Posts tagged with ‘Alcoholism’

Alcoholism is a disease characterized by the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages despite health problems and negative social consequences. The quantity, frequency, and regularity of alcohol consumption required to develop alcoholism varies greatly from person to person. Studies indicate that the proportion of men with alcohol dependence is higher than the proportion of women, although women are more vulnerable to long-term consequences of alcoholism.

Mood Swings Common in Heavy Drinkers

Heavy drinking is a pattern of excessive alcohol consumption that increases a person’s chances of developing diagnosable problems with alcohol abuse or alcoholism. People already affected by these conditions also typically drink heavily on a regular basis. In a study published in January 2014 in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism, researchers from the University of Vermont sought to determine if the “positive” and “negative” mood changes associated with heavy drinking differ between men and women. These researchers concluded that some mood changes occur in both men and women, while others tend to occur only in men.

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Shame Is No Good for Recovery

Shame is a feeling that addicts know well. Sometimes the shame is connected to one particular event. Maybe you drank too much at a family wedding and made a fool of yourself. The next day, you feel overwhelmed by embarrassment and shame and vow never to do that again. Or maybe your shame runs deeper. Society takes a pretty low view of drug addicts and alcoholics. No matter how much new research tells us about addiction and the biological, neurological, and genetic connections, we shame addicts. Full Story

How to Talk to an Alcoholic Who Has Not Yet Agreed to Seek Help

When someone develops a drinking problem, it can create quite a conundrum for his friends and family. To prevent tragedy, they know they must intervene before the situation gets any worse, but they are usually at a complete loss about how to proceed. Full Story

Article Says Genetics May Be 60 Percent of the Factors Toward Alcohol Abuse

Of all types of global disease, alcoholism is a leading killer, taking the lives of more than 2.5 million individuals annually. In the U.S., it’s a leading factor in deaths of people in the 15 to 60 year old age group, and annual levels consumed by people in the U.S. are up to ten liters of pure alcohol, on average. Full Story

Working Long Hours Puts Young People at Risk for Alcohol-Related Problems

Young people who work more than 50 hours a week have more than double the risk for alcohol-related problems than the unemployed, according to a new study from New Zealand.

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Alcoholism Among the Elderly Is a Growing Trend

An American educator named John W. Gardner once commented that there is no other health problem that has been as neglected nationally as alcoholism. Doctors decline alcoholics as patients, hospitals won’t admit them and available treatment methods haven’t been widely useful.

Recently, we see that many elderly have become hidden alcoholics due to loneliness and depression. They have gone from leading productive lives to no longer having family or friends around to support them as they are left alone at home or in nursing homes, according to a recent article in Frost Illustrated.

Most of the elderly are on a variety of medications that do not mix safely with alcohol. When these patients are then hospitalized, often no one knows they are alcoholics which can lead to withdrawal signs complicating treatment.

A simple bout of pneumonia can become complicated with an unknown alcoholic as it lowers the immune system. Alcoholism also causes mineral and vitamin deficiencies that can lead to chronic brain diseases or deficits of the neurological system.

If an alcoholic is admitted, they need to be treated for such deficiencies and given supplements like B1, or thiamine and magnesium in conjunction with other nutrients they are lacking. This becomes complicated when the doctors don’t know the elderly person is an alcoholic. Social Service agencies need to be more aware of the conditions that lead to alcoholism with the elderly, and these elderly individuals also need to be encouraged to become involved in recreational activities for peer interaction.

It is important to make sure you have a neighbor or friend who regularly checks on your elderly family member and also has a key. Check with the nursing home or senior center to get your elderly loved one plugged in to recreational activities to help avoid this growing problem.

New Programs from Wales Found to Reduce Problem Drinking

A study from Bangor University in North Wales suggests that two programs can help problem drinkers reduce their alcohol consumption. After following the Alcohol Attention-Control Training Program (AACTP) or the Life Enhancement and Advancement Program (LEAP), drinkers had positive results.

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Interventions for Medical Inpatients with Unhealthy Drinking Behaviors

Unhealthy drinking practices are often seen among medical inpatients. While hospitalization is regarded by some as a "teachable moment" for motivating patients to decrease drinking, studies of brief hospital-based interventions have not always found decreases. New findings show that focusing on alcohol-related illnesses may make hospital interventions more effective. Results will be published in the July 2010 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

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The Roots of Alcoholics Anonymous

In October 1909, Dr. Alexander Lambert announced to a New York Times reporter that he had found a cure for alcoholism and drug addiction—a cure that would work in less than five days—consisting of belladonna (deadly nightshade) and the fluid extracts of xanthoxylum (prickly ash) and hyoscyamus (henbane). Howard Markel, M.D., writes for the New York Times today that Dr. Lambert was hardly a quack seeking a headline: he was widely known as Theodore Roosevelt’s personal physician, a professor of medicine at Cornell Medical College, and an expert on alcoholism.

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How Parental Alcoholism Affects Children in their Adult Lives

It is clear that children are affected by their parents’ choices when it comes to alcohol abuse problems. Neglect, abuse and fetal alcohol syndrome are all effects immediately felt by the children of alcoholic parents.

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