"Wet brain" is not a delicate or positive phrase to describe one of the dangers of drinking. This term is a non-medical way to describe a condition that doctors call Korsakoff Amnesic Syndrome – a memory disorder caused by a lack of vitamin B1 (thiamine).

The main features of Korsakoff’s amnesic syndrome are the impairments in acquiring new information or establishing new memories … and in retrieving previous memories. …

A few experts now say that brain damage related to thiamine deficiency may be at least somewhat reversible, but most see little hope for complete recovery. [Source: Fresno Addiction Recovery Examiner]

Korsakoff’s syndrome is most common among alcoholics and people struggling with eating disorders because the brain is deprived of much-needed nutrients. Though improvements in memory can be made, some of the damage is permanent.

Labels: dangers-of-drug-use, alcoholism, memory

Posted By: CRC Health Group 0 Comments

MicMice who have a certain gene variant are extra-sensitive to alcohol, according to a study in the journal PLos Genetics.

Dr. David Speca and his colleagues at the University of California in San Francisco nicknamed these mice "Lightweights" because when they inject the animals with alcohol, "they were knocked out for far longer than normal mice." Mice with the variant consume more alcohol than normal mice when offered a choice between alcohol or water.

Studies of human twins indicate that there is a genetic component to alcoholism in humans.
 

Labels: alcoholism, genetics

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

Kids are heading back to school soon.  And for some, the increased pressure to do well and “be popular” may prompt them to experiment with drugs.

Every change in grade level, coach, friend or teacher may also contribute to stress, which can lead to experimentation with alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, said Michelle Morse, communications director for Drug-Free Action Alliance.

Those most at risk are students who transition to new school buildings in middle school and high school, she said.

“We see that statistically speaking, the older a child gets the more exposure there is to alcohol and drugs,” she said. [Source: Journal-News]

Morse encourages parents to be involved in their kids’ lives, know their friends, and know what they’re doing after school.

Labels: schools, students, causes_of_teen_substance_abuse

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

One in five Australians becomes an alcoholic, according to a new study of 9,000 adults from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Center at the University of New South Wales.

"Something is happening ... it's become more acceptable to drink at risky levels. It will take a major national response to turn this around," Maree Teesson, director of the center, said.

This is the first study to establish the actual levels of problem drinking in Australia, which places it among the top three countries for alcoholism. Treatment options for alcohol abuse are limited in Australia.

This study appears in the journal Addiction.
 

Labels: alcoholism, australia

Posted By: Adolescent Substance Abuse 0 Comments

Teen substance abusers are more likely to have psychiatric problems, according to a study from Africa. The study included substances not usually abused in the United States, such as kola nuts.

• Dr. Wilson Ojinnaka and his colleagues studied 900 students from the city of Enugu, Nigeria, and found that 290 were using some kind of substance.
• The most common was alcohol, abused by 32%, followed by kola nuts, used by 21%.
• Almost one-fourth of the students in this group scored high on tests of psycho-social dysfunction, compared to 10% of students who did not abuse substances.
• Fifty-four of the substance abusers had clinical depression.

Gender and social class were not factors in whether a student abused substances.

This study appears in the Italian Journal of Pediatrics.

Labels: suicide, mental health

Posted By: Adolescent Substance Abuse 0 Comments

Forty percent of East Asians, including Chinese, Korean, and Japanese people, flush and feel nauseated when they drink alcohol. The reason is a variant in the ALDH2 gene. People who experience "Asian flush" are at higher risk for cancer of the esophagus, one of the deadliest cancers. Only 16% live beyond five years after diagnosis.

• When people who do not have the variant drink, their bodies release an enzyme that breaks ethanol down into a carcinogen, which in turn breaks down into acetate, making the carcinogen harmless.
• Those with the variant do not release the chemical necessary to render the carcinogen harmless so it builds up into their bodies, and they experience nausea, flushing, and heart palpitations.
• This reaction usually discourages them from drinking alcohol. However, many young Asians with the gene try to get around the reaction by taking anti-histamines or other drugs.

"Some people talk about Asian flush as an embarrassing thing," said Philip Brooks, a molecular neurobiologist at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. "Our point is that it's not just embarrassing. There is a real risk here. ... It increases your risk of esophageal cancer for the same amount of alcohol consumed, compared to someone who is able to fully metabolize the acetaldehyde."

Labels: genetics

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

A new study from Yale University found that adding certain drugs to behavioral therapies may help recovery from drug addiction.

• Dr. Mary Torregrossa and her colleagues had 168 rats self-administer cocaine for weeks, and then used "extinction therapy" to weaken cues that induce their cravings and drug-seeking behaviors.
• If the memory-enhancing drug D-cycloserine was added to their therapy, the rats were more likely to reduce or avoid cocaine.

"Extinction therapy usually only works where the therapy takes place, like a treatment center", Dr. Torregrossa explained. "Using drugs like D-cycloserine to make extinction work more broadly is a big advancement in the treatment of addiction."

This study appears in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Labels: cocaine, recovery, research

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

Teenagers often show up in emergency rooms of hospitals after drinking and getting injured in fights. Now a new study found that having these teens talk to a therapist for 30 minutes will reduce their chances participating in future physical violence by 70%.

"The leading cause of death for adolescents who reside in inner-city settings is violence and other injuries," said Maureen Walton, lead author of the study. "These adolescents are ... not likely to have a primary care physician, and the emergency room is a popular place for a variety of reasons. We decided this would be a good setting for prevention."

• Dr. Walton and her colleagues divided more than 700 teens (ages 14 to 18) who had visited an emergency in Flint, Michigan, into three groups.
• One group got a 30-minute talk with a therapist.
• The second group sat through a computer presentation.
• The third group received a brochure with referrals to community resources.

Six months later, those who talked to therapists showed a greater reduction in alcohol consequences compared to the other groups.

The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
 

Labels: alcohol, violence, therapy

Posted By: Adolescent Substance Abuse 1 Comment

Recent surveys have found that the majority of Canadians believe that marijuana should be decriminalized. Most believe mild marijuana use is harmless, which worries Amy Porath-Waller, senior research and policy analyst for the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse.

“Porath-Waller said chronic marijuana use can cause neuro-cognitive impairment such as memory and retention loss as well as mental health problems like psychosis, depression and anxiety. And because cannabis is often smoked unfiltered in larger puffs with longer breath-holding, it can also lead to respiratory problems and possibly lung cancer, she said.” [Source: Toronto Sun]

Because chronic marijuana use can affect cognitive development, it can also indirectly affect academic and vocational achievement.

Labels: health_problems, marijuana, brain_chemistry

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 0 Comments

Though it’s not prevalent enough to be called a “trend,” a new type of substance abuse has made healdines in the last few months – the “digital” high. Sometimes called i-Dosing, the “digital drugs” are soun -bytes that their sellers claim simulate the effects of getting high. But do they?

Reports of digital drug abuse among U.S. youth maybe more hype than truth.

The technology behind digital drugs dates back to 1839. Prussian physicist Heinrich W. Dove discovered if two sounds are played at slightly different frequencies, one to each ear through a set of headphones, the brain would perceive a subsonic pulse called a binaural beat…

Sellers of digital drugs claim their binaural beats will produce the same effect as drugs of substance…

"Those claims are out there, but there is no science whatsoever that supports that the binaural beat, or this auditory phenomenon, will change the brain chemistry in the same way that drugs of abuse will change," says Dr. Glen Hanson. Source: KSL 5 News (Salt Lake City)

Though digital drugs themselves may not produce illicit-drug-like effects, doctors agree the primary concern is that kids are trying them. And if they’re curious enough to try digital drugs, trying the real things may be the next step.

Labels: drug use, internet

Posted By: Stefanie Hamilton 1 Comment