National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Children born to mothers who both drank and smoked beyond the first trimester of pregnancy have a 12-fold increased risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) compared to those unexposed or only exposed in the first trimester of pregnancy, according to a new study supported by the National Institutes of Health. SIDS is the sudden, unexplained, death of an infant...

Michael Fleming, M.D., M.P.H., and colleagues at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison report in the April 2 Journal of the American Medical Association results from Project TrEAT (Trial for Early Alcohol Treatment), the first large U.S. clinical trial to test the effectiveness of brief physician advice for intervening with nondependent problem drinkers. Supported by a grant from...

December 14, 2021

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recently launched a new NIAAA video series called “ Short Takes with NIAAA .” This series consists of brief 60-second videos that explain, in an easy-to-understand way, the meanings of commonly used – but often misunderstood – alcohol terms. The number of topics covered in the series will continue to grow and...

El consumo de alcohol entre menores de edad es un problema de salud pública grave en Estados Unidos. El alcohol es la sustancia más utilizada entre los jóvenes en Estados Unidos, y puede ponerlos en enormes riesgos de salud y seguridad. Las consecuencias del consumo de alcohol entre menores pueden afectar a todas las personas, independientemente de su edad o...

Fri, 04/30/2010 - 12:00

Fri, 04/30/2010 - 12:00

Drinking may harm adolescents' ability to concentrate and to understand spatial relationships. A recent study led by Susan Tapert at the University of California, San Diego compared the standardized test scores of 76 12 to 14 year old kids with their scores after about three years. At the three-year follow-up, 36 of the kids had begun drinking at moderate to...

Thursday, May 24, 2007

National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Summary of the 115th Meeting May 24, 2007 The National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism convened for its 115th meeting at 5:30 p.m. on May 23, 2007, at the Fishers Lane Conference Center in Rockville, Maryland, in a closed session, and again in open session at 9:00 a.m. on May...

September 18, 2014

See the latest issue of our webzine at www.spectrum.niaaa.nih.gov -- featuring articles on NIAAA’s National Consortium on Alcohol and Neurodevelopment in Adolescence (NCANDA) study and NIH’s multi-Institute Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Also see five questions with Trish Powell, Ph.D., Associate Director for Scientific Initiatives at NIAAA, binge drinking by the numbers, a closer look at alcohol monitoring technology...

Monday, October 4, 2010, 9:00 am EDT to Monday, October 4, 2010, 5:00 pm EDT

This year marks a major milestone for NIAAA—40 years of supporting alcohol-related research and working to improve public health. NIAAA will commemorate this landmark event by hosting a special 40th Anniversary Symposium. Join us as we review the current state of alcohol research and explore the future of the field. NIAAA 40th Anniversary Symposium AGENDA Time Topic Speaker 9:00 -...

Appendix A. Differences Among Survey Data Sources Item NHSDA/NSDUH MTF YRBS Sample Characteristics Survey population Civilian, noninstitutionalized population ages 12 and older, including residents of households and noninstitutional group quarters, and civilians living on military installations 8th, 10th, 12th graders enrolled in school 9th through 12th graders enrolled in school Sample size (2019) 67,625 youth and adults 18,766 12- to...

Appendix A. Differences Among Survey Data Sources Item NHSDA/NSDUH MTF YRBS Sample Characteristics Survey population Civilian, noninstitutionalized population ages 12 and older, including residents of households and noninstitutional group quarters, and civilians living on military installations 8th, 10th, 12th graders enrolled in school 9th through 12th graders enrolled in school Sample size (2019) 67,625 youth and adults 18,766 12- to...

Alcohol is dually reinforcing because it can both activate the brain’s reward processing system that mediates pleasure and reduce the activity of the brain’s systems that mediate negative emotional states such as stress, anxiety, and emotional pain. Repeated, excessive use of alcohol can lead to the development of addiction, which is associated with reduced reward function and increased activation of brain stress systems. The process of becoming addicted is thus accompanied by a shift in drinking motivation from positive reinforcement to negative reinforcement, during which drinking is motivated by attempts to reduce the emotional discomfort of acute and protracted withdrawal.

Drinking too much – on a single occasion or over time – can take a serious toll on your health. Here’s how alcohol can affect your body: Brain: Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and...

Friday, October 1, 2021, 11:00 am EDT to Friday, October 1, 2021, 12:00 pm EDT

Webinar Title: “Reductions in Drinking as Measured by WHO Risk Drinking Levels and Associations with Health and Functioning: Consistency in Population Studies and Clinical Trials” Speakers: Deborah S. Hasin, PhD. Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute Katie Witkiewitz, PhD. Center on Alcohol, Substance use, And Addictions (CASAA), University of New Mexico Date: Friday, October 1...

Wednesday, September 19, 2007 - Thursday, September 20, 2007

NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL ON ALCOHOL ABUSE AND ALCOHOLISM Summary of the 116th Meeting September 19-20, 2007 The National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism convened for its 116th meeting at 5:30 p.m. on September 19, 2007, at the Fishers Lane Conference Center in Rockville, Maryland , in a closed session. The Council convened in open session at 9:00 a.m...

A 12-year study of 38,077 male health professionals found that men who drank alcohol three or more days per week had a reduced risk of heart attack compared with men who drank less frequently. Men who drank less than one drink a day had similar risk reduction to those who drank three. Many epidemiologic studies have reported that moderate drinking-for...

Researchers at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia report in today's Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research that children between the ages of 3 and 6 years are likely to dislike the smell of beer if their parents report drinking to escape feelings of unhappiness. The findings extend earlier knowledge that young children acquire sensory learning about alcohol and suggest...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The younger the age of drinking onset, the greater the chance that an individual at some point in life will develop a clinically defined alcohol disorder, according to a new report released today by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Young people who began drinking before age 15 were four times more likely to develop...

Fri, 09/17/2010 - 12:00

Fri, 09/17/2010 - 12:00

Many children adversely affected by maternal drinking during pregnancy cannot be identified early in life using current diagnostic criteria for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). In the current study, conducted with pregnant rats, researchers examined whether ethanol-induced alterations in placental gene expression may be useful as diagnostic indicators of maternal drinking during pregnancy and as a prognostic indicators of risk...

Fri, 02/27/2015 - 12:00

Fri, 02/27/2015 - 12:00

Researchers led by Catherine Fortier at Harvard Medical School found that chronic alcohol misuse damaged white matter in areas of the brain that are important for self-control and recovery from alcoholism. The findings appeared in the December 2014 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research . Using high-resolution diffusion magnetic resonance brain scans, the researchers compared a group of 20...