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.

Random drug and alcohol testing does not reliably keep student-athletes from using. In fact, the mere presence of drug testing increases some risk factors for future substance use, Oregon Health & Science University researchers report. Their findings are published in the November issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health, the journal of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

Many studies have suggested that moderate red wine consumption is beneficial to cardiovascular health. But what if you’d like to skip the alcohol?

The U.S. researchers said Thursday that all alcohol adds equally to the risk of developing breast cancer. The researchers, led by Dr. Arthur Klatsky of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program in Oakland, United States, revealed their findings at a meeting of the European Cancer Organization in Barcelona.

Mixing energy drinks with alcohol appears to be popular among Italian university students