Studies Show Children of Alcoholics Suffer Lifelong Effects but Can Bounce Back
By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES
Sept. 10, 2008
"What is your emergency?" asked the 911 operator. The little boy replied, "My mom is making me blow air into her interlock."
The Albuquerque, N.M., youngster was asked to help his mother break the law and blow into her ignition interlock device to start the car. Police responded to the call this week and charged 30-year-old Genevieve Sullivan with violating her probation for drunken driving.
The 11-year-old walked a fine emotional line: He told operators he was afraid his mother would hear him and he'd get in trouble. But he was even more afraid of the consequences should his mother drive drunk.
Experts say children of alcoholics bear a heavy psychological burden for the sins of their parents. They are forced into adulthood early and spend much of their growing up years protecting themselves and their families.
"He knew at 11," said New York state psychologist Pat O'Gorman, who isn't involved with the New Mexico case. "He knew his mother was in trouble. He knew she needed help, and he knew he could provide that help."
According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, nearly 14 million Americans are considered problem drinkers and 76 million are exposed to alcoholism in family settings.
Studies suggest about one in four children in the United States is exposed to alcohol abuse or dependence sometime before the age of 18, according to the Children of Alcoholics Foundation.
Click here to continue reading article at ABC Health News
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Popularity of a Hallucinogen May Thwart Its Medical Uses
DALLAS — With a friend videotaping, 27-year-old Christopher Lenzini of Dallas took a hit of Salvia divinorum, regarded as the world’s most potent hallucinogenic herb, and soon began to imagine, he said, that he was in a boat with little green men. Mr. Lenzini quickly collapsed to the floor and dissolved into convulsive laughter.
When he posted the video on YouTube this summer, friends could not get enough. “It’s just funny to see a friend act like a total idiot,” he said, “so everybody loved it.”
Until a decade ago, the use of salvia was largely limited to those seeking revelation under the tutelage of Mazatec shamans in its native Oaxaca, Mexico.
Today, this mind-altering member of the mint family is broadly available for lawful sale online and in head shops across the United States.
Though older Americans typically have never heard of salvia, the psychoactive sage has become something of a phenomenon among this country’s thrill-seeking youth.
More than 5,000 YouTube videos — equal parts “Jackass” and “Up in Smoke” — document their journeys into rubber-legged incoherence.
Some of the videos have been viewed half a million times.
Yet these very images that have helped popularize salvia may also hasten its demise and undermine the promising research into its possible medical uses.
Pharmacologists who believe salvia could open new frontiers for the treatment of addiction, depression and pain fear that its criminalization would make it burdensome to obtain and store the plant, and difficult to gain government permission for tests on human subjects. In state after state, however, including here in Texas, the YouTube videos have become Exhibit A in legislative efforts to regulate salvia. This year, Florida made possession or sale a felony punishable by 15 years in prison. California took a gentler approach by making it a misdemeanor to sell or distribute to minors.
Click here to continue reading article at the New York Times
When he posted the video on YouTube this summer, friends could not get enough. “It’s just funny to see a friend act like a total idiot,” he said, “so everybody loved it.”
Until a decade ago, the use of salvia was largely limited to those seeking revelation under the tutelage of Mazatec shamans in its native Oaxaca, Mexico.
Today, this mind-altering member of the mint family is broadly available for lawful sale online and in head shops across the United States.
Though older Americans typically have never heard of salvia, the psychoactive sage has become something of a phenomenon among this country’s thrill-seeking youth.
More than 5,000 YouTube videos — equal parts “Jackass” and “Up in Smoke” — document their journeys into rubber-legged incoherence.
Some of the videos have been viewed half a million times.
Yet these very images that have helped popularize salvia may also hasten its demise and undermine the promising research into its possible medical uses.
Pharmacologists who believe salvia could open new frontiers for the treatment of addiction, depression and pain fear that its criminalization would make it burdensome to obtain and store the plant, and difficult to gain government permission for tests on human subjects. In state after state, however, including here in Texas, the YouTube videos have become Exhibit A in legislative efforts to regulate salvia. This year, Florida made possession or sale a felony punishable by 15 years in prison. California took a gentler approach by making it a misdemeanor to sell or distribute to minors.
Click here to continue reading article at the New York Times
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Methadone works in American prisoners who are addicted
A randomized clinical trial of methadone maintenance for prisoners: findings at 6 months post-release. Gordon MS, Kinlock TW, Schwartz RP, O'Grady KE. Addiction 2008 103;8:1333-1342
Dear Colleagues,
These researchers found, predictably, that offering methadone treatment to prisoners with a history of opiate addiction was feasible, safe and effective, just like it is in the community generally when done according to established guidelines. They compared counselling with/without MMT, finding less heroin use and less criminal activity at 6 months after release in those offered MMT. Treatment retention was also higher.
This is yet another example of American research which is decades behind other countries. And this is despite heroin addiction has been accepted as a brain disease’ by the White House and methadone and similar registered treatments are proven effective approaches. However, for those in the US prison system these maxims do not apply for some reason. Note that this study was not published in an American journal.
Almost uniquely, in New South Wales, prisoners have had access to methadone treatment for over 20 years. It was initially introduced as a pre-release measure to address the high rate of overdoses in those recently released. There is now a copious literature on the subject, largely very positive. Methadone has now been introduced in many other jurisdictions, although rarely ‘across the board’ as occurs in New South Wales.
Thus a trial which gave some subjects no access to such treatment would be unethical, unnecessary and cruel in a normal country. Yet in America, despite a large drug budget and constitutional protection s, denying prisoners appropriate treatment seems to be ‘business as usual’, like Guantanamo Bay and capital punishment. These researchers say that there is an “urgent treatment need” yet it is unlikely anything will be done in a hurry in the USA, despite persuasive research like this.
Comments by Andrew Byrne
Friday, August 22, 2008
Obese Rats Successfully Treated With Addiction Drug
Medical News Today (Aug. 22, 2008 9:00 PDT) - US scientists testing the epilepsy drug vigabatrin (GVG) as a potential treatment for drug addiction, discovered that it also led to rapid weight loss and reduced food intake in genetically bred obese rats.
The discovery by scientists at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, is published in the 20 August advance online issue of the journal Synapse.
Vigabatrin is currently being tested throughout the US in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Phase II trials for the treatment of cocaine and methamphetamine addiction.
For this latest study, the scientists at the DOE's Brookhaven Laboratory found that rats that were genetically bred to be obese showed a 19 per cent loss of total body weight while rats that were not obese lost 12 to 20 per cent, after less than two months on vigabatrin.
Click here to read entire article at Medical News Today
The discovery by scientists at the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, is published in the 20 August advance online issue of the journal Synapse.
Vigabatrin is currently being tested throughout the US in Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Phase II trials for the treatment of cocaine and methamphetamine addiction.
For this latest study, the scientists at the DOE's Brookhaven Laboratory found that rats that were genetically bred to be obese showed a 19 per cent loss of total body weight while rats that were not obese lost 12 to 20 per cent, after less than two months on vigabatrin.
Click here to read entire article at Medical News Today
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Alcohol Dependence Among Women Is Linked To Delayed Childbearing
ScienceDaily (Aug. 21, 2008) — Alcohol use during the teen years can not only lead to subsequent alcohol problems, it can also lead to risky sexual behavior and a greater risk of early childbearing. An examination of the relationship between a lifetime history of alcohol dependence (AD) and timing of first childbirth across reproductive development has found that AD in women is associated with delayed reproduction.
Results will be published in the November issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.
"Reproductive dysfunctions include a range of menstrual disorders, sexual dysfunctions, and pregnancy complications that include spontaneous abortion or miscarriage," explained Mary Waldron, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine and corresponding author for the study. "Teenagers who drink tend to have disruptions in their menstrual cycle as well as unplanned pregnancies."
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
Results will be published in the November issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.
"Reproductive dysfunctions include a range of menstrual disorders, sexual dysfunctions, and pregnancy complications that include spontaneous abortion or miscarriage," explained Mary Waldron, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine and corresponding author for the study. "Teenagers who drink tend to have disruptions in their menstrual cycle as well as unplanned pregnancies."
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Nature Or Nurture: Are You Who Your Brain Chemistry Says You Are?
ScienceDaily (Aug. 13, 2008) — Researchers using positron emission tomography (PET) have validated a long-held theory that individual personality traits—particularly reward dependency—are connected to brain chemistry, a finding that has implications for better understanding and treating substance abuse and other addictive behaviors.
In a study to identify biochemical correlates of personality traits in healthy humans, researchers focused their investigation for the first time on the role of the brain’s opioidergic (or endorphine) system—specifically, the connection between an individual’s level of reward expectancy and the brain’s ability to transmit naturally occurring opiates. The study included 23 males with no history of substance abuse who were administered Fluoro-ethyl-diprenorphine—a radiolabeled chemical that binds readily to the brain’s naturally occurring opiate system— and then underwent a PET scan.
The scans were compared to the results of each participant’s Cloninger temperament and character inventory, a questionnaire that assesses human personality based on four dimensions: novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence and persistence. The comparison revealed that the binding to opiate receptors in the ventral striatum—an area of the brain known to be a central part of the reward system—correlated narrowly to the individual degree of reward dependence. The participants who skewed toward a high need to feel rewarded by approval were also those with the highest uptake of opiates, or endorphins, in the reward system.
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
In a study to identify biochemical correlates of personality traits in healthy humans, researchers focused their investigation for the first time on the role of the brain’s opioidergic (or endorphine) system—specifically, the connection between an individual’s level of reward expectancy and the brain’s ability to transmit naturally occurring opiates. The study included 23 males with no history of substance abuse who were administered Fluoro-ethyl-diprenorphine—a radiolabeled chemical that binds readily to the brain’s naturally occurring opiate system— and then underwent a PET scan.
The scans were compared to the results of each participant’s Cloninger temperament and character inventory, a questionnaire that assesses human personality based on four dimensions: novelty seeking, harm avoidance, reward dependence and persistence. The comparison revealed that the binding to opiate receptors in the ventral striatum—an area of the brain known to be a central part of the reward system—correlated narrowly to the individual degree of reward dependence. The participants who skewed toward a high need to feel rewarded by approval were also those with the highest uptake of opiates, or endorphins, in the reward system.
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
Reserve, National Guard At Higher Risk Of Alcohol-related Problems After Returning From Combat
ScienceDaily (Aug. 13, 2008) — Younger service members and Reserve and National Guard combat personnel returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are at increased risk of new-onset heavy drinking, binge drinking and other alcohol-related problems, according to a new study.
Substance abuse is strongly associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological disorders that may occur after stressful and traumatic events, such as those connected with war. Because alcohol use may serve as a coping mechanism after traumatic events, it is plausible that deployment is associated with increased rates of alcohol consumption or problem drinking, according to background information in the article. High rates of alcohol misuse after deployment have been reported among personnel returning from past conflicts, but there is little information regarding alcohol misuse after return from the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
Substance abuse is strongly associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological disorders that may occur after stressful and traumatic events, such as those connected with war. Because alcohol use may serve as a coping mechanism after traumatic events, it is plausible that deployment is associated with increased rates of alcohol consumption or problem drinking, according to background information in the article. High rates of alcohol misuse after deployment have been reported among personnel returning from past conflicts, but there is little information regarding alcohol misuse after return from the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Clinical Trials Test Potential of Hallucinogenic Drugs to Help Patients With Terminal Illnesses
· First test of 'psychedelic psychotherapy' since 70s
· Researchers hope effects will improve quality of life
James Randerson
The Guardian,
Tuesday August 12 2008
Scientists are exploring the use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD to treat a range of ailments from depression to cluster headaches and obsessive compulsive disorder.
The first clinical trial using LSD since the 1970s began in Switzerland in June. It aims to use "psychedelic psychotherapy" to help patients with terminal illnesses come to terms with their imminent mortality and so improve their quality of life.
Another psychedelic substance, psilocybin - the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, has shown promising results in trials for treating symptoms of terminal cancer patients. And researchers are using MDMA (ecstasy) as an experimental treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
In the Swiss trial eight subjects will receive a dose of 200 microgrammes of LSD. This is enough to induce a powerful psychedelic experience and is comparable to what would be found in an "acid tab" bought from a street drug dealer. A further four subjects will receive a dose of 20 microgrammes. Every participant will know they have received some LSD, but neither the subjects nor the researchers observing them will know for certain who received the full dose. During the course of therapy researchers will assess the patients' anxiety levels, quality of life and pain levels.
Click here to continue reading this article at The Guardian Website
· Researchers hope effects will improve quality of life
James Randerson
The Guardian,
Tuesday August 12 2008
Scientists are exploring the use of psychedelic drugs such as LSD to treat a range of ailments from depression to cluster headaches and obsessive compulsive disorder.The first clinical trial using LSD since the 1970s began in Switzerland in June. It aims to use "psychedelic psychotherapy" to help patients with terminal illnesses come to terms with their imminent mortality and so improve their quality of life.
Another psychedelic substance, psilocybin - the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, has shown promising results in trials for treating symptoms of terminal cancer patients. And researchers are using MDMA (ecstasy) as an experimental treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
In the Swiss trial eight subjects will receive a dose of 200 microgrammes of LSD. This is enough to induce a powerful psychedelic experience and is comparable to what would be found in an "acid tab" bought from a street drug dealer. A further four subjects will receive a dose of 20 microgrammes. Every participant will know they have received some LSD, but neither the subjects nor the researchers observing them will know for certain who received the full dose. During the course of therapy researchers will assess the patients' anxiety levels, quality of life and pain levels.
Click here to continue reading this article at The Guardian Website
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Why Some Smokers Become Addicted With Their First Cigarette
ScienceDaily (Aug. 6, 2008) — New research from The University of Western Ontario reveals how the brain processes the 'rewarding' and addictive properties of nicotine, providing a better understanding of why some people seemingly become hooked with their first smoke.
The research, led by Steven Laviolette of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry could lead to new therapies to prevent nicotine dependence and to treat nicotine withdrawal when smokers try to quit.
"Nicotine interacts with a variety of neurochemical pathways within the brain to produce its rewarding and addictive effects," explains Laviolette. "However, during the early phase of tobacco exposure, many individuals find nicotine highly unpleasant and aversive, whereas others may become rapidly dependent on nicotine and find it highly rewarding. We wanted to explore that difference."
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
The research, led by Steven Laviolette of the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry could lead to new therapies to prevent nicotine dependence and to treat nicotine withdrawal when smokers try to quit.
"Nicotine interacts with a variety of neurochemical pathways within the brain to produce its rewarding and addictive effects," explains Laviolette. "However, during the early phase of tobacco exposure, many individuals find nicotine highly unpleasant and aversive, whereas others may become rapidly dependent on nicotine and find it highly rewarding. We wanted to explore that difference."
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Epilepsy Drug May Help Alcoholics Recover From Dependence, Small Study Suggests
ScienceDaily (Aug. 5, 2008) — It's a Catch-22 of the highest order. People with alcohol problems often use alcohol to get to sleep -- but it actually keeps them from getting good-quality sleep all night long.
At the same time, they're highly likely to suffer from full-blown chronic insomnia that keeps them from getting enough sleep night after night – and that condition has been shown to cut their chances of getting sober again.
Meanwhile, their doctors aren't likely to prescribe them insomnia medications, because most sleeping pills can be habit-forming or have adverse effects due to an alcohol-damaged liver.
Now, a small new pilot study from a team of University of Michigan alcoholism and sleep researchers offers some sign of a possible way out of this conundrum.
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
At the same time, they're highly likely to suffer from full-blown chronic insomnia that keeps them from getting enough sleep night after night – and that condition has been shown to cut their chances of getting sober again.
Meanwhile, their doctors aren't likely to prescribe them insomnia medications, because most sleeping pills can be habit-forming or have adverse effects due to an alcohol-damaged liver.
Now, a small new pilot study from a team of University of Michigan alcoholism and sleep researchers offers some sign of a possible way out of this conundrum.
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Drug Has Potential To Prevent Alcoholics From Relapsing
ScienceDaily (Aug. 2, 2008) — An experimental drug that blocks the euphoric feelings associated with drinking may prevent alcoholics from relapsing. The finding, the result of a mouse study at Oregon Health & Science University, could lead to human clinical trials within the next year.
"We showed we could block behavior in mice that resembles this increased euphoria even after the animals had been given a lot of alcohol," said Tamara Phillips, Ph.D., professor and vice chair of the behavioral neuroscience department at OHSU and a research scientist at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. "That's what you want in a treatment, because we don't get to people until after they become addicted to alcohol."
Earlier research has shown that some people's brains become sensitized as a result of chronic exposure to alcohol. This change in the brain does not subside after people quit drinking. So when they begin consuming alcohol again, "they get a bigger jolt," Phillips said.
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
"We showed we could block behavior in mice that resembles this increased euphoria even after the animals had been given a lot of alcohol," said Tamara Phillips, Ph.D., professor and vice chair of the behavioral neuroscience department at OHSU and a research scientist at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. "That's what you want in a treatment, because we don't get to people until after they become addicted to alcohol."
Earlier research has shown that some people's brains become sensitized as a result of chronic exposure to alcohol. This change in the brain does not subside after people quit drinking. So when they begin consuming alcohol again, "they get a bigger jolt," Phillips said.
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
Friday, August 1, 2008
Cocaine Addiction Linked To Voluntary Drug Use And Cellular Memory, Study Shows
ScienceDaily (Aug. 1, 2008) — New research has uncovered a fundamental cellular mechanism that may drive pathological drug-seeking behavior. Rats that voluntarily use cocaine show a persistent cellular memory in the brain’s reward center even after several months of abstinence from the drug, while their involuntary counterparts had no such memory, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.
The researchers conclude that the pharmacologic effects of cocaine alone are not enough to cause long-lasting cellular memories in the brain’s reward circuit. The discovery by neuroscientists at UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center appears in the July 31 issue of the journal “Neuron.”
The study opens a window onto the significance of active choice in using cocaine and extends our understanding that addiction is caused by more than the pharmacological effects of a given drug, according to Antonello Bonci, MD, senior author of the paper, UCSF professor of neurology, Howard J. Weinberger Chair in Addiction Research and principal investigator at the Gallo Center.
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
The researchers conclude that the pharmacologic effects of cocaine alone are not enough to cause long-lasting cellular memories in the brain’s reward circuit. The discovery by neuroscientists at UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center appears in the July 31 issue of the journal “Neuron.”
The study opens a window onto the significance of active choice in using cocaine and extends our understanding that addiction is caused by more than the pharmacological effects of a given drug, according to Antonello Bonci, MD, senior author of the paper, UCSF professor of neurology, Howard J. Weinberger Chair in Addiction Research and principal investigator at the Gallo Center.
Click here to read entire article at Science Daily.com
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