More than one million Americans currently participate in the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) program. While AA participants are reportedly notorious for their coffee drinking and cigarette smoking, very little research has quantified their consumption of these two products.

A particular gene variant might make women more susceptible to alcoholism. At least, a study carried out by the Universities of Bonn and Sweden's Karolinska Institute makes this a plausible conclusion.

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.

Alcoholic threshold effect rather than a dose-response effect on mortality from alcohol-related liver injury. Alcohol intake, rather than the type of alcoholic beverage, was more significant to liver injury.

Variceal hemorrhaging is associated with a high mortality rate. The early detection of esophageal varices is critical for the effective prevention of variceal hemorrhage.

Professor Yi-Yang Hu and his colleagues confirmed that Jianpi Huoxue decoction (JHD) reduced the cytokine expression induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and inhibited some targets in LPS-activated Kupffer cell signal pathway. This may provide new insight on the mechanism of JHD on alcoholic liver injury.

While many people believe that alcohol-impaired (AI) drivers are usually alcoholics, in fact, 80 percent of AI incidents are caused by binge drinkers. A recent study conducted among college students has found that binge drinkers, even when legally intoxicated, nonetheless believe they having adequate driving abilities.

Access to treatment for alcohol dependence (AD) in rural and remote areas is limited. This study evaluated the effectiveness of two pharmacotherapies for AD – naltrexone alone, and in combination with sertraline – among Alaska Natives (ANs) and other Alaskans living in rural settings. Findings indicate that naltrexone is just as effective on its own as it is in combination with sertraline.

* A new Australian study examines the relationship between alcohol-outlet density and violence over time.
* All three types of outlets examined – hotel pubs, bars and packaged-liquor outlets –had positive relationships with assault rates.
* Hotel pubs and bars were the biggest drivers of violence in inner-city areas, while packaged-liquor outlets were more important in suburban areas.

Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have shown a connection between early drinking patterns and a tendency to be a heavy drinker in adulthood, in a study of adolescent rats.

Cross-sectional studies, which collect information at a single point in time, generally find that young Americans report having more lifetime alcohol problems than older Americans, despite having had less time to develop these problems.

No one can become alcohol dependent (AD) without repeatedly drinking alcohol, but not everyone who does so will become AD. Certain characteristics – adolescence, novelty seeking, reaction to stress, and response to first alcohol exposure – are believed to influence the vulnerability of developing AD.