Many people of East Asian descent possess an enzyme deficiency that causes their skin to redden, or flush, when they drink alcohol. Scientists from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and Japan's KurihamaAlcoholCenter now caution that heavy alcohol consumption greatly increases the risk for esophageal cancer among such individuals, who comprise about 8 percent of the world's...

Inherited variations in the amount of an innate anxiety-reducing molecule help explain why some people can withstand stress better than others, 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). “Stress response is an important variable in vulnerability to alcohol dependence and other...

Individuals who become alcohol dependent before age 25 are less likely to ever seek treatment than those who become alcohol dependent at age 30 or older, according to a new study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). They also are more likely to have multiple dependence episodes...

Unhealthy alcohol drinking patterns may go hand-in-hand with unhealthy eating habits, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Examining diet quality of individuals who drink any kind of alcoholic beverage, researchers found that people who...

The body mass index (BMI) of individuals who drink alcohol may be related to how much, and how often, they drink, according to a new study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). In an analysis of data collected from more than 37,000 people who had never smoked, researchers found that...

Many people admitted to hospitals in the U.S. have alcohol use disorders that go undetected, according to a new study by scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The finding, published in the April 12, 2004 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, underscores a need to screen...

Newborns whose mothers drank alcohol heavily during pregnancy had damage to the nerves in the arms and legs, according to a study by researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, one of the National Institutes of Health. The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers at the University of Chile. The nerve damage was still present...

The National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) convened for its 129th meeting at 5:00 p.m. on February 8, 2012, at the Fishers Lane Conference Center in Rockville, Maryland, in closed session for a review of grant applications, Merit Award nominations, and a Merit Award extension. The meeting recessed at 6:40 p.m. The Council reconvened in closed session...

An online alcohol prevention course can help reduce harmful drinking among college freshmen, but the benefits in the fall don’t last through the spring, according to a study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. Led by Mallie J. Paschall, Ph.D., and colleagues at the Pacific Institute for Research...

Alcohol and your health - where do you draw the line? This is the theme of the 2002 National Alcohol Screening Day, a program of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Screening for Mental Health, Inc., and their partners. Free, anonymous screening for alcohol problems, information on the health consequences...

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism today announces a 5-year prospective study on the role of alcohol use and abuse in determining patient outcomes for aging veterans with and without HIV infection. The study is an expansion of the ongoing Veterans Aging Cohort Study (VACS), initiated in 1999 and supported by a number of NIH components including the...

Reporting in today's Early Edition of the August Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Stanford University describe a novel approach that may help scientists to better understand how alcohols and anesthetic drugs interact with certain brain proteins. The report also provides the strongest evidence to date that alcohols have specific...

Harvard Medical School and Veterans Administration researchers report in today's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that certain long-chain alcohols can block harmful effects of short-chain alcohols including ethanol (beverage alcohol) on nerve cell growth and development. "The findings may lead eventually to medications that reduce the damaging effects of alcohol in both fetal development and in adults," said...

En Estados Unidos, y en todo el mundo, los hombres beben más alcohol que las mujeres. Sin embargo, un análisis reciente, realizado por científicos del Instituto Nacional sobre el Abuso del Alcohol y el Alcoholismo (NIAAA, por su sigla en inglés), perteneciente a los Institutos Nacionales de la Salud, indica que la proverbial diferencia entre hombres y mujeres en cuanto...

Findings also endorse use of NIAAA youth screening guide A single screening question about drinking frequency in the past year could help doctors identify adolescents at risk for alcohol problems, according to a new study funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. Conducted by researchers at the University of...

NIH-funded research examined over 6,000 children to determine prevalence of FASD ranged from 1.1 to 5 percent A study of more than 6,000 first-graders across four U.S. communities has found that a significant number of the children have fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), with conservative rates ranging from 1 to 5 percent in community samples. The new findings represent more...

Strategies recommended by the Surgeon General to reduce underage drinking have shown promise when put into practice, according to scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. These approaches include nighttime restrictions on young drivers and strict license suspension policies, interventions focused on partnerships between college campuses and the community...

NIH-funded study in mice merits further investigation as a potential treatment A specific strain of a common bacteria found in most people with alcoholic hepatitis correlates with greater liver disease severity and mortality, according to a new study published in Nature. Alcoholic hepatitis is a serious form of alcohol-associated liver disease, and people with it have high levels of the...

New preclinical research in rats has identified a link between adolescent alcohol exposure and specific molecular changes in the brain that contribute to increased anxiety in adulthood. A large body of evidence demonstrates a strong relationship between alcohol and anxiety problems in humans. "These findings provide insight into the mechanisms through which alcohol-induced brain changes during adolescence increase vulnerability to...

Observance helps teens dispel myths about substance use March 23, 2020— National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week® (NDAFW) marks its 10th anniversary March 30 through April 5, 2020, encouraging communities around the country to SHATTER THE MYTHS® about substance use and addiction. NDAFW is a joint initiative of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on...