The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) jointly convened a Consensus Panel on New and Emerging Pharmacotherapies for Alcohol Use Disorders and Related Comorbidities. The panel brought together experts in alcohol research, clinical care, medical education, and public policy to review the current evidence on the effectiveness of available...

A new online resource is now available to help people recognize and find high quality care for alcohol use disorder, which affects more than 15 million adults in the United States. The Alcohol Treatment Navigator, designed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, is a comprehensive, yet easy-to-use tool to...

Description: Why are drinking guidelines different for women than men? How do the health effects of heavy drinking differ? Where can women turn for help if they have an alcohol problem? The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) are partnering for a Twitter Chat on women and alcohol...

Every day, millions of Americans prove that recovery from alcohol and substance use disorders is possible -- yet at the same time, millions more are struggling with the disease of addiction. These individuals are our family members, friends, and neighbors, and when they are not able to get the help they need, our communities and our country are not as...

“How we respond to this crisis is a test for America” A new Surgeon General’s report finds alcohol and drug misuse and severe substance use disorders, commonly called addiction, to be one of America’s most pressing public health concerns. Nearly 21 million Americans – more than the number of people who have all cancers combined – suffer from substance use...

The working hypothesis to explain the progression from mild (fatty liver) to more severe forms of alcoholic liver disease (e.g., fibrosis, cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma) has been that alcohol requires a secondary initiator or trigger for this progression, or that alcohol is secondary to some other initiating event. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been a strong candidate...

In recognition of Alcohol Awareness Month, NIAAA held a Twitter chat on treatment options for alcohol problems on April 29 at 3:00 p.m. ET, (#NIAAAchat), which was co-hosted by the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (@NCADDnational).. Scientific Expert: Dan Falk, Ph.D., NIAAA Division of Treatment and Recovery Research Follow us at @NIAAAnews

Observance to be held January 22-27, 2019, with new resources for parents and educators. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) announced today that event registration is open for the next National Drug & Alcohol Facts Week (NDAFW), to be held on Jan. 22-27, 2019. NDAFW is an annual, week-long...

Drugs and Alcohol Chat Day is an annual live online chat held between high school students and NIH scientists. Chat Day is part of National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week®. During Chat Day students have the opportunity to ask the questions they most want answers to about drugs, alcohol, and drug use, including drug and alcohol effects, how to help...

A brain circuit that underlies feelings of stress and anxiety shows promise as a new therapeutic target for alcoholism, according to new studies by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In preclinical and clinical studies currently reported online in Science Express, NIAAA Clinical Director Markus Heilig, M.D...

Patients with a certain gene variant drank less and experienced better overall clinical outcomes than patients without the variant while taking the medication naltrexone, according to an analysis of participants in the National Institutes of Health's 2001-2004 COMBINE (Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence) Study. About 87 percent of patients with the variant who received naltrexone. experienced good...

Bethesda, Maryland — National Institutes of Health Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. today announced the appointment of Ting-Kai Li, M.D. as the new director of the NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Dr. Li is currently Distinguished Professor, Department of Medicine, and of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, where he...

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...

Chronic alcohol exposure leads to brain adaptations that shift behavior control away from an area of the brain involved in complex decision-making and toward a region associated with habit formation, according to a new study conducted in mice by scientists at the National Institutes of Health. The finding provides a biological mechanism that helps to explain compulsive alcohol use and...

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...

A clinical trial investigating a potential treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) was announced by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The study will assess the safety and efficacy of gabapentin enacarbil (HORIZANT) in extended-release tablets for treating moderate to severe AUD. NIAAA is part of the National Institutes of Health. Gabapentin is already widely prescribed to...

Publication includes information on effective but underutilized approaches A new resource from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will help individuals and families understand available treatment options for alcohol problems. Developed by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the NIH, Treatment for Alcohol Problems: Finding and Getting Help, covers the latest research-based treatments and what...