Raising spirits to combat alchoholism

Problem drinkers attending the faith-based Alcoholics Anonymous groups are 30% more likely than others to remain sober for at least two years, according to research published this month.

The study, published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, found their treatment also costs 30% less than conventional cognitive behavioural therapy.

According to lead researcher Dr Keith Humphreys, based at Stanford University, this is because it requires fewer hospital visits and admissions.

Up to 80% of alcohol dependent patients start drinking again within six months of a hospital detox.

So why do AA members have a better chance than average?

Dr Humphreys told the BBC's Health Check programme that many AA members point to the spiritual component of their 12-step programme as crucial in fighting the urge to drink.

All faiths

It is non-doctrinal approach means people of all faiths - or no faith - can benefit.

Many people can't buy into AA's basic assumption that you're powerless and have to turn your individual decision making over to a 'higher power' said Professor Alan Marlatt, University of Washington

Dr Humphreys said: "It used to be accepted dogma that there would never be a 12-step group in an Islamic country.

"But today I would bet that it is Brazil and Iran where 12-step groups are growing the fastest."

Last year a group of Iraqi clerics visited Britain, where Professor Sadar Sadiq, the country's National Advisor on Mental Health works as a practicing psychiatrist, to study approaches to alcohol treatment at first hand.

"They attended AA meetings and would like to implement it in Iraq," said Professor Sadiq.

"But with the conflict and lack of security our progress is very slow."

Professor Alan Marlatt of the University of Washington's Addictive Behaviours Centre, in Seattle, said other spiritual approaches must be developed to help alcoholics.

"Many people can't buy into AA's basic assumption that you're powerless and have to turn your individual decision making over to a 'higher power'."

Meditation

An experiment in the benefits of Vipassana - or mindfulness - meditation at the nearby King County North Rehabilitation Facility offered the chance for Professor Marlatt to measure its effects among alcoholics and drug addicts.

The data suggests that there are some really important links between spirituality and health and wellbeing says Professor Kenneth Pargament, Bowling Green State University

The ten day programme required the prisoners to meditate silently for up to eleven hours a day.

He said: "We have a technique called urge surfing - you imagine that when the urge comes it is like an ocean wave.

"Starts small, gets bigger. You feel like you're going to be wiped out. But you use your breath as a surf board to ride the wave without giving in to it."

Not only did the meditating prisoners drink and take drugs less after their release, they were also less likely to be depressed or to re-offended than others.

Mindfulness meditation is a spiritual approach that requires no religious faith, said Professor Marlatt.

So is it just as effective a drug as conventional belief?

Pain threshold

A painful experiment at Bowling Green State University in Ohio answered that question for psychology professor Kenneth Pargament.

He gave two groups of people two competing sets of mantras, one spiritual (ie: "God is love") and one secular ("grass is green") and timed how long each could keep their hands in a bowl of iced water.

His findings were published, in 2005, in the Journal of Behavioural Medicine.

"We found that spiritual meditators were able to tolerate the pain of the iced water for twice as long as the secular meditators. " he told Health Check.

"And we've replicated the study among people with migraine headaches, and people chanting the spiritual mantra experienced a much sharper decline in the number and severity of their headaches."

Similarly, ongoing research at the Oxford Centre for the Science of the Mind suggests religious people suffer less physical pain when focussing on religious images vs non-religious pictures.

Lack of definition

So what is stopping clinicians taking note? Partly the unscientific lack of definition of "spirituality".

A recent of 265 books and papers on the subject showed researchers can mean at least 15 different things by it.

And even if researchers did agree on what spirituality is, they don't yet know how it mediates its therapeutic effects in the brain.

In the past, the idea of a science of spirituality was a contradiction in terms and few would risk their reputations to study it.

But that is now changing - thanks in part to the example of recovering alcoholics of AA.

At a time of constrained health finances - especially in developing countries where alcoholism is rising fastest - an effective treatment programme that costs 30% less than usual is generating plenty of interest.

Professor Pargament said: "I think there are a number of scientists who have been sceptical but, like good scientists, have been persuaded by the data.

"And the data suggests that there are some really important links between spirituality and health and wellbeing."

BBC News

Parents fuel alcoholism

Parents are being blamed for alarming binge drinking rates in teenagers with figures showing that mums and dads are supplying almost 40 per cent of underage drinkers.

Families are under fire from leading health authorities following the release of the data that shows parents are the most common source of alcohol with 37 per cent of youth aged 12 to 17 indicating their parents gave them their last drink.

Researchers say parents' relaxed attitude is setting up their children as alcoholics with an 84 per cent rise in the number of teenagers hospitalised as psychiatric patients for alcohol dependence over a six-year period.

Worryingly, the proportion of underage drinkers who admitted their mother or father was their supplier was higher among teens aged 12 to 15 at 39 per cent, compared with 35 per cent of youth aged 16-17.

The figures, from the Australian Secondary School Students Use of Alcohol in 2005 report, commissioned by the Federal Government, said 90 per cent of young people aged over 14 had consumed alcohol and about half of the teenagers aged 16 and 17 surveyed admitted to being regular drinkers.

The report said about 11 per cent of Australians aged 18-24 were alcohol dependent, while the latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures show the number of people aged 15-19 hospitalised as psychiatric patients for alcohol dependence has risen from 281 in 1998-99 to 518 in 2003-04.

National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre's Paul Dillon said teens weren't stealing alcohol from liquor cabinets.

NDARC, Australia's leading alcohol and drug advisory body, is calling on the Federal Government to fund alcohol guidelines and an education campaign for parents.

"We have safe drinking guidelines and drinking and driving guidelines but when it comes to young people and drinking we don't give parents any idea about what they should and shouldn't do," Mr Dillon said. "We need to and it's crucial we do this really quickly."

Mr Dillon said recent research proved early drinkers are at significantly increased risk of turning into alcoholics later in life.

The Courier-Mail

Loss of 'Big Richard' casts shadow on local AA community

For more than 32 years Richard Krietemeyer maintained his anonymity as one of Dayton's most loved volunteers for Alcoholics Anonymous. But a few months ago, after undergoing bypass surgery, he planned his funeral services and penned his own obituary. And he wrote, "He was an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous for over 30 years."

In the end it wasn't heart disease that claimed him. Krietemeyer was stabbed to death Jan. 16 in his Harrison Twp.

While he couldn't have anticipated the tragic manner of his death, his obituary showed that he clearly understood that his work with AA would prove to be his greatest legacy.

Sure, there were the official accomplishments: "Credit Manager of Dayton Walther Corporation" and "retired as Credit Manager of Miami-Luken, Inc."

But that's not the reason the man known as "Big Richard" is being mourned by people all over town, from all walks of life. In a typical response, a mourner from Dayton's AA community wrote, "He was a light in the darkness for so many of us."

He was the one who could always be counted on for a ride to the AA meeting or the doctor's office. He served as a mentor to many struggling AA members and as a volunteer at countless meetings in countless church basements.

His family members were astonished by the outpouring for the 78-year-old man who grew up the oldest of seven brothers and sisters on a Putnam County farm. More than 500 people signed the guest book at last week's visitation. Again and again, relatives were told, "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Richard."

Now friends are wondering whether his open-heartedness contributed in any way to his death. The Rev. Sylvia Moseley, who led the "Stop the Violence" prayer vigil Saturday in Krietemeyer's memory, fears her friend may have been victimized by one of those he tried to help. "He cared so much about this community and reached out to so many people, but not everyone is going to accept kindness and generosity with gratitude," she says. "When you stand up and stand in the gap, you sometimes make yourself a target for people who don't believe they're worth being rehabilitated."

Investigators believe that Krietemeyer knew 42-year-old Duane Walker, one of three people indicted Friday in connection to the case. "The victim was known for helping people, and for being a sponsor through Alcoholics Anonymous," says Maj. Greg Laravie of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. "We don't know if his connection with Walker was through AA or through some other source."

His friends in AA can't reveal their identities, but they all speak warmly about their friend and mentor.

"He made me feel welcome the first day I met him at the Salvation Army's Booth House," said a 26-year-old man now making the dean's list at Sinclair Community College. "He was one of those people who would never judge you, but give you comfort, telling you it will be OK."

More than one AA friend recalled Richard's mantra: "You don't have to live this way." More than one found the strength to get sober after he told them that.

Krietemeyer inspired people because he had been sober for so long — an impressive 33 years this coming February. One friend recalled the story of how he hit rock bottom: "Richard told us about how he was living in New York City and one night he was imagining giant cats on the fire escape and huge mice. And that was when he knew he had to get sober. But for the most part he didn't emphasize the drunk-a-log. He emphasized the recovery aspect."

Another AA friend said that Krietemeyer remembered him when he came back to an AA meeting after a five-year absence and a failed attempt to get sober: "This time, I was ready. Richard was such an influential person because everybody knew him and he had been sober for so long. There's a famous saying in AA: The only way to stay sober is to help another alcoholic. To the end, Richard was going to help another alcoholic."

Dayton Daily

Shock of Burnham's underage binge drinkers.

Shocked police had to confiscate 30 bottles of spirits and the same in beer from underage Burnham drinkers over a period of only two days, the Weekly News can exclusively reveal.

Officers patrolling on Friday and Saturday this week seized the bumper haul after reports of trouble in the town from out-of-control teenagers.

Two arrests were made after the youngsters targeted Manor Gardens and the Princess, High, and Victoria Streets for their late-night illegal boozing.

The last incident police were called to happened on Saturday at Quantock Close at 11.55pm when around 40 youths were taking part in anti-social behaviour.

But before then Burnham officers had been forced to travel to Manor Gardens at 10.45pm to deal with similar problems from unruly youngsters - again fuelled by alcohol.

Burnham deputy sector commander Roger Tolley told the Weekly News the force would crack down hard on those causing trouble.

"They seem to have the ability to purchase alcohol with gay abandon," he said.

"There are a lot of underage drinkers that are associating with younger adults. They appear to have not quite developed the finesse to drink socially yet.

"We are going to try and stop them from getting their alcohol. If you go to move them, where do you move them to? We are talking about groups of 30 or 40 people here."

Alcohol Concern spokesman Frank Soodeen said the problem of youngsters getting hold of alcohol and drinking to excess was a growing worry, in Burnham and across the country.

"Certainly there is evidence to suggest that binge drinking is increasing in underage people in the UK," he said.

"We actually have on of the highest number of teenage drinkers in Europe. There are serious questions to ask when trying to address the problem.

"Why do young people drink and how do they drink? The problem is that alcohol is very cheap to buy in this country. I think communities have a responsibility to provide a framework for more pastoral care."

Burnham & Highbridge Weekly News

Supermarkets "Fuelling Binge Drinking", Says Competition Commission

The UK’s leading Supermarkets were accused yesterday of fuelling binge drinking by selling alcohol at below cost price. The Competition Commission said major retailers were using alcohol as a loss-leader, pricing it at excessively low levels to tempt customers away from rival stores. The accusation was contained in yesterday’s “emerging thinking” report on the grocery market.

Alcohol Concern, the addiction charity, branded the supermarkets "irresponsible". Frank Soodeen, a spokesman, said, "We absolutely deplore this practice, which has fuelled a rise in people drinking at home.'' Alcohol had become 54% cheaper since 1980, thanks in part to deep discounting by supermarkets, the charity said. The brewer Scottish & Newcastle was appalled by the trend, claiming in a statement to the commission that supermarkets were using cheap alcohol to lure people into their stores.

However, Tesco said it had "very strict procedures" for dealing with the sale of alcohol. "Our research shows that most of the alcohol purchased by our customers is bought as part of the weekly family shop and consumed at home", a spokesman said.

Namnews

Mayor to launch new report on alcohol and drug use in London

Despite recent reports of binge drinking in the capital, Londoners overall are less likely to drink alcohol than the rest of the country according to a new report London, the Highs and Lows 2, launched today by the Mayor of London at City Hall.

Young Londoners are also less likely to use drugs than young people in other parts of England. However, drugs and alcohol remain a significant issue for the capital – London has a higher proportion of dependent drinkers than the national average ( 5 percent compared to 3.6 percent nationally ). Plus, approximately 1 per cent of London’s population are problematic heroin and crack cocaine users, over 74,000 people.

London: the Highs and Lows 2, follows an earlier report published in 2003. It contains evidence on how the nature and impact of drug and alcohol use in the capital differs from the UK as a whole, and also on the variations across London. At the launch, John Grieve, Independent Chair, Greater London Alcohol and Drug Alliance ( GLADA ) and Ruth Carnell, Acting Chief Executive of NHS London will join the Mayor.

Mayor Ken Livingstone said: “The report shows us once again that the drugs and alcohol situation in London is unique. It reveals the scale and complexity of the challenges that we face, re-emphasising the necessity for partnership working to reduce the harm caused by drug and alcohol use.

'This report will enable relevant agencies in London to base their work on robust and up-to-date evidence. It will also help us to combat some of the myths and stereotypes that so often characterise debates on alcohol and drugs. I look forward to working together with planners, policy makers, service providers and service users to ensure that our responses meet the needs of all Londoners.”

John Grieve, Independent Chair of GLADA said: 'This report builds on the success of the 2003 publication. The inclusion of alcohol enables a much fuller analysis of substance misuse in the capital, including the differences between alcohol and drugs and the instances in which their use and impacts overlap. The greater depth of detail provided in this report is a testimony to continuing improvements of data collection and reporting at a local level within London. The
collection and sharing of reliable evidence enables us to respond to these changes effectively and at all levels - prevention, enforcement, treatment, and rehabilitation.'

The report looks at a wide range of alcohol and drug use and the impacts across London. Key findings include:

· Levels of drug use are lower among young Londoners than among young people nationally. In 2005/06 20.3 percent of London BCS respondents aged 16-24 reported that they had used an illicit drug in the last year, compared to 25.2 of people in this age group across England and Wales. In 2005/06 11.2 of London respondents to the British Crime Survey reported using an illicit drug in the last year. This was a decrease from 12.2 percent in 2004/05 but is slightly higher than the 10.5 percent across England and Wales reporting illicit drug use in the last year.
· Overall Londoners drink less and at lower levels than in England as a whole. There are also lower levels of reported binge drinking in London than in England as a whole and this has remained static since 1998.
· The number of criminal justice clients entering drug treatment in London continues to increase. Overall between 2004/05 and 2005/06 the number of people entering drug treatment rose by approximately 19 percent.
· There were approximately 195 agencies providing specialist alcohol interventions in London in 2004/05. This was a significantly higher number of agencies than any other area in the UK.

London, the Highs and Lows 2 has been prepared with key Greater London Alcohol and Drug Alliance ( GLADA ) partners including the Metropolitan Police Service, National Treatment Agency, London Drug Policy Forum, London Councils, National Probation Service and Government Office for London.

Media Newswire

Dealing with the binge drinkers at A&E

Patients attending the county's busiest accident and emergency department with alcohol-related illnesses and injuries will be offered help if they are found to have a binge drinking problem.

The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital today launched a screening project, in which patients will be questionned to find out if they are drinking too much and offered help, treatment and advice if needed.

More than 72,000 people a year visit the A&E department. In around 40pc of cases, alcohol is a factor.

The screening tool, the Paddington Alcohol Test (PAT), was developed at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, London. The N&N is the first hospital in the region to pilot the scheme with the aim of educating people about health risks and to intervene early if drinking is at a harmful level.

Julia France is a substance misuse liaison nurse at the N&N. She and colleague Sarah Dunbar, who work for Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Trust, have developed the N&Nscreening system.

She said: “Our aim is to offer help to people who have ended up in A&E as a result of their drinking and to gently raise with them the fact that they are drinking at a level that could be harming their health.

“The screening is designed to pick up those people who might be termed binge drinkers. It is not about making judgements or being critical but about helping someone realise there may be a problem and offering support to deal with it.”

Patients whose accident or illness is clearly not related to alcohol will not be screened but anyone who has obviously been drinking will be seen by an alcohol misuse nurse. They will be asked four questions, including how much they have had to drink and how often they drink this amount.

PAT-positive patients will be given an information leaflet and offered a follow-up appointment with the substance misuse nurses.

Penny McVeigh, chair of Alcohol Concern, said: “We welcome this new initiative which allows information on health risks to be given to individuals when they may be particularly receptive to thinking about how alcohol may be impacting on their health and wellbeing.”

Norwich Evening News 24

Faith-based programs add extra dimension to help fight addictions

As a Christian, Joyce enjoys sharing her faith.

As someone with a history of crack cocaine use, she participates in 12-step groups to help her stay sober.

But Joyce, who asked that her last name not be used, said groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous aren't the best forum for talking about spiritual matters.

"When you mention that God name, people look at you all crazy," she said.

That's why Joyce prefers Accent on Christ, a faith-based recovery program that blends the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous with Christian principles and Bible teachings.

It's one of a number of Tri-State programs that use Christian beliefs to help those struggling with addictions and compulsive behaviors.

Accent on Christ meets four times a week at the Evansville Christian Life Center on South Kentucky Avenue.

Meetings begin and end with prayer. In between, attendees pass around a notebook to write down prayer requests. They read the 12 steps and their biblical parallels. There's a time for discussion and

sharing, and a recognition of those who have been sober varying amounts of time.

Unlike some other 12-step programs, Accent on Christ deals with all manner of addictions and issues within the same group. Any given gathering may include people who struggle with substance abuse, compulsive eating, sex addiction and gambling.

"We're all sinners being saved by grace, no matter who walks through these doors," said Larry Davis, an Accent on Christ board member who said his addictions were work and money, though he also used drugs and alcohol.

Accent on Christ uses materials from Celebrate Recovery, a Christian program that began in 1990 at Saddleback Church in California. Saddleback is a megachurch whose pastor, Rick Warren, wrote the popular book "The Purpose Driven Life."

Celebrate Recovery uses the 12 steps of AA and relates them to passages from the Bible.

For instance, the AA step that reads "(We) came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity" is linked with Philippians 2:13: "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."

Celebrate Recovery also uses what it calls eight recovery principles based on the beatitudes from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount.

Jeff Stucke, director of counseling at Christian Fellowship Church, said faith-based programs such as Celebrate Recovery are powerful because they rely on a belief in something larger than human suffering.

"The most important objective for me is to give a person hope. When you bring the faith component into it and bring God into it, there is hope where before there was no hope," Stucke said.

Christian Fellowship Church will begin offering Celebrate Recovery classes each Thursday at 6 p.m. beginning Feb. 1.

South Gibson Apostolic Chapel in Owensville, Ind., offers a different faith-based recovery program, ACTS (Alcohol Chemical Treatment Services). The program, affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church International, operates throughout the U.S. and abroad.

ACTS sessions are held both at the church and with inmates at the Gibson County Jail.

The structured program teaches how drugs and alcohol affect the body, how to identify and handle "trigger issues," how to use coping skills. Participants study Bible stories that are relevant to substance abuse and recovery.

The story of the Good Samaritan, for instance, tells of a man who fell into trouble but also found help from a kind stranger.

"We teach a relationship with God that is real, genuine and is better than any substance that a man can find. ... It's what people are looking for in drugs and alcohol," said the Rev. J.D. Mullins, pastor at South Gibson Apostolic Chapel.

Gibson County Sheriff Allen Harmon said ACTS has been well-received by inmates, who can choose whether to participate in the program.

"We always have more wanting to take the class than they have openings," Harmon said.

"I think it's a very worthwhile program."

But Harmon, and others, say faith-based programs aren't a magic solution.

Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge Wayne Trockman, who presides over the county's drug court program, said 12-step programs - whether secular or faith-based - show results when used in concert with other methods. Drug court participants are required to attend daily 12-step meetings (either secular or faith-based), along with supervised probation and other conditions.

"I don't think that any one single program is as effective as a combination of approaches, and that's what we use," Trockman said.

Bible Center Cathedral on North First Avenue started Celebrate Recovery at its church last year.

The Rev. Ray Brown, assistant minister at the church, said many of the participants with substance-abuse issues use Celebrate Recovery as one of several tools toward recovery.

That's as it should be, Brown believes.

"We don't try to be in competition with AA. We're glad that people are going to AA," Brown said.

"I'm a little bit timid to say, 'Hey, just do this (Celebrate Recovery) and this is going to totally fix you.'"

Harmon said he has known some habitual offenders who cleaned up their lives with the help of ACTS, but acknowledges the program doesn't change all inmates.

"Does it work every time? No. Does it work sometimes? Absolutely. ... Any time I can keep someone from coming back to my jail, I think that's a plus."

Evansville Courier Press

DUI Court Maps Out A Tough New Road

In a Bartow courtroom Tuesday afternoon, Circuit Judge Randall McDonald presided over an innovative attempt to make sure repeat offenders kick their drunk driving habit.

Polk County's new DUI Court, the first countywide program of its kind in Florida, will combine strict, three-times-a-week testing for alcohol and drug use with the promise of less jail time for those who successfully complete the program.

The year-long program also includes counseling, home visits by a probation officer and required attendance at three or more meetings a week of Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.

The alternative for repeat offenders, McDonald said, is "they'd just be thrown into jail, and then when they get out of jail, there would be very little support available."

Polk County already has a Drug Court, and the success of that program helped persuade officials to begin one aimed specifically at repeat DUI offenders who face stays in county jail and a high risk of re-offending.

At Tuesday's inaugural session of DUI Court, three people appeared before McDonald. Court officials say they expect the program initially will serve about 50 people a year.

McDonald is the only judge assigned to the court and for now anticipates court sessions once every two weeks. All the offenders must attend the biweekly sessions to review their progress. Offenders who mess up face sanctions ranging from fines to jail time.

McDonald got updates from Rick Huntley, the Drug Court's DUI counselor, on each of the men who would appear before him.

"I'm kind of unsure of him and his demeanor toward the program," Huntley said of a four-time offender. "I would say right now he's complying. But he asked me, if the department's going to revoke my license for life, why bother?"

"OK, we'll have to have a little talk with him," McDonald said.

Another man lives in Orlando but was arrested for DUI in Polk County, and he worried that he wouldn't be able to meet the program's requirement that he travel to Bartow three times a week to be drug and alcohol tested at a lab.

Huntley said the man wanted to know if he could seek treatment in Orlando instead.

"Absolutely not," McDonald said. "This brings up a good issue. I'm not going to start trading out and plea-bargaining. We lose all our credibility if we do that."

The program has strict, time-consuming conditions, which include the thrice-weekly testing in Bartow to be followed by an hour of counseling, three to four AA or NA meetings a week, attending the court to check in with the DUI Court team every two weeks, staying employed if possible, and meeting any other conditions that are recommended by the treatment team.

A probation officer, who is assigned solely to DUI Court, will make random visits to the participants' homes to make sure they are complying with their obligations.

One DUI Court participant told McDonald he was concerned about being able to continue to work in construction while meeting the requirements of the program. Sometimes his boss needs him to work out of town.

"I'll do it, I'm just saying, it's tough financially," he told McDonald.

"It's going to be tough," McDonald said. "This is, what, your fourth DUI?"

"Two of them were twenty years ago," the man said.

"But two of them were recent," McDonald said.

A third man appearing before McDonald was more enthusiastic. "This is just a blessing of a program for me," he said.

McDonald is hoping the program will be a blessing for everybody. Planning for the program began over a year ago, when McDonald and several other Polk County courthouse employees visited a program in Athens, Ga., which has become a model for others in the country. The Athens program started in February 2001.

Although there are 1,927 drug courts nationwide, according to C.W. Huddleston, CEO of the national Drug Court Institute, so far, there only 81 DWI (or DUI) courts nationwide, and 249 drug courts that also target drunk driving offenders.

Most of them are based on the same model, targeting repeat offenders, and offering them a chance of reduced or no jail time, if they participate in intensive drug or alcohol treatment programs.

In Florida, a county judge in Marion County started a DUI program, but it hasn't yet become available countywide, McDonald said.

The Polk program gets funding from a $90,700 grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with $85,700 to be used for salaries for the counselor and probation officer who will work fulltime for the program, and the rest will cover incidentals like mileage and computers for the program, McDonald said.

The Ledger

Age, education shape drinking patterns: UK study

Highly educated British women are more likely to binge drink in their 20s but curb the habit by the time they reach 40, researchers said on Thursday.

But the reverse is true for women with fewer qualifications who make up the bulk of female binge drinkers in middle-age, scientists at the Institute of Child Health found.

"By mid-life, binge drinking ... (was) disproportionately concentrated in people with less education or unskilled manual occupations," said Barbara Jefferis, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Binge drinking, consuming 10 or more units in one sitting for men and seven or more for women, is a common public health concern in Britain where 31 percent of men and 14 percent of women fall into the category at 42 years old.

Jefferis and her team examined the extent of the problem by studying 11,500 British men and women who had been born during the same week in March in 1958.

They questioned the volunteers at ages 23, 33 and 42 about how often and how much alcohol they consumed.

Binge drinking in men decreased from 36 percent in men at the age of 23 to 31 percent by the time their reached 42. In women it dropped from 18 percent to 14 percent over the same time period.

Less educated men were more likely to be binge drinkers at all ages, while women with no or few qualifications were 2.5 times at great risk of excess drinking by the age of 42.

Reuters

Drunk tourists fall for Oz

Backpackers are drinking themselves across the country and into early graves, a study examining dangerous drinking patterns in tourists has revealed.

The State Government is considering action to reduce anti-social behaviour, alcohol-related crime and binge drinking among backpackers.

A spokesman for Minister for Health John Hatzistergos said the Government was looking into better co-operation between tourism and health services in the UK and Australia.

A National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre study released today found backpackers doubled their drinking rate while in Australia – and half admitted dabbling in drugs.

More than 1000 UK tourists aged between 18 and 35 were interviewed for the study, which found 40 per cent told of drinking five or more times a week when in Australia compared with only about 20 per cent when they were at home.

Thirty-five per cent of the UK backpackers admitted to increasing the frequency of their drinking while holidaying in Australia and 55 per cent used at least one illicit drug when travelling.

National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre spokesman Paul Dillon said tourist bingeing was costing the community.

"(Tourism) is worth millions but what is it costing the Australian health sector?" he asked.

Mr Dillon said alcohol-related violence, accidents, falls, sexual assault, STDS and unwanted pregnancies were all magnified in the backpacker population.

The Courier Mail

Binge drinking's rife and MPs spend GBP 3/4m on wine

Boozy MPs are setting a bad example with a £3/4million wine order for Parliament’s bars and restaurants, campaigners said yesterday.

As round-the-clock drinking continues to fuel binge Britain, the House of Commons is tendering a three-year contract for “wine and associated equipment” estimated at £735,000 plus VAT.

That works out at more than a £1,000 for each of the 646 MPs – or £245,000 a year.

Alcohol Concern said yesterday: “Presumably much of this wine will be drunk while MPs are working, at lunches and meetings, and this is going to have an effect on their productivity.

“Alcohol abuse costs the UK economy £6.4billion each year in reduced performance of employees.

“We think it is setting a very bad example.”

Catering at Parliament is subsidised by the taxpayer to the tune of about £5million a year, and drinks and meals can be bought at low prices.

Commons bars operate without a licence and are not restricted to opening hours imposed on outside pubs.

A tender notice invited companies to “supply a selection of wines for a wine list, equipment and associated products to the refreshment department of the House of Commons”.

The wine will be for Commons restaurants, bars and banqueting facilities.

There are five bars, four self-service cafes, four table-service restaurants, a Members’ tearoom and hospitality rooms. Some are reserved exclusively for MPs.

The House of Lords has its own catering department.

A report by the House of Commons Administration Committee said the catering subsidy was required to provide reasonably priced catering for MPs and staff.

Thousands of drinks, snacks and meals are served to several thousand customers a day at the Commons, with more than 8,000 on the busiest days, the committee said.

The “vast majority” of customers were not MPs, it stressed.

About 8,000 full passholders are entitled to use the building at any time, including MPs, staff and journalists, plus around 5,000 temporary passes largely issued to civil servants and contractors.

A spokeswoman for the refreshment department said the value of the wine contract was estimated based on previous expenditure. She stressed it included expenditure for souvenir kiosks and banqueting facilities.

Daily Express

He keeps drinking. He keeps driving, without a license or insurance.

In 1992, Perry was driving drunk and hit his sister. She died, but it didn't stop him.

Keeping Perry in jail is the only way to protect the public, District Judge Doug Schrantz said Friday.

But one year is the longest Schrantz can hold Perry, based on his guilty plea Friday to a charge of driving while intoxicated in April.

Drunken driving convictions are removed from state records after five years. That makes this Perry's third conviction since 2001.

Drunken driving isn't a felony until a fourth charge, so the conviction is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in the Benton County Jail.

"It's apparent that, whatever the courts have done, not much difference has been made in your life or your level of responsibility in dealing with this problem," Schrantz told Perry on Friday. "I can't, and don't, expect you to stop drinking at this point, but hopefully we can keep you from getting behind the wheel of a car."

Perry, who lives in Rogers, admitted to the judge he's an alcoholic. In addition to driving while intoxicated, Perry pleaded guilty to driving without headlights, possession of a controlled substance, no insurance, leaving the scene of a property damage accident and careless driving.

Schrantz ruled Perry will spend one year in jail and pay $3,475 in fines and costs.

Rogers Police Officer Miles Mason, who arrested Perry in April, was in court Friday but didn't testify because Perry decided to plead guilty minutes before a trial.

Mason stopped Perry's vehicle on West Hudson Road at 10:49 p.m. April 24 after noticing the pickup had no brake lights, according to police reports.

Mason described Perry's eyes as bloodshot and glassy and noted he smelled of intoxicants, his speech was slurred and he appeared confused. His blood alcohol level later registered at .151 percent, according to police reports. The legal limit is .08 percent.

The other charges stemmed from an accident Perry was involved in last year. He left the scene when another driver said he was calling the police.

Perry told the judge he goes to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings about once a month.

"I go when I'm feeling depressed and the urge to drink is coming," Perry said.

He hasn't sought medical treatment for the depression. When Deputy City Attorney Chris Griffin asked him why anything would be different after this latest arrest, since he wasn't compelled to stop drinking after killing his sister, Perry said he met a woman "that I feel I need to change my life for. I need to better myself."

Perry was arrested July 3, 1992, in the death of his sister after she was hit by a car on South Eighth Street in Rogers. Perry left the scene of the accident.

At the time, he was free on bond for an arson arrest. In September 1992, he pleaded guilty to arson, negligent homicide and leaving the scene of a fatality accident. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and released in July 1998. Perry has yet to pay fines from that case. He's currently in the Benton County Jail after being arrested for failure to pay and receives $40 credit for each day in jail.

Perry will finish paying those fines Feb. 17, so Schrantz ruled his one-year sentence will begin then. After his release from jail, Perry must appear for alcohol screening, assessment and treatment.

In court Friday, Griffin asked Perry about his sister's death. Perry described the incident as: " I was driving, and someone fell in front of my car and I couldn't stop in time."

Teresa Belew, executive director of Arkansas Mothers Against Drunk Driving, agreed with Schrantz the public simply must be protected.

"This is a prime example of someone we are afraid of," she said. She recommended Perry receive appropriate treatment after his release and be required to install an ignition interlock device on his steering wheel.

The Morning News

Alchohol addiction

Alcohol has commonly been identified as one of the prime causes of ill health, violence, sexual immorality, accidents, child neglect, broken homes and job loss. While some individuals have no difficulty controlling or stopping their drinking, others become addicted to the substance. With heavy and regular use, alcohol often brings about the problem of alcohol dependence. This involves increased tolerance leading to heavier drinking to achieve the same effect, withdrawal symptoms when unable to drink the accustomed amount and the individual’s awareness of a need to control his/her drinking but with an inability to do so (Edwards, 1986). The effects of withdrawal symptoms on a heavy drinker can be significant since the body has become accustomed to the substance. The individual may feel anxious, depressed, unable to sleep, delirious and may experience both visual and tactile hallucinations (Davison et al, 2001).

In spite of continuous reminders about the harmful effects of drinking, individuals continue to become engaged in this health-impairing behaviour. Biological, psychological and psychosocial factors all combine to initiate and maintain drinking among individuals.

Peer influence is an important factor in the initiation of drinking. Drinking not only becomes a way of expressing solidarity with peers but also a mean of asserting one’s identity among friends (Marks & al, 2002). Alcohol is also commonly associated with beliefs about loosening of inhibitions, such as anxiety, in enabling the individual to relax. Anxiety disorders seem to precede substance abuse and individuals use alcohol to alleviate such feelings. Moreover, alcohol has been linked to the suppression of other unpleasant emotions such as tension, stress and anger and is commonly consumed at social get-togethers (Marks & al, 2002).

Psychological theory defines alcoholism as a condition found in individuals with a certain personality type, such as sensation-seekers, who are bound to become alcoholics after an exceedingly stressful experience, for instance, death of someone close, financial difficulties, illness, marital separation, redundancy, parental discord, low academic achievement, among other personal difficulties. According to Freud, the alcoholic is fixated at the oral stage of psychosexual development and drinks to regress to a stage where he/she feels secure as in infancy, and in which fantasy and reality are one and same, whereby he/she does not have to confront his/her problems.

Moreover, according to psychoanalysis, alcoholism is an unconscious self-destructive impulse, which has its origins in anger and rage primarily directed at the individual’s parents and later repressed because such feelings cause guilt. This anger is, therefore, redirected through self-inflicted punishment by drinking. Freud also underlined that individuals drank to gain attention, avoid things they do not wish to do and evade responsibility for their actions.

Alcoholism is also a learned behaviour under social control. The reason why some individuals become problem drinkers lie in their personal learning histories of learning to drink, their social environments and in the physiological variables that makes alcohol more positively reinforcing to them (Marks & al, 2002). Children may observe their parents’ or caregivers’ patterns of drinking and imitate this behaviour at a later stage. Based on operant conditioning, drinking alcohol also provides positive reinforcement such as enhanced feelings of relaxation, that occur soon after drinking and which may lead to a strong habit despite the considerable negative reinforcement such as hangover, loss of employment, marital separation, which occur much later (Marks & al, 2002).

Drinking, smoking, drug-taking are addictions that have ‘irrational’ features whereby the amount of satisfaction gained from the addiction seems much less than the suffering. This is the case since the satisfying effects of addictive behaviours occur rapidly while unpleasant consequences occur after a delay and may overwhelm the brain’s ability for rational calculation (Marks & al, 2002). Behavioural theorists regard heavy drinking as a habit that can be unlearnt and have taken the stance that moderate drinking can be a feasible objective.

On the other hand, genetic theorists argue that some individuals have a predisposition. However, this is not to imply that it is inevitable that they will do so. The risks are greater for some people more than others since both hereditary and environmental factors come into play.

This school of thought, therefore, suggests that certain individuals are born alcoholics who would lose all voluntary control over their drinking and turn into alcoholics as soon as they take their first drink. This is based on research focusing on the offspring of alcoholics and on the biological and neurological abnormalities they inherit that leads to pathological drinking.

Associations such as Alcoholics Anonymous aim to help those individuals by showing them how to achieve total abstinence (Marks & al, 2002). Indeed, in line with this theory, lifelong abstinence is considered the only target for the alcoholic. This theory has sparked controversy as it has been judged appealing to those who are in denial and who want to avoid responsibility for succumbing to alcoholism, claiming that it is beyond their volitional control and that they are victims of their biological makeup (Rose & al, 1984).

Alcoholism is a problem with major medical, psychological, social and public health implications. Consequently, a great deal of research has gone into the design of preventive and rehabilitative measures. Preventive actions such as high levels of taxation on alcoholic drinks, restrictions on access, limiting opening hours for bars, drink-driving laws with severe penalties are important to implement along with health education messages in schools, the workplace and the home, which would target society as a whole.

Alcohol prevention programs may teach adolescents and adults to develop their assertiveness and refuse offers of alcohol or other harmful substances while alcohol treatment programs can teach the problem drinker the coping skills to stop drinking and assist them with family, employment, financial and health problems. Interventions are both biological and psychological but the first step is to admit that he/she has a drinking problem. While drinking may provide a feeling of escapism and numb pain temporarily, it does not help in the long term. As illustrated by a health education slogan: “If you drink because you have a problem, then you will end up with two problems.”

l'express Outlook

Life in recovery: 'getting stronger in front of the world'

The subject of this story requested that her real last name not be used to maintain Alcoholic Anonymous' tradition of anonymity in the media.

Angela's sobriety date ---- Dec. 20, 2000 ---- is embedded in her memory, like a birthday or a wedding anniversary.

It's the day her body shut down from chronic alcohol poisoning, the diagnosis on her charts at the South Miami Hospital Addiction Treatment Program, where she spent the next 65 days.

It was the kind of rock-bottom moment many alcoholics describe as their wake-up call: convulsions, teeth gnashing, a near-death experience in which she says she felt God hold her in his palm and judge her. For Angela, 54, a well-educated woman from an upper-middle class Miami family whose ambition at one time was to become a state senator, it was the beginning of a difficult, dangerous journey she will be on until the day she dies. It's called recovery.

Now addicted to good health and exercise, Angela walks, skips and high kicks every day through Coconut Grove, Fla., a leafy neighborhood south of downtown Miami where the most visible sign of her recovery is her morning ritual of swinging on the hanging roots and vines of banyan trees, pulling her petite frame up for leg lifts and pull-ups.

Schoolchildren and commuters call her the "tree lady." A commercial real estate broker, she openly shares her story of alcoholism and recovery with everyone she meets. But for this story, Angela prefers using her first and middle name because she does not want to violate Alcoholics Anonymous' tradition of maintaining anonymity in the media. This is how she's made it this far:

The morning ritual

I get up at 4:30 every morning and I drink a whole pot of coffee. I never use an alarm or wake-up call. I have trouble sleeping. I wake up every two hours. I don't know if I was like that before because I was always drunk then. Wine, scotch, you name it. It was nothing for me to drink an entire bottle of white wine by myself. Four scotches in one evening was not unusual. Those last two months before I crashed, I had nothing else in my system but alcohol. I was in an abusive marriage, I was deeply in debt. I drank to calm myself ... now I just can't wait to get up. My time in the morning before work is so absolutely terrific. I light two candles on a coffee table next to the couch. I sit in my walled-in patio and drink coffee. I smoke. And I just talk to God.

I write in my journal for one to two hours on a company pad, longhand, every morning. I've been doing the journal for five years. It's a record of my recovery. I feel that it's my assignment. ...

I leave my home when the sun comes up, about 7 a.m. I walk over to Plymouth Congregational, the church I've belonged to since I was a child. I say prayers to the front door. It's usually just five minutes, but it's a really critical part of what I call my "survival routine." I dance around and do high kicks in front of the church. Then I go to the first vine hanging from what I call the Tree of Life. It's the main banyan near the church and it's the tree where I played as a kid. Then I move on to other vines and walk.

When I'm there, I don't feel so afraid and don't feel I need to drink ... I used to worry that people would think I'm a show-off. I would walk down Main Highway and wonder if people could see this big A emblazoned on my head: for Angela. Anonymous. Alcoholic. But now I just can't worry about it. I feel 12 years old now. I feel super. There's something about being out there every day, getting stronger in front of the world. Those commuters going by, many of them know me, and it's so important for me to have them see me sober. Sometimes I'll do it twice in one day. If I have nothing to do, that's what I go do because I don't like to be bored. It's dangerous.

A bad marriage

Leaving my second husband was part of my recovery. In the treatment center, they don't recommend ending a relationship while you're in your first year. They don't want you to make any big decisions because they might be the wrong one. I never told anybody I was being abused. I was afraid he was going to kill me and, because he is an alcoholic, too, I knew I would drink if I stayed. I had bruises all over my body. At final checkout at the residence program, the nurse asked me, "What caused all those?" It was mortifying. I was really embarrassed. In all the self-help groups I attend, I hear so many other women say how it's one of the hardest things for a woman to talk about. I'm so ashamed of it, even more than the drinking.

On motherhood

I have one son from my first marriage. He's 30 now. As a mom, I am so mortified, so ashamed. I'm trying to give my son a lot of space. He's embarrassed, but he's unbelievably loyal. He's always treated me with respect. He is my one true, loyal love. He never rejected me or treated me wrong. I worry about him. I feel alcoholism is a genetic disease. He's so much like me. He's going to have to quit drinking some day. I try not to nag. I don't want him ending up like I did.

New relationships

Since I left my husband I have never gone out on a date. Part of it is how good I feel. No one is going to get in my space. Nobody is going to interrupt my momentum. I stick to my routine. I rarely eat out at night. I feel sexy and I'm attracted to men, but I really want to be alone. I don't think I ever will have a relationship.

Meetings

In the beginning, after I got out, I went to 10 (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings a week, all groups, everywhere. Now I go to about four a week. If a friend speaks across town, I go to that. On Tuesday nights, I'm active in the women's fellowship. They are all addiction support groups. I also go to Bible studies, meditation workshops. I go to listen and talk and to keep track of my other friends ... I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for that group ... Everybody's story is different, but the one thing we have in common is our terminal disease. If we're not bound together, we're not going to make it. There's that bond of "you share your story with me and I share my story with you. Let's hang together and get better together." This sort of feeling happens the minute you go to the hospital. It's so beautiful.

Being connected

A huge part of my recovery is how warm people are when I'm out on the street. We stop and talk to each other. "How are you?" "What's going on?" It makes me so glad I'm alive. It's so comforting for me to know so many people in this neighborhood are rooting for me. When I go to Milam's (grocery store), people will be looking in my cart to see if I have booze in there or cigarettes. I'll see people looking in my cart and we start laughing. It's like being in Weight Watchers and they're trying to catch you buying ice cream.

The job

I'm very aware there are a lot of people who work in the commercial real estate business ---- bankers, buyers, sellers, other real estate brokers ---- who probably feel uncomfortable around me. Some (are) worried about themselves and don't want me to recruit them into the world of recovery, or they might be a recovering alcoholic and don't want me to know. Or they might suspect I'll relapse ---- because the odds are I will ---- and they don't want to work with me. My clients and friends know, but I can do that because I work for myself. Some clients are still weird about it. I don't get invited to cocktail parties ---- and I won't ever. Coming out about my recovery is not the smartest thing I've ever done in my life, but I have to, even if can't do another real estate transaction. I wouldn't be here otherwise. To me, it's a miracle I'm alive.

Living in fear

I could crash and burn. Fear of relapse, fear of dying is big. I'm more fearful of dying because I already did. I'm so allergic to alcohol, I can't make a mistake. For a lot of people in recovery, it's not unusual to go for a while and have a drink and find out you can't do that and start all over again. I can't do that. The doctors told me, "You can never have a drink again." My throat would just close up. I'm so scared of drinking by accident, of picking up somebody's drink or eating a dessert with liquor in it. Godiva chocolate liqueur would be like shooting me with heroin. I love my life so much. I have so much to give. I think I can make a positive difference in people's lives. I can make a good example for my son and be proud of myself. My life could be so short because the chances of my drinking again are so strong.

Giving back

The key to recovery is to get your own act together and then help someone else. It's the joy of service to someone else. If I relapse, it's going to let a lot of people down. When somebody comes to me and asks for help and I send them to a recovery group or counselor, I really try to stay in touch with them and let them know I'm rooting for them.

Finding religion (again)

The main thing that has sustained me is my relationship with God ... He never left me. I spend a lot of time talking to God, asking for him to forgive me. I feel like my prayers are answered all the time ... So many times I've thought about drinking and thought, "I miss it" or "Oh, I wish I could drink." But I instantly picture pouring chlorine down my throat. The minute I feel like drinking, I stop and ask God to make it go away.

The five-year mark

Five years is a real turning point. It's a big deal to make it that long. After five years, people drift away, you get a comfort level, you don't go to meetings as much. I was scared to travel out of Miami in the beginning; I relied on my daily schedule and routine. It was a rigorous schedule wrapped around staying sober and being mentally and physically fit. Never in those first two years did I travel once or go into a restaurant and sit at the bar and look at the scotch bottles. After two years, I started to feel more secure.

Now, a little over five years into my recovery, I own my own company. My first two years in business have been incredibly successful. It's a miracle. I have my broker's license and a registered real estate brokerage company. My son just came to work for me. I have a credit card and good credit now.

I never traveled until this year. I just got back from a 30-day trip. I drove to California. I stayed in good hotels with in-room bars. I went to restaurants where I used to love drinking with friends. It was almost like a final exam. It was like getting my doctorate degree in recovery.

In AA, they give medals for each year of recovery. I carry my IV and my V. It's a big deal.

North County Times

Brains Can Recover From Alcoholic Damage But Patients Should Stop Drinking As Soon As Possible

The findings, published in the online edition of the journal Brain, used sophisticated scanning technology and computer software to measure how brain volume, form and function changed over six to seven weeks of abstinence from alcohol in 15 alcohol dependent patients (ten men, five women).

The researchers from Germany, the UK, Switzerland and Italy measured the patients' brain volume at the beginning of the study and again after about 38 days of sobriety, and they found that it had increased by an average of nearly two per cent during this time. In addition, levels of two chemicals, which are indicators for how well the brain's nerve cells and nerve sheaths are constituted, rose significantly. The increase of the nerve cell marker correlated with the patients performing better in a test of attention and concentration. Only one patient seemed to continue to lose some brain volume, and this was also the patient who had been an alcoholic for the longest time.

The leader of the research, Dr Andreas Bartsch from the University of Wuerzburg, Germany, said: "The core message from this study is that, for alcoholics, abstinence pays off and enables the brain to regain some substance and to perform better. However, our research also provides evidence that the longer you drink excessively, the more you risk losing this capacity for regeneration. Therefore, alcoholics must not put off the time when they decide to seek help and stop drinking; the sooner they do it, the better."

Dr Bartsch, who is senior neuroradiology resident and head of the structural and functional MR-imaging laboratory of the Department of Neuroradiology at the University of Wuerzburg, said the study was one of the first to be able to integrate data that showed how the brain regained volume and function early on, once alcoholics, who had no complicating factors, had stopped drinking alcohol. It was carried out in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Oxford's Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB) and from the University of Siena's Institute of Neurological and Behavioural Sciences.

The patients' brains were scanned using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and proton MR-spectroscopy upon admission and after short-term sobriety. Only the patients that managed to abstain from alcohol without receiving any psychotherapeutic medication were included in the study, and those with secondary alcohol-induced disorders, as well as heavy cigarette smokers (more than 10 cigarettes a day), were excluded. Ten healthy volunteers (six men, four women), matched for age and gender, were recruited as controls for the study. The data were analysed and evaluated using FSL, a sophisticated software package developed at the Oxford FMRIB Centre, and LCModel (a computer program that analyses spectroscopy data) to give estimates of changes to brain volume, form (morphology), metabolism and function.

The technology enabled the researchers to superimpose the images of the patients' brains upon follow-up on to the images of the brains at the start of the study so that they could see any morphological changes. They also measured how levels of various chemicals, including N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and choline, changed between the two time points. NAA can indicate how intact the brain's nerve cells are (i.e. it is a metabolic marker of neuronal integrity), while choline provides hints at how cell membranes are being broken down and repaired.

In addition, the neuropsychological performance of the patients was tested at the beginning and end of the study, using a specific test (the d2-test) that primarily measures attention and concentration..

Dr Bartsch said: "After short-term sobriety of less than two months, we found that brain volume had increased by an average of nearly two per cent (1.82%), with a range of -0.19 to 4.32%. Only the one patient with the longest history of alcohol dependence (25 years) had a slightly reduced brain volume (-0.19%), but that value is within the margin of measurement error. Volumetric brain recovery was signified by the patients' brains expanding beyond their previous limits, with an outward brain edge shift for the outer regions and an inward shift for the inner ones.

"In addition, on average across all the patients, cerebellar choline levels increased by about 20%, while levels of NAA in the cerebellar and frontal region of the brain and frontal choline significantly increased by about 10%. Brain volume regeneration correlated with the percentages increase in choline, indicating that volume regain is driven primarily by rising choline levels, while the more the NAA recovered, the better the patients performed on the d2-test."

There were no significant changes in the controls.

Dr Bartsch and his colleagues were confident that the increase in brain volume and form was not simply due to rehydration of the brain, as concentrations of choline and NAA increased even when water levels and other metabolites did not change significantly.

"Our results indicate that early brain recovery through abstinence does not simply reflect rehydration. Instead, the adult human brain, and particularly its white matter, seems to possess genuine capabilities for re-growth. Our findings show the ways that the brain can recover from the toxic insults of chronic alcoholism and substantiate the early measurable benefits of therapeutic sobriety. However, they also suggest that prolonged dependence on alcohol may limit rapid recovery from white matter brain injury.

"Modern neuroimaging enables us to monitor morphological, metabolic and other functional brain changes. Usually this has been applied to evaluate the degree and speed of brain degeneration in illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease or multiple sclerosis. Here, we show that neuroimaging can also demonstrate and quantify brain regeneration in substance and function. Data analysis is crucial to these endeavours, and modern software such as the tools delivered by the Image Analysis Group at the FMRIB centre in Oxford provides us with the utilities necessary for such studies. For instance, I am able to inform a specific patient how much exactly his or her brain has benefited from sobriety and, as a clinician, I believe this may be a very supportive part of their treatment," he concluded.

In an accompanying commentary, Professor Graeme Mason, wrote that the study was important not just because it unified several previously separate lines of research but because it might give doctors the tools to motivate their alcohol-dependent patients to stay sober.

"Doctors treating or studying alcoholism should be made aware of the research of Dr Bartsch because it may provide a motivational tool that is a broad set of concrete, tangible, and rapid benefits of sobriety: cognition, chemistry and brain volume," wrote the associate professor of diagnostic radiology and psychiatry at Yale University. Prof Mason believed this was a particularly valuable contribution of the study because "patients often become discouraged from the physical and cognitive difficulties of achieving and maintaining sobriety."

Medical News Today

We enjoy getting drunk, says Blears

Britain can never copy the Continent's cafe-style drinking culture because Britons like getting drunk, a Cabinet minister said yesterday.

Hazel Blears appeared to undermine Government hopes that the introduction of 24-hour licensing laws would usher in a new drinking culture across the UK.

Speaking as thousands of Britons prepared for the biggest party night of the year, Mrs Blears blamed Britons' fondness for the bottle on "our Anglo-Saxon mentality".

In an interview with a Sunday newspaper, she said: "I don't know if we'll ever have a European drinking culture, where you go out and have a single glass of wine. Maybe it's our Anglo-Saxon mentality.
advertisement

"We enjoy getting drunk. I think it is a bit about risk-taking - people want to push the limits of danger."

But Mrs Blears, the Labour Party chairman, said the new drinking laws had not been as catastrophic as predicted by police and opposition politicians. "The 24-hour drinking was supposed to be the end of life as we know it and that hasn't happened," she said.

"The health implications worry me. People are getting quite serious health conditions earlier, things like liver problems in their 20s and 30s that perhaps before only came out in their 40s and 50s. I think we've got to do more education now — that has to be the absolute priority."

The comments appear to be an admission that Government attempts to tackle binge drinking are doomed to failure. In 2004, Mrs Blears, as home office minister, unveiled plans for on-the-spot fines, sting operations and anti-social behaviour orders to be used in town and city centres.

She said: "We're aiming to kick-start a culture change where it will be less accepted by society for young men and women to go out and drink until they can't remember who they are, to start fights in taxi queues, and cause violent, drink-fuelled scenes."

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "The alarming rise in binge drinking betrays the failure of Labour's Respect agenda, and the decent, law-abiding public are paying the price."

Telegraph