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Alcoholics with cirrhosis of the liver have more brain damage than noncirrhotic alcoholics
Sustained exposure to alcohol can cause scarring and dysfunction of the liver, referred to as cirrhosis. Heavy alcohol use can also cause brain damage. An examination of gene expression in the frontal cortex has found that brain function is even more impaired in cirrhotic than non-cirrhotic alcoholics.   view more (2007-08-28)

Alcoholism-treatment medication acamprosate may help abstinent alcoholics sleep better
Alcoholics generally don't sleep well. Nor does abstinence improve the situation much. In fact, sleep difficulties during alcohol abstinence may be responsible for a relapse to alcoholism as individuals attempt to self medicate their sleeping problems.   view more (2006-08-28)

Scientists identify gene that influences alcohol consumption
A variant of a gene involved in communication among brain cells has a direct influence on alcohol consumption in mice, according to a new study by scientists supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Army.   view more (2007-12-06)

Johns Hopkins study suggests link between caffeine dependence and family history of alcoholism
A study led by Johns Hopkins investigators has shown that women with a serious caffeine habit and a family history of alcohol abuse are more likely to ignore advice to stop using caffeine during pregnancy.   view more (2005-12-02)

Prenatal alcohol exposure alters brain activity in the frontal-striatal areas
Heavy prenatal alcohol exposure does not always lead to fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS); sometimes it can lead to cognitive and behavioral deficits in the absence of craniofacial features needed to make an FAS diagnosis.   view more (2007-07-25)

Does smoking cloud the brain?
Smokers often say that smoking a cigarette helps them concentrate and feel more alert. But years of tobacco use may have the opposite effect, dimming the speed and accuracy of a person's thinking ability and bringing down their IQ, according to a new study led by University of Michigan researchers.   view more (2005-10-11)

Environmental pollution increases the risk of liver disease
A new study is the first to show that there is a previously unrecognized role for environmental pollution in liver disease in the general U.S. adult population.   view more (2009-05-29)

Initiating drinking at younger age heightens women's risk for alcohol dependence
Women born after 1944 began drinking alcohol at younger ages than their elders, and that appears to have put them at greater risk for alcoholism, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.   view more (2008-06-05)

Alcohol increases sleep intensity in young women
While numerous studies have linked alcohol abuse to sleep disruption, especially in males, there has been little research on alcohol and its effects on sleep in females. Now, a new study shows that a moderate amount of alcohol, taken before bed, can impact the quality of sleep for young women.   view more (2006-08-22)

Smoking interferes with brain's recovery from alcoholism
Smoking appears to interfere with the brain's ability to recover from the effects of chronic alcohol abuse.   view more (2006-03-16)

Analysis of alcoholics' brains suggests treatment target
An analysis of brain tissue samples from chronic alcoholics reveals changes that occur at the molecular level in alcohol abuse - and suggests a potential treatment target, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.   view more (2008-05-05)

Scripps Research scientists find seizure drug reverses cellular effects
In the new research, published in the May 28, 2008 edition of The Journal of Neuroscience, the scientists found that gabapentin normalizes the action of certain brain cells altered by chronic alcohol abuse in an area of the brain known as the central amygdala, which plays an important role in fear- and stress-related behaviors, as well as in... view more... (2008-05-29)

Heavy, chronic drinking can cause significant hippocampal tissue loss
The hippocampus is a brain structure vital to learning and memory. It also appears vulnerable to damage from chronic, heavy alcohol consumption.   view more (2006-10-25)

Same Genes May Underlie Alcohol and Nicotine Co-Abuse
Vulnerability to both alcohol and nicotine abuse may be influenced by the same genetic factor, according to a recent study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).   view more (2006-03-20)

Chronic drinking and smoking cause both separate and interactive brain injury
Most alcoholics in North America are chronic smokers. While much is known about the adverse effects of chronic smoking on cardiac, pulmonary and vascular function as well as the risk for various cancers, little is known about its effects on brain neurobiology and function.   view more (2006-01-25)

Study advances evidence for receptor's role in alcohol pleasure and problems
A genetic variant of a receptor in the brain's reward circuitry heightens the stimulating effects of early exposures to alcohol and increases alcohol consumption, 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).   view more (2007-03-07)

Preference for alcohol in adolescence may lead to heavy drinking
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center have shown a connection between early drinking patterns and a tendency to be a heavy drinker in adulthood, in a study of adolescent rats.   view more (2008-05-06)

Alcoholics with a borderline personality disorder are at greatest risk for suicidal behavior
Compared to the general population, individuals with alcohol-use disorders (AUDs) have a significantly greater risk of suicide attempts. Up to 40 percent of treatment-seeking patients with AUDs report having attempted suicide, which is six to 10 times greater than suicide attempts among the general population.   view more (2006-04-24)

Moderate drinking can reduce risks of Alzheimer's dementia and cognitive decline
Moderate drinkers often have lower risks of Alzheimer's disease and other cognitive loss, according to researchers who reviewed 44 studies. In more than half of the studies, published since the 1990s, moderate drinkers of wine, beer and liquor had lower dementia risks than nondrinkers.   view more (2008-12-30)

New compound prevents alcoholic behavior, relapse in animals by blocking stress response
A study of alcohol-dependent animals shows that a newly discovered compound that blocks chemical signals active during the brain's response to stress effectively stops excessive drinking and prevents relapse.   view more (2007-03-07)
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