Being diabetic does not mean that you only have to avoid sweet eatables, it requires you to make some major lifestyle changes to better cope with this health condition. If a diabetic patient is not paying ample attention towards his/her health, then there is a great chance of developing several other mental and physical health issues which will make you visit many doctors e.g. medical marijuana doctors, etc. One of the common questions that diabetic patients often ask is what effect alcohol consumption can have on their health. First of all, excessive intake of alcohol can have drastic effects on our liver which in turn affects our blood sugar level. Else, alcohol can interact with your medication and can result in harmful outcomes. Here is everything you need to know about how diabetes can be affected by alcohol use:(more…)
People who committed suicide during the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009 were more likely to have been legally intoxicated at the time than those who committed suicide during other recent years, according to research led by UCLA professor Mark Kaplan.
Although one-third of all people who commit suicide are intoxicated at the time of their deaths, extensive research has shown that individuals who are unemployed or at risk of unemployment in a down economy are at increased risk for suicide. At the same time, people overall tend to consume less alcohol during economic recessions. (more…)
Men experience a higher burden of disease and lower life expectancy than women, but policies focusing on the health needs of men are notably absent from the strategies of global health organisations, according to a Viewpoint article in this week’s Lancet.
The article reinterprets data from the ‘Global Burden of Disease: 2010’ study which shows that all of the top ten causes of premature death and disability, and the top ten behavioural risk factors driving rates of ill-health around the world, affect men more than they affect women. (more…)
In a new study, addiction researchers found that attentive parenting can overcome a genetic predisposition to alcohol use disorder among teens. Although further research is needed, says lead author Robert Miranda Jr., parents can have an impact if they “closely monitor their child’s behavior and peer group.”
In 2010 a team led by Robert Miranda Jr., associate professor (research) of psychiatry and human behavior in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, found that teens with a single difference in their genes were more predisposed to alcohol use disorder. In a new study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research he found that the risk was largely overcome in teens whose parents are attentive to their behavior and peer group. Miranda, a researcher at Brown’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, answered questions from science writer David Orenstein about the new study.
What did we know about genetic risk associated with A118G and teenage alcohol use going into this study?
In 2010, we reported in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research the first evidence that the A118G SNP of the OPRM1 gene is associated with a greater number of alcohol-related problems as well as the development of an alcohol use disorder (AUD) among adolescents. Specifically, adolescents who met criteria for an AUD diagnosis had a higher prevalence of the G allele (51.9 percent) than non-AUD youth(16.3 percent), and the G allele accounted for 9 percent of the variance in alcohol-related problems experienced by youth in the past three months, with a moderate effect size. Although these findings are consistent with some adult studies in terms of the nature and magnitude of this association, other adult studies did not find this relationship. (more…)
ANN ARBOR — When it comes to alcohol and drug use, peers can be just as influential online as they are in person, researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health say.(more…)
Understanding this phenomenon could improve psychological support systems for sexual minorities and help young people avoid alcohol problems.
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Many young adults explore and define their sexual identity in college, but that process can be stressful and lead to risky behaviors. In a new study, students whose sexual self-definition didn’t fall into exclusively heterosexual or homosexual categories tended to misuse alcohol more frequently than people who had a firmly defined sexual orientation for a particular gender, according to University of Missouri researchers. These findings could be used to improve support programs for sexual minorities.
“Bisexuals and students whose sexual orientation was in flux reported the heaviest drinking and most negative consequences from alcohol use, such as uncontrolled drinking and withdrawal symptoms,” said Amelia Talley, MU assistant professor of psychological sciences in the College of Arts and Science. “Those groups reported drinking to relieve anxiety and depression at higher rates than strictly heterosexual or homosexual individuals. One possible explanation is that people who aren’t either completely heterosexual or homosexual may feel stigmatized by both groups.” (more…)
*Discovery Could Improve Substance Abuse Treatment*
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Tipping back one too many cocktails during an individual’s early 20s doesn’t correlate to a personal sense of immaturity; however if this habit doesn’t stop as they reach age 30, young adults can feel psychologically underdeveloped, according to a University of Missouri study. Helping young adults acknowledge their mental impulse to “sober up” as they mature can improve substance abuse intervention programs.
“When a heavy drinking 30-year-old comes in for therapy and says he doesn’t feel like an adult, we can present this study and suggest that cutting back on alcohol could help him feel more mature,” said lead researcher Rachel Winograd, a doctoral student in psychology at MU. (more…)
Smokers who also have alcohol, drug and mental disorders would benefit greatly from smoking-cessation counseling from their primary care physicians and would be five times more successful at kicking the habit, a study by researchers at UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center has found.
Smokers with these co-morbid conditions make up about 40 percent of the smoking population, have a more difficult time quitting and represent a significant burden on the health care system. If their primary care physicians could help them to quit smoking, it would not only improve their health of patients but would reduce tobacco-related health care costs, said Dr. Michael Ong, an assistant professor of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a researcher with UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.(more…)
