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At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1990

Comparison of the Self-Administered Alcoholism Screening Test (SAAST) and the Khavari Alcohol Test (KAT): results from an alcoholic population and their collaterals.

This study examined the reports of patients and their collaterals on drinking practices, as measured by the summary scale of the Khavari Alcohol Test (the annual absolute alcohol intake, AAAI) and alcohol related behavioral patterns, as assessed by the Self-Administered Alcoholism Screening Test (SAAST). In- and outpatients from two Milwaukee area substance abuse treatment hospitals, and a number of their collaterals, participated in this study. Patients' and collaterals' responses on the AAAI and the SAAST were compared through the use of a paired t test. Results indicated no significant differences between patients' self-reports compared with collateral reports, and demonstrated a direct relationship on the AAAI (two tailed p less than 0.001) and SAAST (two-tailed p less than 0.001). Self-reports of patients who volunteered collaterals compared with self-reports of patients who did not volunteer collaterals also showed no significant differences on the AAAI or the SAAST, demonstrating consistency of reporting whether the patients believed their reports would be compared with information provided by a collateral or not. The AAAI and the SAAST corroborated in their diagnoses of patients as suffering from alcoholism (r = 0.515, p less than 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed no significant effect of demographic variables on either the AAAI or the SAAST. This study shows: (a) impressive concordance between patient and collateral reports; (2) apparent intactness of memory, and little evidence of denial, as measured by the instruments; and (3) the efficacy of measures such as the AAAI and the SAAST, two vastly different scales measuring dimensions of alcoholism.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1983

Increase of neurophysin II serum levels in chronic alcoholic patients: relationship with alcohol consumption and alcoholism blood markers during withdrawal therapy.

Neurophysin II (hNpII) but not hNpI serum levels were higher than normal (greater than 2.85 ng/ml) in 9 of 20 patients admitted to the metabolic ward for alcohol withdrawal therapy; a normalization was observed within the first week of alcohol withdrawal. The higher levels of hNpII were felt to reflect alcohol impregnation for the following reasons: 1) on admission, levels of most of the alcoholism blood markers were higher in the group of patients with high hNpII levels than in the group with normal hNpII levels; 2) hNpII levels were correlated with most of the alcoholism blood markers, mainly gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (r = 0.63, P less than 0.001) in the 20 patients of the study; 3) patients with high hNpII levels admitted to greater alcohol and less anxiolytic drug intake immediately before admission. The physiopathological meaning and hypothetical psychological consequence of this hNpII increase remain to be defined.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed2004

[Representations of alcoholism in a former alcoholics' association: Alcoholics Anonymous].

This article is designed to review the representations of alcoholism provided by members of an association of former alcoholics, namely Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), based on partial results from a qualitative survey conducted in the Sapopemba group of AA in a neighborhood on the outskirts of the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The article thus analyzes alcoholism from an emic perspective, i.e., how it is conceived and managed by those who acknowledge themselves as being "sick as alcoholics", how they explain the sickness, how they experience it, and how they endeavor to overcome it. The purpose is to present AA and its treatment strategy and to highlight the link made by the association by conceiving of alcoholism as a physical, moral, and spiritual illness.

Alcoholics Anonymous↗
PubMed2000

Osteoreflectory treatment of alcohol abstinence syndrome and craving for alcohol in patients with alcoholism.

Osteoreflexotherapy is used alone as a treatment used for alcohol abstinence syndrome and for alcohol craving by intraosseal stimulation of the processus styloideus ulnae of the patient's left and right hands as well as the processus spinosus of the seventh cervical vertebra and the manubrium sterni osteoreceptors. This is done by intraosseal injection of 0.5 to 1.0 ml of 0.9% NaCl solution during a period of 3 to 5 seconds. Craving for alcohol and depressed mood, strongly manifested Alcohol Abstinence Syndrome (AAS) symptoms before osteoreflexotherapy, were reduced in a most convenient and fast manner under the influence of two sessions of osteoreceptive stimulation. The withdrawal symptoms caused by alcohol abstinence decreased markedly during the first two hours after the first osteoreflexotherapy treatment, continued to decrease in the next 24 hours and by the time the second osteoreflexotherapy session was given, the withdrawal symptoms completely disappeared in 72 hours. The most slowly and least reduced AAS symptoms were asthenia and disturbances of postular equilibrium. Based on clinical observations, it is speculated that osteoreceptive stimulations destroy ethanol dependent functional systems and restore the neurophysiological and neuromediatorial integration of the brain in alcoholismpatients. Primarily because of these two cited factors, the patient can be freed of the craving for alcohol for several years, and he or she also does not suffer from depression.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Measuring alcohol abuse in the community: consumption, binge-drinking, and alcohol-related consequences ("alcoholism").

This study reported and compared community health indicators for the measurement of alcohol abuse. Using data from the 1989 Hamilton-Wentworth Health Survey, similar rates were found for four differing definitions of alcohol abuse: 1) drinking everyday (5.7%, 95% confidence limit (CL) = 3.8-7.7%), 2) drinking at least 14 drinks in the past seven days (12.1%, 95% CL = 9.2-15.1%), 3) frequent binging on 10 drinks or more (9.4%, 95% CL = 6.9-11.8%), and 4) "alcoholism" as defined by the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST) (7.4%, 95% CL = 5.1-9.7%). Binging on five drinks or more occurred frequently (37.0, 95% CL = 32.8-41.1%). All indicators of alcohol abuse from the survey were significantly higher for males as compared to females (p < 0.05), and demonstrated varying distributions by age. Estimates of drinking consumption based on the sale of alcoholic beverages in the community were also examined and found to estimate consumption levels nearly double that of the self-reported survey data. Relevance to public health planning and monitoring is discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

The definition of alcoholism. The Joint Committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine to Study the Definition and Criteria for the Diagnosis of Alcoholism.

To establish a more precise use of the term alcoholism, a 23-member multidisciplinary committee of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence and the American Society of Addiction Medicine conducted a 2-year study of the definition of alcoholism in the light of current concepts. The goals of the committee were to create by consensus a revised definition that is (1) scientifically valid, (2) clinically useful, and (3) understandable by the general public. Therefore, the committee agreed to define alcoholism as a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial. Each of these symptoms may be continuous or periodic.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1989

Alcohol-induced bone marrow damage: status before and after a 4-week period of abstinence from alcohol with or without disulfiram. A randomized bone marrow study in alcohol-dependent individuals.

The investigation described in this paper has confirmed the existence of alcohol-induced bone marrow damage as a nosological entity in alcohol-dependent individuals. In our patients total abstinence from alcohol without disulfiram or similar drugs led to reversal of the pathological findings in peripheral blood and in bone marrow. In patients undergoing detoxification while taking disulfiram, on the other hand, the pathological bone marrow findings, especially erythropoiesis associated with impaired iron utilization, persisted. The metabolic pathway of disulfiram is discussed. It is probably justifiable to assume that the toxin responsible for alcohol-induced bone marrow damage is the ethanol metabolite acetaldehyde. The persistence of erythropoiesis with impaired iron utilization during abstinence from alcohol and treatment with disulfiram is also of importance in differential diagnosis from the myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), and especially from refractory anaemia with ring sideroblasts (RARS). For this reason, where the situation is unclear, it is essential that a diagnosis of MDS be supported by specific investigations such as cell cultures, cytogenetic analyses, etc. It is the first time that the toxic, alcohol-like-effect of disulfiram on haematopoiesis is discussed.

Alcoholism↗
PubMed1992

Clinicopathologic study of alcohol-like liver disease in non-alcoholics; non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and fibrosis.

Alcohol-like liver injury (ALLI) in non-alcoholics has not been elucidated in Japan. The present study attempted to characterize the clinicopathologic features of ALLI in routine liver biopsies. ALLI was found in 1% of 561 biopsy cases obtained from 1988 to May, 1991 at Kanazawa University Hospital. Laboratory data characteristically showed only a mild to moderate degree of dysfunction, and none of the cases exhibited jaundice. Hepatic histology showed a mild to moderate degree of perivenular, pericellular and/or portal stellate fibrosis with a varying degree of fatty change and inflammatory cell infiltration. Portal stellate fibrosis with a varying degree of cell infiltration was more severe than the centrilobular or pericellular fibrosis in all cases. Intralobular inflammatory cell infiltration was associated with spotty or single hepatocyte necrosis, but extensive hepatocyte necrosis was not observed. Neutrophil infiltration was absent or minimal, and lymphocytes predominated in all cases. Mallory bodies were rare and were found in a few hepatocytes of only one of the 7 cases. The above histologic findings in ALLI were very similar to those seen in liver disease in Japanese alcoholics, and were somewhat different from ALLI reported in Western countries. In cases in which hepatic fibrosis, characterized by pericellular, perivenular or portal stellate fibrosis dominated without apparent hepatic necrosis and inflammation, the term "non-alcoholic steatofibrosis" is more suitable to depict its liver histology, being very similar to the alcoholic fibrosis frequently seen in Japanese alcoholics.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Comparison of motor delays in young children with fetal alcohol syndrome to those with prenatal alcohol exposure and with no prenatal alcohol exposure.

BACKGROUND: Researchers are increasingly considering the importance of motor functioning of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). The purpose of this study was to assess the motor development of young children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) to determine the presence and degree of delay in their motor skills and to compare their motor development with that of matched children without FAS. METHODS: The motor development of 14 children ages 20 to 68 months identified with FAS was assessed using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS). In addition, 2 comparison groups were utilized. Eleven of the children with FAS were matched for chronological age, gender, ethnicity, and communication age to: (1) 11 children with prenatal alcohol exposure who did not have FAS and (2) 11 matched children without any reported prenatal alcohol exposure. The motor scores on the VABS were compared among the 3 groups. RESULTS: Most of the young children with FAS in this study showed clinically important delays in their motor development as measured on the VABS Motor Domain, and their fine motor skills were significantly more delayed than their gross motor skills. In the group comparisons, the young children with FAS had significantly lower Motor Domain standard (MotorSS) scores than the children not exposed to alcohol prenatally. They also had significantly lower Fine Motor Developmental Quotients than the children in both the other groups. No significant group differences were found in gross motor scores. For MotorSS scores and Fine Motor Developmental Quotients, the means and standard errors indicated a continuum in the scores from FAS to prenatal alcohol exposure to nonexposure. CONCLUSIONS: These findings strongly suggest that all young children with FAS should receive complete developmental evaluations that include assessment of their motor functioning, to identify problem areas and provide access to developmental intervention programs that target deficit areas such as fine motor skills. Fine motor delays in children with FAS may be related to specific neurobehavioral deficits that affect fine motor skills. The findings support the concept of an FASD continuum in some areas of motor development.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1993

4-Methylpyrazole inhibits fatty acyl coenzyme synthetase and diminishes catalase-dependent alcohol metabolism: has the contribution of alcohol dehydrogenase to alcohol metabolism been previously overestimated?

Alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH)-deficient deer mice were used as an animal model to investigate the effect of 4-methylpyrazole on alcohol metabolism. After intraperitoneal dosing of these mutant mice with 4-methylpyrazole, rates of ethanol and methanol metabolism in vivo were decreased significantly, by 41% and 35%, respectively. In perfused liver, rates of ethanol metabolism were also decreased up to 61% by 100 microM 4-methylpyrazole. Further, when livers were perfused with methanol, a selective substrate for catalase, rates of methanol metabolism were decreased by 64% by 4-methylpyrazole. It was further determined that 4-methylpyrazole administration caused negligible changes in total hepatic catalase activity and in rates of oxidation of ethanol by isolated microsomes; rather, it acts on catalase-dependent alcohol metabolism by limiting the supply of H2O2. In this study, 4-methylpyrazole inhibited fatty acyl CoA synthetase competitively in liver homogenates. Fatty acyl CoA synthetase is a key enzyme involved in the supply of substrate for peroxisomal oxidation of alcohols via catalase-H2O2. When palmitate was studied, rates of formaldehyde production from methanol were reduced competitively by 4-methylpyrazole; however, when the product palmitoyl CoA was used, the addition of 4-methylpyrazole did not alter activity. 4-Methylpyrazole also inhibited fatty acyl CoA synthetase activity measured directly from CoA disappearance. These data indicate that fatty acyl CoA synthetase is inhibited by 4-methylpyrazole, thus reducing the availability of H2O2 for catalase-dependent alcohol metabolism. Inhibition of methanol metabolism in deer mice expressing ADH indicates that this phenomenon also occurs in species with ADH. Taken together, these data support the hypothesis that the contribution of ADH to alcohol metabolism may have been previously overestimated.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗
PubMed2005

Genetic polymorphism of alcohol dehydrogenase 3 in alcohol liver cirrhosis and in alcohol chronic pancreatitis.

AIM: To find the ADH3 genotypes in the Polish population likely to be responsible for higher susceptibility to alcohol disease of the liver and chronic alcohol pancreatitis. METHOD: The ADH3 genotype and ADH3*1 and ADH3*2 alleles frequencies were examined in 198 patients. Genotyping of the ADH3 was performed using PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism methods on a white cell DNA. RESULTS: The genotype ADH3*1/ADH3*1 was found to be significantly more frequent in alcohol abusers compared with non-drinkers. The examinations of the group of alcohol abusers showed that the genotype ADH3*2/ADH3*2 occurred statistically significantly less frequently in patients with chronic pancreatitis than in those without alimentary lesions (healthy drinkers). The alleles ADH3*1 and genotype ADH3*1/ADH3*1 were significantly more frequent in men than in women, whereas alleles ADH3*2 and genotype ADH3*2/ADH3*2 were more common in women. CONCLUSIONS: The genotype ADH3*2/ADH3*2 is likely to be a protective factor for chronic pancreatitis. Variations in ADH3 genotypes may account for some of the differences in prevalence of alcohol dependence between genders in the Polish population.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase↗
PubMed1995

Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) content and CGRP receptor binding sites in discrete forebrain regions of alcohol-preferring vs. -nonpreferring rats, and high alcohol-drinking vs. low alcohol-drinking rats.

This study showed that alcohol-preferring (P) rats and high alcohol-drinking (HAD) rats possess fewer calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor binding sites than their respective controls in the central amygdaloid nucleus (CeA) which is known to be related to anxiety. Since P and HAD rats are selectively bred for high alcohol preference, and alcohol can produce anxiolytic effect, one can postulate that P and HAD rats preferentially drink alcohol in order to obtain its anxiolytic effect. This study supports a hypothesis that deficit of CGRP receptors in the CeA of P and HAD rats may contribute to alcohol preference.

Amygdala↗
PubMed1982

A comparison of blood alcohol concentration using non-alcohol- and alcohol-containing skin antiseptics.

We simultaneously obtained blood samples in emergency patients for ethanol content from both antecubital fossae using an alcohol prep pad on one arm and a non-alcohol-containing germicidal solution on the other. Fifty patients with ethanol concentrations greater than zero were statistically analyzed. Twenty patients surveyed had no measurable alcohol level by either technique. There was no significant difference in the blood alcohol concentration obtained by either method of skin preparation in both groups (P less than .01). Blood alcohol concentration incidentally obtained in the emergency department by routine isopropyl alcohol skin preparation is an accurate laboratory parameter.

1-Propanol↗
PubMed2001

Alcohol-Related Mortality in Europe: A Tentative Analysis from the EU Project "Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol Problems among Women in European Countries"

Mortality data were collected for eight of the nine study countries in the BIOMED-II concerted action "Alcohol Consumption and Alcohol Problems among Women in European Countries": Finland, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom (Scotland), Sweden, and Switzerland. An analysis of mortality that is limited to causes of death that are fully attributable to alcohol (DAA) results in a large underestimation of alcohol-related mortality (ARM) rates in all study countries and especially among females. These estimates can be improved by including an analysis of selected causes of death that are indirectly attributable to alcohol. This produces geographic and time-trend variability of ARM rates that are more congruent with alcohol drinking levels and trends. From this study, it is evident that when German data are analyzed separately for the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the former Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), two distinct ARM patterns result. The authors underline methodologic limits of this study and recommend procedures for a more reliable calculation of European ARM estimates

Journal Article↗
PubMed1985

Endogenous breath acetaldehyde levels among alcoholic and non-alcoholic probands: effect of alcohol use and smoking.

The effects of possible confounding factors on endogenous breath acetaldehyde levels were examined in alcoholic and non-alcoholic subjects. Demographic characteristics, family history for alcoholism, smoking and drinking history, and breath acetaldehyde levels were assessed. Differences in endogenous breath acetaldehyde levels could not be attributed to age, sex, or having a family history positive for alcoholism. Individuals who smoke or abuse alcohol had higher endogenous breath acetaldehyde levels than persons who did not.

Acetaldehyde↗
PubMed1997

Age at onset of alcohol use and its association with DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence: results from the National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey.

Data from 27,616 current and former drinkers interviewed in the 1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey were used to examine the relationship between age at first use of alcohol and the prevalence of lifetime alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence, among all U.S. adults 18 years of age and over and within subgroups defined by sex and race. The rates of lifetime dependence declined from more than 40% among individuals who started drinking at ages 14 or younger to roughly 10% among those who started drinking at ages 20 and older. The rates of lifetime abuse declined from just over 11% among those who initiated use of alcohol at ages 16 or younger to approximately 4% among those whose onset of use was at ages 20 or older. After using multivariate logistic regression models to adjust for potential confounders, the odds of dependence decreased by 14% with each increasing year of age at onset of use, and the odds of abuse decreased by 8%. These findings are discussed with respect to their implications for prevention policies and the need to integrate epidemiological and intervention research.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

From alcoholism treatment to the alcohol harm reduction strategy for England: an overview of alcohol policy since 1950.

With the publication of the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England in 2004,(1) it is timely to reflect on the social and political contexts that have influenced alcohol policy. This paper provides an overview of trends in the development of alcohol policy in England since 1950 with a focus on treatment policy. In particular, it traces factors that have prompted change and resulted in the "treatment" response of the 1960s becoming a small part of a larger, complex approach to the "management" of alcohol-related harm. The publication of the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England(1) and the Interim Analytical Report,(2) which provided the evidence and framework for the strategy, has resulted in fierce debate on the political processes underlying the emergence of the strategy, the extent to which the strategy is "evidence-based," its strategic aims, and the mechanisms for implementation. This paper argues that responses to policy statements-like the policies themselves-have to be examined within the political, economic, and cultural contexts of their time.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMed1988

Risk for alcoholism: a comparison between two different groups of sons of alcoholics on cardiovascular reactivity and sensitivity to alcohol.

Two groups of sons of alcoholic fathers of differing family pedigrees for alcoholism [multigenerational (MGH) versus unigenerational (UGH)] were compared on measures of cardiovascular reactivity to unavoidable shock under alcohol and no alcohol consumption conditions. The MGH subjects were significantly more reactive than UGH subjects to the shock procedure on a measure of peripheral vasoconstriction (digital blood volume amplitude) with a similar trend on heart rate. The MGH subjects were significantly more sensitive to the reactivity dampening effects of alcohol than the UGH subjects on both cardiovascular measures. MGH subjects were also significantly more alexithymic than UGH subjects. The results are discussed in terms of the potential etiological significance of these characteristics in MGH males, and the importance of delineating the family history for at least two generations when assigning risk status to potential subjects.

Adult↗