National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Girls who suffered childhood sexual abuse are more likely to develop alcoholism later in life if they possess a particular variant of a gene involved in the body’s response to stress, according to a new study led by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The new finding...

Muscle weakness from long-term alcoholism may stem from an inability of mitochondria, the powerhouses of cells, to self-repair, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. In research conducted with rats, scientists found evidence that chronic heavy alcohol use affects a gene involved in mitochondrial repair and muscle regeneration. “The finding gives insight into why chronic heavy...

Dr. Ulrike Heberlein visited the NIH Campus on May 7 to present the NIH Wednesday Afternoon Lecture on “Drosophila as a Model for Alcoholism: An Interplay of Nature and Nurture.” Dr. Heberlein is scientific director and lab head at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Farm Research Campus. To view Dr. Heberlein's presentation, visit http://videocast.nih.gov/summary.asp?Live=14146&bhcp=1. To read a review of...

Join RSA at the 42nd Annual Scientific Meeting

The National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) convened for its 131st meeting at 5:30 p.m. on September 19, 2012, at the Fishers Lane Conference Center in Rockville, Maryland, in closed session for a review of grant applications and a Merit Award extension. The meeting recessed at 7:15 p.m. Dr. Abraham Bautista, Director, Office of Extramural Activities, presided...

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism announces a 5-year initiative funded at approximately $50 million to define the brain circuits and mechanisms that underlie behavioral responses to chronic and excessive alcohol consumption. The multidisciplinary Integrative Neuroscience Initiative on Alcoholism ( INIA) will integrate research knowledge from animal and human studies and multiple analytic approaches to understand the behavioral...

A study in the January 2000 issue of the American Journal of Public Health (Volume 90, Number 1) reports that approximately one in four U.S. children (19 million children or 28.6 percent of children 0-17 years) is exposed at some time before age 18 to familial alcohol dependence (alcoholism), alcohol abuse, or both. "The design and methods of today's report...

Open Session of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. To view the Agenda, visit www.niaaa.nih.gov/agenda-advisory-council-meeting-february-7-2019 Webcast: National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism - February 2019 Hours subject to change; a final agenda will be posted closer to the date of the event.

Join NAADAC at the 2019 Annual Conference

The 154th meeting of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism will be held virtually on May 12, 2020. You can view the agenda now and we will share the webcast link when it is available.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna E. Shalala has announced the availability of the 10th Special Report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health, produced by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The report highlights recent research advances on the causes, consequences, treatment, and prevention of alcohol addiction (alcoholism) and alcohol abuse. The 492-page report...

Drinking heavily puts people at risk for many adverse health consequences, including alcohol use disorder, liver damage, and various cancers. But some people appear to be at greater risk than others for developing these problems. Why do some people drink more than others? And why do some people who drink develop problems, whereas others do not? Research shows that alcohol...

Research shows that alcohol use and misuse among women are increasing. While alcohol misuse by anyone presents serious public health concerns, women who drink have a higher risk of certain alcohol-related problems compared to men.

NIAAA supports and conducts research on the impact of alcohol use on human health and well-being.

Investigators at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio report in the lead article in today's Journal of the American Medical Association (Volume 284, Number 8) that the medication ondansetron may be an effective therapy for patients with early-onset alcohol dependence (alcoholism). Ondansetron appears to work by acting on serotonin, one of the brain's many neurotransmitters. The...

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala recently announced the appointment of six new members to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The Council advises on the conduct and support of biomedical and behavioral research, health services research, research training, and health information dissemination with respect to the causes...

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently appointed four new members to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The council advises the Secretary, the Director of the National Institutes of Health and the director of NIAAA on program and policy matters, offers recommendations...

Todo lo que usted coma y beba mientras esté embarazada afecta a su bebé. Si usted bebe alcohol, esto puede dañar el crecimiento de su bebé. Su bebé puede desarollar problemas emocionales y físicos que pueden durar por el resto de su vida. Los niños que nacen con problemas muy serios causados por el alcohol tienen síndrome fetal alcohólico.

National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., announced today the selection of George F. Koob, Ph.D., as Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Dr. Koob is expected to join the NIH in January 2014. “With his distinguished reputation and vision, I am confident that George will encourage innovative ideas in the basic neurobiology...