approximately one in 12 people exposed to terrorism report increased use and abuse of alcohol. This data was used to study the prevalence and likelihood of addictive behavior following terrorist acts.
The results indicated that almost ten percent of the general population surveyed in these settings reported increased or problematic alcohol consumption. The estimate dropped to seven percent after adjusting for the type of attack, the type of population surveyed (survivors, responders, or the general population), and the time following the incident when the survey was conducted. But investigators estimated a one in four chance that the rate could be doubled. The study found similar rates of increase of drug and cigarette use.
The authors of the study note that their results are consistent with research indicating that people who experience trauma may use substances to cope with stress and anxiety. While there was a great deal of variability in their findings, Charles DiMaggio, PhD, assistant clinical professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and lead author of the study, said, “These kinds of numbers indicate the potentially pervasive behavioral health effects of man-made disasters like terrorism. We hope our results can help direct interventions following terrorist incidents.”
Source: Science Daily, Terrorist Attacks Provoke Surge in Alcohol and Drug Use, May 8, 2009
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Smoking Hinders the Brain’s Recovery from Alcohol Abuse
After quitting drinking, many recovering alcoholics turn to smoking cigarettes to help manage their negative moods and keep their minds off of wanting to drink. Researchers agree that the rate of smoking among recovering alcoholics is more than triple the general population’s rate. But besides the obvious health risks of smoking such as lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, it has recently been found that smoking interferes with the brain’s ability to recover from alcohol abuse.
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Personality Plays into Likelihood for Alcohol Dependence
According to a recent Science Daily report, whether or not a person develops a dependence upon alcohol may have a lot to do with his or her personality.
Researchers studied a group of alcohol-dependent individuals who have an inactive form of aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2). These individuals would normally have a low incidence of alcoholism because this inactive form of ALDH2 causes negative symptoms when drinking alcohol, such as flushing, nausea, and headaches.
The results from this study suggested that personality factors associated with a tendency toward alcohol dependence were impulsiveness, aggressiveness, and risk-seeking behaviors.
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Britain Seeing Rise in Number of Women Alcoholics
Even with the increasing amount of knowledge that is available as to the risks associated with alcohol abuse and the growing number of treatment centers, the number of women falling victim to alcohol abuse continues to increase.
According to a story in the Evening Standard, London’s only treatment center for female alcohol and drug addicts has tripled in size in order to handle the growing number of cases.
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Were Your Parents Impulsive? It Might Increase Your Risk of Alcoholism
According to a study from researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University, a genetic predisposition toward impulsivity is a characteristic that may predict your risk of alcoholism.
The study, which will be published in the July 2009 issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, used selective breeding of mice and ended up with two genetically different lines. One group of mice drank high volumes of alcohol; the other group avoided alcohol. They tested impulsivity by offering two types of rewards: a small reward the mice could get immediately, and a larger, better award for which the mice had to wait.
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Am I an Alcoholic?
This may be a tough topic to read, but if you are wondering whether you or a loved one is in fact an alcoholic, it may be one of the most important self-assessments or assessments you make. Look through the following questions and answer honestly.
CDC Reports Binge Drinking Higher for Men than Women
Alcohol-related deaths tend to deliver a different type of shock to family members as the death is completely preventable. Now, emerging news as to the type of drinking that is contributing to these deaths is gaining increased attention as it differs from once-common beliefs.
According to recent reports from the All Gov website, more than 50 percent of all alcohol-related deaths in the United States were caused by binge drinking. Defined as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks on one occasion for men and four for women, binge drinking was found by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to be more prevalent among men.
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