Answer Addiction

Tag: drinking alcohol

  • Smoking, Alcohol Use Linked To Different Brain Areas

    Smoking, Alcohol Use Linked To Different Brain Areas

    A new study suggests that individuals who smoke may do so in order to increase their brain connectivity with nicotine.

    Connectivity in certain areas of the brain may affect smokers’ and drinkers’ tendencies to continue the behavior, new research has found. 

    The study, done by researchers in the department of computer science at the University of Warwick, looked at the neural mechanisms connected to two types of substance use: drinking alcohol and smoking. 

    Researchers studied 2,000 study participants, according to Science Daily. In doing so, they discovered that those who smoked had low connectivity, particularly in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, which is a brain region that is connected with impulsivity.

    This suggests, according to researchers, that individuals who smoke may do so in order to increase their brain connectivity with nicotine, which has a stimulating effect. It also suggests that being impulsive may play a role in beginning and continuing to smoke. 

    In drinkers, researchers noted that there was high overall connectivity in the brain, particularly in the brain region associated with reward, which is the medial orbitofrontal cortex. The stimulation in this reward center, according to researchers, may be what leads some individuals to drink. 

    “Importantly the extent of these functional connectivity changes in the brains of drinkers and smokers correlated with the amount of alcohol and nicotine being consumed,” Science Daily stated. “Critically they were even detectable in individuals smoking only a few cigarettes or drinking one unit of alcohol every day.”

    Researchers also noted that it may be possible to study an individual’s connectivity at age 14 to predict whether they would smoke or drink at age 19. 

    “These discoveries help to show that there are different neural bases of different types of addiction, and that the orbitofrontal cortex, a key brain region in emotion, is implicated in these two types of addiction,” said Professor Edmund Rolls from the University of Warwick. 

    According to Professor Jianfeng Feng, also from the University of Warwick, the findings of this study could be vital when it comes to public health implications. Feng cited a World Health Organization study which states there are 1.1 billion people in the world who smoke and 2.3 billion who drink. He also noted that more than 3 million people die annually due to alcohol use disorder.

    “These are key discoveries that advance our understanding of the neurological bases of smoking and drinking and also provide new evidence on the different neurological mechanisms that are related to these two types of human addictive behavior, smoking and drinking, and these advances have implications for prevention and treatment of these two substance use,” Feng noted. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Your Body Processes Alcohol Differently As You Age

    Your Body Processes Alcohol Differently As You Age

    Experts detail the way our bodies process alcohol as we age.

    Hard partying might seem like a young person’s game, but experts warn that people need to be conscious of their alcohol intake as they get older, because aging changes how the body processes alcohol and the reasons why people drink. 

    “You may not realize it, but as we age, we become more vulnerable to developing an alcohol use disorder, more commonly known as alcoholism,” Brad Lander wrote in a blog post for The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Ohio State’s College of Medicine, where he is a psychologist and addiction medicine specialist.

    Biology is partially to blame, Lander said. As people get older, the body breaks down alcohol more slowly, so alcohol stays in the body for longer. At the same time, tolerance for alcohol decreases. 

    “Even if you don’t develop an alcohol use disorder, it’s important to know that your body processes alcohol less efficiently the older you get,” he wrote. 

    Another risk for older adults who drink is that alcohol will interact with medications they are on, causing unintended side affects. 

    “[Alcohol] also can decrease the effectiveness of some medications and highly accelerate others, including over-the-counter medications such as aspirin, acetaminophen, sleeping pills and others,” Lander wrote. 

    In addition, many older adults might drink alone as a way to deal with isolation or depression, he noted. 

    “The reasons why people are drinking may change as they grow older,” he said. “Chances are, younger and middle-aged people are more likely to drink in social gatherings or celebrating with family and friends, while seniors may drink more to seek relief from the boredom, loneliness and grief that are common with aging.”

    Although the amount people can drink will vary, Lander said that on average a senior shouldn’t have more than seven drinks in a week or three drinks in a sitting. Drinking more than that can lead to health complications including increased risk of falls, worsening of chronic health conditions like diabetes or heart disease and increased risk of dementia. 

    Lander pointed out that even among people who follow these guidelines, about 2% will develop an alcohol use disorder. 

    Lander suggested that older adults start by being more mindful of when and why they are drinking. They should also eat food when they drink in order to slow alcohol absorption. 

    “A lot of drinking is ‘thoughtless,’ so simply ask yourself, ‘Do I really want a (or another) drink?’” Lander wrote. “Stand up to peer pressure to drink. Remember, you don’t have to drink.” 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Does Climate Affect Alcohol Intake?

    Does Climate Affect Alcohol Intake?

    Researchers investigated whether there was a connection between alcohol intake and climate for a new study.

    Could the climate where you live be leading you to drink more?

    Recent research says yes. 

    According to The Independent, a new study determined that across the country and the world, alcohol intake and related diseases increased as temperatures and hours of sunlight decreased. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and published in the journal Hepatology, looked at data from 193 countries. 

    Ramon Bataller, the senior author and chief of hepatology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, says the study is the first to make the connection between climate and alcohol intake and disease. 

    “It’s something that everyone has assumed for decades,” Bataller told The Independent. “Why do people in Russia drink so much? Why in Wisconsin? Everybody assumes that’s because it’s cold. But we could not find a single paper linking climate to alcoholic intake or alcoholic cirrhosis. This is the first study that systematically demonstrates that worldwide and in America, in colder areas and areas with less sun, you have more drinking and more alcoholic cirrhosis.”

    More specifically, the study found that as the hours of sunlight and the average temperature fell, the intake of alcohol per individual, the percentage of the population drinking alcohol, and binge-drinking levels each increased. 

    According to study author Meritxell Ventura-Cots, people living in Ukraine consumed 13.9 liters of alcohol per capita each year in comparison to 6.7 liters in Italy, which has a warmer climate. The same was true in the US, where in Montana the average was 11.7 liters, compared to 7.8 liters in North Carolina.

    Bataller said the results of the study could help officials focus on colder climates and add resources there accordingly. He also, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, said the results could help an individual with a history of family alcohol use disorder to keep the climate in mind when thinking about moving.

    There are a variety of possible explanations for the link, Bataller stated. One is that people who live in colder areas may drink more because it could lead to feeling warmer. In contrast, those who live in warm areas may be more likely to feel light-headed or unwell if they drink.

    Additionally, Bataller said, cold and dark climates can make depression worse for some people, which may lead to alcohol use. 

    Peter McCann, a medical adviser to Castle Craig Hospital in Scotland, told The Independent that these findings mean stricter laws on winter alcohol prices and advertising are justified. 

    “This weather-related alcohol consumption is directly linked to our chances of developing the most dangerous form of liver disease – cirrhosis – which can ultimately end in liver failure and death,” he said. “Stricter laws on alcohol pricing are surely justified when we consider the devastating combined effect of low sunlight and cheaper alcohol on consumption.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Sober Bartenders Share Their Experiences At Work

    Sober Bartenders Share Their Experiences At Work

    “People can see sobriety as a referendum on their own drinking. I’ll tell someone that I’m sober, and their response will be, ‘Well, I don’t have a drinking problem.’”

    When you get sober, it’s highly recommended you stay away from old environments and friends that could trigger a relapse.

    So while it may seem intuitive to stay away from bartending if you’re in recovery, Mic spoke to a number of bartenders who are doing the opposite.

    One bartender in Los Angeles, Billy Ray, said, “I couldn’t imagine a life without alcohol, yet I wanted to stop. I tried everything from Sober January to limiting myself to just beer and wine.”

    Ray’s identity was so wrapped up in his work “that I had the thought run through my head I should kill myself. I thought it was the only way out.”

    After Ray got sober, he explains, “Now and then I get called boring or a guest is offended that I will not take a shot with them.”

    At the same time, he can talk with customers about what they’re going through with their own drinking. “I am able to share with them what I have walked through and help in any way I can.”

    Joanna Carpenter, a bartender who works in New York says, “Bartending sober is, in a word, hard.”

    A lot of customers find it odd that Carpenter stays away from drinking. “I can never tell if they’re expecting me to crumble out of desperation for a drink or if they’re waiting for me to wax poetic as to the reasons I don’t imbibe,” she says. “The people pleaser in me always feels like I have to walk around with a stash of explanations.”

    Bartending can also be a challenge when you’re trying to emphasize self-care in sobriety. Carpenter adds, “Believe it or not, self-care is one of the last things that is prioritized in hospitality, so to actively make the choice to cut out the lubricant that gets us all going feels like a scary upstream swim.”

    A lot of sober bartenders also don’t speak openly about their recovery in an industry that needs a steady stream of drinkers to make money.

    As another explained, “I don’t tend to tell guests about it unless I’m backed into a corner… People can see sobriety as a referendum on their own drinking. I’ll tell someone that I’m sober, and their response will be, ‘Well, I don’t have a drinking problem.’”

    The bartender explains, “Hospitality is about making people comfortable, and because of that, I’m not inclined to do things that run counter to that.”

    Yet contrary to how many would think, one bartender explains, “There’s a misconception that bartenders somehow need to drink in order to enjoy their job, which is so wrong!”

    While it can definitely be challenging to work in an environment where you’re surrounded by temptation, this bartender has a good team of co-workers “that are completely respectful of my sobriety. That makes it easy to come to work and be my sober self.”

    View the original article at thefix.com