Heavy drinkers of beer and spirits face a much higher risk of developing cancer than the population at large, says a group of Montreal epidemiologists and cancer researchers. Their findings show that people in the highest consumption category increased their risk of developing oesophageal cancer sevenfold, colon cancer by 80% and even lung cancer by 50%.

The nature of the U.S. Navy workplace leads to higher heavy drinking for sailors than for civilians, according to an article in the May issue of the Journal of Mixed Methods Research published by SAGE.

Bars and nightclubs, but not liquor stores, are linked with excessive alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking in adults who live nearby, according to a new study from the Pardee RAND Graduate School in Santa Monica, California.

Naltrexone is one of four oral medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of alcoholism. A recent large multicenter research study of alcohol dependence supported by the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA), the COMBINE Study, suggested that naltrexone produced a modest but significant benefit but another FDA-approved medication, acamprosate, was ineffective.

In a study likely applicable to men of other ethnicities, Tulane University researchers found that heavy drinking (more than 21 drinks per week) may increase the risk of stroke in Chinese men. The results of the study are published in the latest issue of Annals of Neurology.

Heavy drinking may increase the risk of stroke in Chinese men and should be targeted for prevention strategies, according to a new study to be published online in the Annals of Neurology, a journal published by John Wiley & Sons. The article is also available online via Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com).

While heavy drinking has consistently been linked to an increased risk of intimate partner violence (IPV), a new study has found that both drinking patterns and neighborhood characteristics can contribute in different ways to mutual IPV among married/cohabiting adults in the general population.

Mailing a simple information pamphlet to interested drinkers in the general population reduced binge drinking by 10 per cent, and is a promising public health approach to reduce the health and social problems associated with heavy drinking, shows a new study led by the University of Alberta.