Alcoholism Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

There is one world we live in. Its geographical and spatial boundaries tell us this. We see it on maps, we see it on television, and we see it when we walk out of the door. Children, adults, and people of all races and creeds live in this... more

There is one world we live in. Its geographical and spatial boundaries tell us this. We see it on maps, we see it on television, and we see it when we walk out of the door. Children, adults, and people of all races and creeds live in this one world. The world we live in is viewed differently by these many individuals. Some see it as hostile, some see it as peaceful, and some go about their daily business and do not see it at all. This is the seen world. The one we can see with our eyes. The seen world is not the only one that exists, however, because there is also another world behind our eyes. When we close our eyes, it is in there. We have an imagination to tell us what it could be like, we have thoughts to tell us what we want it to be like, and we have dreams to tell us what we want it to be. Where is this unseen world? We carry it around with us every nanosecond of every day that we are alive. While we live in the seen world, the unseen world is alive in us. What could the unseen world be like for substance users? This is the topic of the current article.

Various influences in the family environment contribute to children of alcoholics' (COAs') risk of developing alcoholism and other mental health problems. These risk factors include alcohol-specific influences, which selectively... more

Various influences in the family environment contribute to children of alcoholics' (COAs') risk of developing alcoholism and other mental health problems. These risk factors include alcohol-specific influences, which selectively predict alcohol problems, and alcohol-nonspecific influences, which predict a variety of mental health problems. Alcohol-specific family influences include modeling of parental drinking behavior, development of alcohol expectancies, and the family's ethnic background. Parental psychopathology, the family's socioeconomic status, and general family psychopathology are examples of alcohol-nonspecific risk factors, which increase the COA's risk of behavior disorders as well as of alcoholism. The families of COA's who are at highest risk for alcoholism and other mental health problems are characterized by the aggregation of numerous alcohol-specific and alcohol-nonspecific risk factors.

This paper explores how symptoms of mental health problems influence acquired immune deficiency syndrome-related risk behaviors, and how changes in those symptoms relate to risk behaviors engaged in by young adults. Repeated interviews... more

This paper explores how symptoms of mental health problems influence acquired immune deficiency syndrome-related risk behaviors, and how changes in those symptoms relate to risk behaviors engaged in by young adults. Repeated interviews with 602 youths since 1984 provide a history of change in behaviors. Mental health symptoms during adolescence (alcohol/drug [r = .28]; conduct disorder [r = .27]; depression [r = .16]; suicide [r = .14]; anxiety [r = .16]; and posttraumatic stress [r = .09]) are associated with higher numbers of risk behaviors (specifically, prostitution, use of intravenous drugs, and choice of a high-risk sex partner) during young adulthood. Changes in mental health symptoms between adolescence and young adulthood are related to the number of risk behaviors engaged in by young adulthood (total number of symptoms [B = .10], alcohol/drug abuse or dependence [B = .34], depression [B = .20], suicidality [B = .35], anxiety [B = .13], and posttraumatic stress [B = .14]). Changes in symptoms of mental health problems are associated specifically with those risk behaviors that are initiated primarily in young adulthood: intravenous drug use, prostitution, and choice of risky partners. The findings show that prevention and treatment of mental health problems are important components of preventive interventions for human immunodeficiency virus infection in high-risk teens and young adults.

Six months of abstinence from alcohol is a commonly used criterion for liver transplantation eligibility for patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. There is limited evidence to document the validity of this criterion with regard to risk of... more

Six months of abstinence from alcohol is a commonly used criterion for liver transplantation eligibility for patients with alcoholic cirrhosis. There is limited evidence to document the validity of this criterion with regard to risk of alcoholism relapse. Ninety-one patients with alcoholic cirrhosis were interviewed for relapse risk using the High Risk Alcoholism Relapse (HRAR) Scale. The HRAR model can be used to predict relapse risk independent of duration of sobriety and therefore can be used to examine the validity of the 6 months of abstinence criteria in this clinical population. The two methods demonstrated poor to fair agreement. Agreement was highest with a cutoff allowing a 5% 6-month relapse risk when 79% agreement (k= 0.56) was demonstrated between the two methods. Using the 6-month abstinence criterion alone disallows a significant number of candidates who have a low relapse risk based on their HRAR score. The validity of the 6-month abstinence criterion is supported somewhat by comparison with the HRAR model. However, use of the 6-month abstinence criterion alone forces a significant number of patients with a low relapse risk by HRAR to wait for transplant listing. A relapse risk model based on an estimate of alcoholism severity in addition to duration of sobriety may more accurately select patients who are most likely to benefit from liver transplantation.

Family, twin, and adoption studies have indicated that human intelligence quotient (IQ) has significant genetic components. We performed a low-density genome-wide association analysis with a family-based association test to identify... more

Family, twin, and adoption studies have indicated that human intelligence quotient (IQ) has significant genetic components. We performed a low-density genome-wide association analysis with a family-based association test to identify genetic variants influencing IQ, as measured by Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale full-score IQ (FSIQ). We examined 11,120 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the Affymetrix GeneChips 10K mapping array genotyped in 292 nuclear families from Genetic Analysis Workshop 14, a subset from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA). A replication analysis was performed using part of International Multi-Center ADHD Genetics Project (IMAGE) dataset. Twenty-two SNPs were identified as having suggestive associations with IQ (p<10(-3)) in the COGA sample and eleven of the SNPs were located within known genes. In particular, NTM at 11q25 (rs411280, p = 0.000764) and NR3C2 at 4q31.1 (rs3846329, p = 0.000675) were two novel genes which hav...

The few controlled studies dealing with the action of alcohol on core body temperature in humans have focused on the effect of a single dose of ethanol and reported that it has a hypothermic effect. No studies report the effects of... more

The few controlled studies dealing with the action of alcohol on core body temperature in humans have focused on the effect of a single dose of ethanol and reported that it has a hypothermic effect. No studies report the effects of repeated ethanol intake over a 24-h period, a pattern of consumption much closer to the clinical condition of chronic alcoholism. We therefore designed a trial in which alcohol was repeatedly and regularly administered, with a total dose of 256 g. Nine healthy male volunteers (mean age 23.3 +/- 2.9 yr; range 21-30) each served as his own control. The circadian temperature rhythm was studied by a single-blind, randomized, crossover study that compared a 26-h alcohol session to a 26-h placebo session. The trial controlled for so-called masking effects known to affect temperature. The volunteers were in bed; the ambient temperature was maintained between 20 and 22 degrees C. Meals were standardized. And light was controlled during the night. All sessions too...

This is a report of a 6-year follow-up of a male patient's semen parameters during heavy chronic alcohol intoxication and after withdrawal. A slowly progressive negative impact of alcohol could be observed: isolated moderate... more

This is a report of a 6-year follow-up of a male patient's semen parameters during heavy chronic alcohol intoxication and after withdrawal. A slowly progressive negative impact of alcohol could be observed: isolated moderate teratozoospermia was firstly noted followed by oligoasthenoteratospermia. Then a severe worsening resulted in cryptozoospermia and ultimately in azoospermia. At this moment, the histological analysis of a testicular biopsy revealed a maturation arrest of the germinal cells at the pachytene stage with no mature sperm cells. Alcohol withdrawal was then obtained, allowing a very fast and drastic improvement of semen characteristics; strictly normal semen parameters were observed after no more than 3 months. Taking into consideration these data, patients should be questioned about their alcohol intake before assisted reproductive technology and should be informed about this adverse effect. Moreover, this case report emphasizes how quickly benefits can be obtaine...

The aim of this study is to deliver representative epidemiological data about the prevalence of alcohol abuse and dependence in general practices in an urban area. In 12 general practices at Luebeck, a Northern German city with 220,000... more

The aim of this study is to deliver representative epidemiological data about the prevalence of alcohol abuse and dependence in general practices in an urban area. In 12 general practices at Luebeck, a Northern German city with 220,000 inhabitants, a total of 929 patients (aged between 14 and 75 years) were screened using the CAGE and the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test. If one of these screening questionnaires or the General Practitioners&amp;amp;#39; assessment of the patient indicated an alcohol problem, the patient underwent a standardized diagnostic interview using the alcohol section of the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry. The prevalence rates according to ICD-10 or DSM-III-R were 3.5% for alcohol abuse and 7.2% for alcohol dependence, the sex ratio was 1:2.8 (female:male). These results are compared with previous findings, and general epidemiological implications of this study are discussed.

Increasing evidence implies the involvement of the dopamine (DA) system in the pathogenesis of alcoholism. We measured striatal DA D(2) receptors in Cloninger type 1 and 2 alcoholics by using [(125)I]epidepride in human postmortem whole... more

Increasing evidence implies the involvement of the dopamine (DA) system in the pathogenesis of alcoholism. We measured striatal DA D(2) receptors in Cloninger type 1 and 2 alcoholics by using [(125)I]epidepride in human postmortem whole hemispheric autoradiography (WHA), which provides high-resolution images corresponding to positron emission tomographic (PET) studies. We also evaluated the correlation between transporter and receptor DA binding site densities and putative correlation of [(125)I]epidepride binding between the dorsal striatum and nucleus accumbens. In the type 1 alcoholics, the DA D(2) receptor density was 21.4-32.6% lower in all dorsal striatal structures (caudate, putamen, globus pallidus) when compared with the controls. Type 2 alcoholics had 19.6-21.4% lower binding in other dorsal striatal structures, except medial globus pallidus, where they were not significantly different from controls. The density of DA D(2) receptors and DAT had a significant positive correlation only in the putamen of type 1 alcoholics. The binding of [(125)I]epidepride showed also consistent and statistically significant positive correlation between nucleus accumbens and all dorsal striatal areas in type 1 alcoholics but not in the controls. In the type 2 alcoholics, the correlation was weaker than that observed in the type 1 alcoholics, and no correlation was observed between nucleus accumbens and globus pallidus. Our results show that these two subgroups of alcoholics have stark differences in their DA D(2) receptor binding characteristics. Type 2 alcoholics may have selective deficiency in the dorsal striatum, whereas in limbic structures they may not differ significantly from controls. Moreover, WHA provides a useful tool for detailed mapping of neuronal receptors in healthy as well as diseased brain, and can also be used in radioligand development for PET.