http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Depression may inhibit the anti-inflammatory effects typically associated with physical activity and light-to-moderate alcohol consumption, according to researchers at Duke Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-people-depression-reap-full-benefits.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:29:47 EST news283519780 Do you ever wake up with a raging hangover and picture the row of brain cells that you suspect have have started to decay? Or wonder whether that final glass of wine was too much for those tiny cells, and pushed you over the line? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-alcohol-braincells-medical-myth.html Health Tue, 12 Mar 2013 09:25:18 EST news282299086 Lower minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) laws have been associated with short-term effects such as a greater number of traffic fatalities and teen suicides. A new study has investigated the long-term and persistent linkages between permissive MLDA laws and specific drinking behaviors such as average alcohol consumption, frequency of drinking, patterns of binge drinking, and moderate drinking. Findings support an association with problematic drinking behaviors that persist into later adulthood, such as more frequent binge episodes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-ages-impact-patterns.html Addiction Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:00:10 EST news278091667 Compared to a survey conducted nearly 20 years ago, about twice the proportion of addiction counselors now find it acceptable for at least some of their patients to have a drink occasionally – either as an intermediate goal or as their final treatment goal, according to a new study published by the American Psychological Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-alcohol-drug-abuse-counselors-dont.html Addiction Fri, 02 Nov 2012 13:16:14 EST news271080959 Drinking a couple of glasses of wine each day has generally been considered a good way to promote cardiovascular and brain health. But a new Rutgers University study indicates that there is a fine line between moderate and binge drinking – a risky behavior that can decrease the making of adult brain cells by as much as 40 percent. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-moderate-decreases-brain-cells.html Health Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:53:19 EST news270316367 An excellent review article from two scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the USA to be published in Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2012, describes the epidemiologic and basic scientific evidence linking alcohol consumption to the risk of breast cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-complex-association-moderate-alcohol-consumption.html Addiction Tue, 23 Oct 2012 12:10:01 EST news270211859 An analysis of the association of alcohol consumption with the development of atrial fibrillation (AF) among subjects with coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, or other manifestations of cardiovascular disease (CVD) was based on subjects in two large antihypertensive drug treatment trials. Previous research in the general population has suggested an increase in the risk of the development of AF for heavy drinkers, and the present study shows such an association among subjects who already have CVD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-moderate-alcohol-intake-atrial-fibrillation.html Cardiology Fri, 12 Oct 2012 11:35:22 EST news269260515 The majority of observational studies have shown that alcohol intake, especially heavy drinking, increases a number of upper-aero-digestive tract (UADT) and other cancers, and even moderate drinking is associated with a slight increase in the risk of breast cancer. A meta analysis published in the Annals of Oncology compares the effects between light drinkers (an average reported intake of up to 1 typical drink/day) versus "non-drinkers" in terms of relative risks for a number of types of cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-cancers.html Cancer Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:11:31 EST news267185483 Women after menopause tend to develop weaker bones from what is known as osteoporosis, which may lead to fractures (especially hip fractures) from falling. The weakness of the bones results from an imbalance between the normal resorption (a type of dissolving of old bone) and the laying down of new bone, an ongoing process for both men and women referred to as "bone turnover." For poorly understood reasons, after menopause the resorption of old bone in women continues but new bone is laid down less well, leading to a decrease in bone density. A variety of substances (calcium, vitamin D and various medications) have been used in an attempt to prevent the development of osteoporosis; in epidemiologic studies, moderate drinking of alcohol has also been shown to lower this risk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-mechanisms-beneficial-effect-moderate-alcohol.html Health Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:16:10 EST news263124961 A majority of previous epidemiologic studies have shown that moderate drinking is associated with a lower risk of kidney cancer, which may affect about 1% of the general population. In published prospective cohort studies, the risk for such cancer among moderate drinkers is usually about 25% less than the risk seen among non-drinkers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-moderate-alcohol-intake-kidney-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 19 Jul 2012 11:27:14 EST news261916029 Although numerous studies have shown a strong link between drinking and smoking behaviors, few telephone smoking-cessation "quitlines" routinely screen and counsel callers about their alcohol use. A first-of-its-kind study of drinking and smoking-cessation rates among callers to the New York State Smokers' Quitline (NYSSQL) has found that a high proportion of the smokers calling also drank at hazardous levels, and these high-level drinking smokers had more difficulty quitting smoking than moderate drinking smokers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-smoking-cessation-quitlines-hazardous-drinkers.html Addiction Fri, 15 Jun 2012 18:42:32 EST news259004546 Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other types of dementia are most common in the very elderly, and are associated with huge health costs. With a rapidly ageing population throughout the world, factors that affect the risk of cognitive decline and dementia are of great importance. A review paper by Kim JW et al published in Psychiatry Investigation on the association between alcohol consumption and cognition in the elderly provides an excellent summary of the potential ways in which alcohol may affect cognitive function and the risk of dementia, both adversely and favourably as alcohol may have both a neuro toxic and neuro protective effect, depending on the dose and drinking pattern. Longitudinal and brain imaging studies in the elderly show that excessive alcohol consumption may increase the risk of cognitive dysfunction and dementia, but regular low to moderate alcohol intake may protect against cognitive decline and dementia and provide cardiovascular benefits. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-alcohol-intake-elderly-affects-cognitive.html Health Tue, 22 May 2012 10:48:40 EST news256902506 A meta-analysis done by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) into the relationship between alcohol consumption and heart disease provides new insight into the long-held belief that drinking a glass of red wine a day can help protect against heart disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-alcohol-heart-friend-foe.html Health Mon, 30 Jan 2012 11:23:43 EST news247145009 A paper from the National Institutes of Health in the United States has evaluated the separate and combined effects of the frequency of alcohol consumption and the average quantity of alcohol drunk per occasion and how that relates to mortality risk from individual cancers as well as all cancers. The analysis is based on repeated administrations of the National Health Interview Survey in the US, assessing more than 300,000 subjects who suffered over 8,000 deaths from cancer. The research reports on total cancer deaths and deaths from lung, colorectal, prostate, and breast cancers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-association-quantity-alcohol-frequency-consumption.html Health Thu, 20 Oct 2011 11:21:26 EST news238328477 An excellent study among experimental mice has reported very dramatic differences between the effects of alcohol administered in moderation on a daily basis and the same total weekly amount of alcohol administered on only two days of the week: (replicating binge drinking). The mice used in the study that were given regular moderate amounts of alcohol showed no weight gain, improved lipid values, and much less development of atherosclerosis than did control animals. However, those given alcohol in a binge-drinking pattern showed worse outcomes than control animals, and much worse outcomes than those given regular moderate doses of alcohol. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-differences-effects-atherosclerosis-regular-moderate.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:05:23 EST news235739113 A meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies on the association of alcohol consumption with colorectal cancer was carried out, based on 22 studies from Asia, 2 from Australia, 13 from Western Europe, and 24 from North America. The paper provides evidence that alcohol, at least at higher levels of consumption, is associated with an increase in the risk of colorectal cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-alcohol-consumption-colorectal-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 13 Sep 2011 10:51:12 EST news235129857 A paper from Spain provides an extensive review of the association between alcohol consumption and body weight. Based on the fact that the energy content in 1 gram of alcohol is 29 kJ or 7.1 kcal, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to weight gain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-moderate-alcohol-consumption-body-weight.html Health Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:10:54 EST news232708239 Moderate social drinking significantly reduces the risk of dementia and cognitive impairment, according to an analysis of 143 studies by Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-moderate-alzheimer-cognitive-impairment.html Addiction Tue, 16 Aug 2011 09:15:23 EST news232704904 The World Health Organization (WHO) has released its global status report on alcohol and health for 2011. Forum members largely agree with the discussion in the report of the serious health and societal problems associated with the misuse of alcohol, which contributes to accidents, many diseases, and premature deaths. On the other hand, Forum members were disturbed that the report was limited almost exclusively to abusive drinking, was based primarily on out-dated information, and suggested bias against alcohol. The report ignored a massive amount of scientific data indicating that in all developed countries, moderate consumers of alcohol are at much lower risk of essentially all of the diseases of ageing: coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, diabetes, dementia, and osteoporosis. And conspicuously absent from the WHO report is a description of the decrease in total mortality among middle-aged and elderly people associated with moderate alcohol consumption, a finding that has been found consistently throughout the world. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-health-effects-alcohol-consumption.html Health Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:42:52 EST news229682551 The Royal College of Psychiatrists of London has published a report related primarily to problems of unrecognized alcohol misuse among the elderly. The report provides guidelines for psychiatrists and family physicians on how to find and how to treat elderly people with misuse of alcohol and drugs. Forum members consider it very important to identify abusive drinking among the elderly and this report provides specific and very reasonable recommendations to assist practitioners in both the identification and treatment of such problems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-alcohol-elderly-benefits.html Addiction Mon, 27 Jun 2011 10:27:57 EST news228389266 In a large study of men in Japan, the presence of fatty liver disease by ultrasonography showed an inverse ( reduced risk) association with the frequency of moderate alcohol consumption; however, there was some suggestion of an increase in fatty liver disease with higher volume of alcohol consumed per day. Moderate drinkers had lower levels of obesity than did non-drinkers, and both obesity and metabolic abnormalities were positively associated with fatty liver disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-frequent-moderate-alcohol-fatty-liver.html Addiction Tue, 24 May 2011 10:18:25 EST news225451080