Alcohol & Alcoholism

Alcohol use, depression, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder together account for 45 percent of disabilities among young people ages 10 to 24 worldwide, about four times as much as that caused by unintentional injuries, according to a study of data from the World Health Organization.

A bill under consideration by the California Senate would ban retailers from selling alcohol through self-service checkouts. The bill has already been approved by the state Assembly.

High school students who are gay, lesbian or bisexual are more likely than heterosexual students to smoke, drink, use drugs and engage in other unhealthy behaviors, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A type of problem-solving therapy called cognitive behavioral therapy may help treat depression in people within residential treatment programs for drug and alcohol abuse, a new study suggests.

Alcohol dependence is four times more likely among adults with mental illness, compared with those without mental illness, according to a new government survey. The survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found the rate of alcohol dependence among adults with mental illness was 9.6 percent, compared with 2.2 percent for those without mental illness.

Teenagers who are involved in sports or exercising are less likely to use drugs and smoke cigarettes compared with teens who are not as active, a new study suggests. However, Reuters reports that the study found high school athletes on teams drank more alcohol than their classmates who weren’t on a team.

A new survey finds many New Jersey parents recognize that the main source for alcohol and prescription drugs may be their own home. More than 45 percent of parents surveyed said their children are getting alcohol from home, and three-quarters of parents said children get prescription and over-the-counter drugs from their own home or from a friend’s home.

The number of older Americans who are seeking treatment for substance abuse is growing. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that treatment admissions doubled in adults age 50 and over between 1992 and 2008, according to The Associated Press. Experts predict this trend will continue as baby boomers get older.

Binge drinking appears to hamper young adults’ ability to perform simple language and memory tests, a new study shows. The research suggests that drinking large quantities of alcohol in a short period may have an effect on the region of the brain involved in learning.

People with a family history of a milder form of alcoholism show a greater response to alcohol, than people without this family history, a new study finds. This enhanced sensitivity to alcohol could increase the risk for developing alcoholism, the researchers say.

Women who screen positive for unhealthy substance use receive mammograms less frequently than women who screen negative, a new study finds. In addition, both men and women who screen positive for unhealthy substance use are less likely to receive flu shots than patients not engaging in unhealthy substance use.

People who undergo gastric bypass surgery to lose weight are twice as likely to need inpatient treatment for alcohol abuse, compared to those who undergo Lap-Band weight loss surgery, according to a new study.

Anonymity isn’t as big a part of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) as it used to be, according to The New York Times. Whether or not this is a good thing is a matter of debate.

Teenagers who drink alcohol spend more time on the computer each week on non-school activities, such as social networking and downloading music, compared with teens who don’t drink, a new study finds.

An Oklahoma bill passed by the state’s House and Senate would lower the legal alcohol limit for boaters, matching the limit for motorists.

A proposed measure would require universal ID checks for anyone buying alcohol in Anchorage, AK liquor stores and bars. An earlier version of the bill included restaurants, but that provision has been dropped.

Fourteen colleges and universities announced this week they have banded together to fight binge drinking. The institutions, including Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Boston University, Northwestern, Princeton and Stanford, plan to test and measure new strategies and share their results with other colleges.

Scientists are working to develop new vaccines to fight drug addiction that are more effective than current treatments, The Wall Street Journal reports. The vaccines use the body’s own defenses to block addictive substances from getting into the brain and triggering a pleasure response.

Attorneys general from 24 states have asked the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to do more to shield teenagers from alcohol advertising.

Teenagers who are on the computer the most are 50 percent more likely to engage in multiple high-risk behaviors, such as drug and alcohol use and unprotected sex compared to teens who log little screen time, according to a new study.

Teens who drink with adult supervision have more drinking-related problems than their peers whose parents don’t allow them to drink, a new study shows.

Homeless alcoholic men openly drink at “wet houses,” where the goal is harm reduction instead of sobriety.

Extremely overweight teenagers drink and use illegal drugs about as much as their peers, a nationwide survey suggests. But obese teens are more likely to smoke or chew tobacco.

Almost six million people die from tobacco use and 2.5 million from harmful use of alcohol each year worldwide, the World Health Organization reports.

Drinking too much alcohol appears to interfere with a surgeon’s skills even into the next day, according to a study that used a virtual reality simulator to test the theory.