National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Analyses of a national sample of individuals with alcohol dependence (alcoholism) reveal five distinct subtypes of the disease, according to a new study by scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “Our findings should help dispel the popular notion of the ‘typical alcoholic,’” notes first author Howard B...

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism welcomes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announcement of an indication for use of the pharmacologic agent naltrexone (REVIA tm) as a safe and effective adjunct to psychosocial treatments for alcoholism. Naltrexone offers new hope for preventing relapse in many of the more than 1 million Americans treated each year for the...

Open Session of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. View the Agenda. Subject to change; a final agenda will be posted closer to the date of the event.

Mark Egli, Ph.D. Purpose The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) seeks to continue the Integrative Neuroscience Initiative on Alcoholism (INIA), a translational, multidisciplinary, collaborative research effort studying brain mechanisms of excessive alcohol drinking associated with alcohol use disorder (AUD) and the relationship between excessive drinking, stress, and anxiety. The primary goal of INIA is to identify brain...

A new analysis has shown that combined behavioral intervention (CBI), counseling that integrates cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational enhancement, and techniques to enhance mutual help group participation, used alone in conjunction with naltrexone, a drug approved to help treat alcoholism, can reduce drinking in alcohol-dependent individuals. In this reanalysis of data from the COMBINE Study—the largest pharmacotherapy trial for alcoholism in the...

Open Session of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. AGENDA Note: subject to change.

Open Session of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. View the Agenda Hours subject to change.

Open Session of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. AGENDA Hours subject to change; a final agenda will be posted closer to the date of the event.

Open Session of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. View the Agenda. Agenda subject to change; a final agenda will be posted closer to the date of the event.

The effectiveness of an experimental treatment for alcoholism depends on the genetic makeup of individuals who receive it, according to a new study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. A report of the findings appears online in the American Journal of Psychiatry. “This study represents an important milestone...

Data from a survey of 43,000 U.S. adults heighten concerns that early alcohol use, independent of other risk factors, may contribute to the risk of developing future alcohol problems. Those who began drinking in their early teens were not only at greater risk of developing alcohol dependence at some point in their lives, they were also at greater risk of...

Open Session of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. View the Agenda.

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-may-14-2019 Webcast: Webcast Open Session May 14, 2019 Advisory Council Page

Open Session of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Agenda is now posted! The link to the webcast option will be provided closer to the event.

Scientific Mission To learn more about how our genes affect vulnerability to alcoholism, NIAAA has funded the Collaborative Studies on Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) since 1989. Our goal is to identify the specific genes that can influence a person’s likelihood of developing alcoholism. About COGA COGA investigators have collected data on more than 2,255 extended families in which many members...

Open Session of the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Agenda is now posted, and the webcast link is now available.

Distinct patterns of brain activity are linked to greater rates of relapse among alcohol dependent patients in early recovery, a study has found. The research, supported by the National Institutes of Health, may give clues about which people in recovery from alcoholism are most likely to return to drinking. “Reducing the high rate of relapse among people treated for alcohol...

NIH-funded study says five-marker genotype panel can guide ondansetron use An experimental treatment for alcohol dependence works better in individuals who possess specific combinations of genes that regulate the function and binding of serotonin, a brain chemical affected by the treatment, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health. A report of the finding appears online in...

Neurokinin-1 receptors (NK1R) are highly expressed in brain areas involved in stress responses and drug reward. In recent years, mounting research evidence has suggested that they may help regulate important aspects of alcohol use. In a new study, researchers at the NIAAA report that a compound that blocks NK1R suppresses alcohol drinking in mice. NIAAA Clinical Director Markus Heilig, M.D...