Overall alcohol use—particularly consumption of beer—is declining in the US, according to a new study published in the August 2008 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.

One in every two pregnant Australian woman still consume alcohol during pregnancy, according to a study in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The responsibility of providing accurate information about the harmful effects of alcohol and its lifelong effects on the child falls on obstetricians and other health professionals.

After many years of heavy drinking, alcohol produces pathological alterations in the brain. In many alcoholics these changes culminate in massive social deterioration and disorders of memory and learning.

Girls moving through adolescence may experience unhealthy levels of weight gain, but the reasons for this are not always clear. In fact, many potential causes of weight gain are easily overlooked.

How children respond to the smell of alcoholic beverages is related to their mothers' reasons for drinking, according to a new study from the Monell Chemical Senses Center.

Alcohol and drug misuse mean Scots are almost twice as likely to kill or take their own life compared to people living in England and Wales, research published today (Monday, June 16) reveals.

A new study has found that cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption do not have an effect on ovarian cancer risk, while caffeine intake may lower the risk, particularly in women not using hormones. The study is published in the March 1, 2008 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

Doctors writing in this week’s Christmas issue of the BMJ call on the government to introduce tougher measures to reduce alcohol related harm.

Alcohol triggers the activation of a variety of genes that can influence the health and activity of brain cells, and new research from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City sheds light on how that process occurs.

Most high school seniors drink because they want to experiment with alcohol, some drink for the thrill of it, and others because it helps them relax. A new study finds that a fourth group of high school students share all those reasons for drinking, but they also drink to get away from problems and to deal with anger or frustration issues.

New Brown University research shows that alcohol and tobacco use doesn’t increase the risk of cancers of the mouth and throat for people infected with human papillo-mavirus 16 (HPV16), a common sexually transmitted virus in the U.S. The findings are the strongest evidence yet that head and neck cancers have two distinct causes and may require different prevention and treatment methods.

Research published in the online open access journal Genome Biology this week has identified a number of genes that are associated with sensitivity to alcohol in fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster). It is hoped that these findings will help researchers uncover the genetic basis of drinking behaviour in humans.