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Tag: heavy drinking

  • Does James Bond Have A Drinking Problem?

    Does James Bond Have A Drinking Problem?

    A new study did a breakdown of James Bond’s drinking behavior to determine if the secret agent has a “severe” and “chronic” relationship with alcohol.

    Over the course of two-dozen films over the past 60 years, James Bond was seen drinking alcohol 109 times—and often engaging in risky behavior when doing so—The Washington Post reports. 

    These numbers come from a recent study conducted by public health experts from the University of Otago in New Zealand, which concluded that Bond had a  “severe” and “chronic” relationship with alcohol and met more than half the criteria for alcohol use disorder. Bond also, according to the researchers, engaged in risky behavior during or after drinking.

    “Chronic risks include frequently drinking prior to fights, driving vehicles (including in chases), high-stakes gambling, operating complex machinery or devices, contact with dangerous animals, extreme athletic performance and sex with enemies, sometimes with guns or knives in the bed,” lead author Nick Wilson said in a statement.

    In Quantum of Solace, researchers noted that Bond drank six Vespers (gin, vodka and a mix of wines), which would have put his blood alcohol level at about .36 grams per deciliter. This, according to researchers, is nearly enough to lead to come, heart failure and death. 

    But Bond topped that in one of the Bond books, in which he had 50 units of alcohol in just one day. According to Wilson, that’s “a level of consumption which would kill nearly everyone.”

    In an email to The Post, Wilson wrote that the films are “very good for studying trends in behaviors such as smoking and drinking” and that “it was also a fun study to do— and the ridiculousness of some of Bond’s actions after drinking helped give the work some scope for a laugh.”

    A 2013 study also examined Bond’s relationship with alcohol in the books, stating that it had him “at high risk of multiple alcohol-related diseases and an early death.’” Researchers also added that his level of funtion “is inconsistent with the physical, mental, and indeed sexual functioning expected from someone drinking this much alcohol.”

    According to authors of the most recent study, Bond’s place of employment should have stepped in.

    “Bond’s workplace (MI6) should be a more responsible employer by referring him to work-funded counseling or psychiatric support services for managing his alcohol use disorder,” authors wrote. “These services should also determine whether he has any post-traumatic stress after killing so many people and having been tortured so often.”

    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

  • The High Cost Of Alcohol Misuse In The US

    The High Cost Of Alcohol Misuse In The US

    A USA Today editorial explores how the US can save lives and money by reducing alcohol consumption. 

    Public health campaigns reduced cigarette smoking in the United States by more than half since 1964, according to the CDC. Can the same be done with alcohol?

    A new report in USA Today reminds us that drinking alcohol—while it is socially acceptable and promoted widely—is no benign matter.

    Alcohol is attributed to approximately 88,000 deaths every year in the U.S. About half of alcohol-related deaths involve binge drinking. According to a 2015 national survey, 15.1 million American adults were reported as having alcohol use disorder, with just about 6.7% of them receiving treatment for it.

    “It’s just so socially acceptable, especially among the people who write the laws. It’s the drug of choice and incredibly normalized for upper income people in the USA,” says David Jernigan, a professor at Boston University School of Public Health.

    In 2010, the public health cost of alcohol misuse in the U.S. was $249 billion—most of it involved binge drinking.

    Alcohol-related deaths are reportedly on the rise. So what can be done about it?

    USA Today explores several approaches to reducing alcohol consumption, and thus its public health costs:

    Raising taxes

    “Alcohol taxes are a win, win, win. States get more money and people drink somewhat less,” says Jernigan. According to the CDC, a 10% increase in taxes leads to a 5-8% decline in drinking. But critics of this policy say that state coffers will suffer while drinking levels remain the same. They claim that instead of giving up booze, people will opt to travel to other states where taxes aren’t as high.

    Restricting sales

    Municipal governments have the option of limiting the number of liquor stores per region, and the days and hours of operation. With fewer liquor stores per capita, the idea is to reduce sales and thus drinking.

    Expanding access to treatment

    Psychologist Ben Miller says that integrating mental health care in the practice of primary care physicians can “begin to change the culture of care to be more comprehensive.” This may improve early detection of drinking problems.

    Teaching coping skills

    Teaching resilience, coping skills and mental health literacy at a young age are important and can be effective in preventing kids from seeking an unhealthy relationship with mind-altering substances.

    “The most important substance we should be looking at is alcohol, because it leads to so many things, including physical abuse and rape, that shouldn’t happen,” says Jernigan. “We need to stop accepting that there isn’t anything we can do about it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Herbert Fingarette, Controversial Author Of "Heavy Drinking," Dies At 97

    Herbert Fingarette, Controversial Author Of "Heavy Drinking," Dies At 97

    Fingarette argued that heavy drinking was willful and that moderation is an option in his book Heavy Drinking: The Myth of Alcoholism as a Disease.

    Herbert Fingarette, the well-known, controversial philosopher who wrote that alcoholism was an issue of willfulness and not a disease, died at age 97 in Berkeley, California on Nov. 2, according to the New York Times.

    Fingarette was a prolific author of philosophy and law, well-known for his book Heavy Drinking: The Myth of Alcoholism as a Disease, which argued that despite cultural belief, there is no hard science proving that alcoholism is a disease. Fingarette believed that many people labeled “alcoholics” were actually not.

    Despite this argument, Fingarette was hardly cold-blooded when it came to the suffering of people with alcoholism and those who loved them.

    In Heavy Drinking, he wrote, “There is no reason to see heavy drinking as a symptom of illness, a sign of persistent evil, or the mark of a conscienceless will. Rarely do people choose a destructive or self-destructive way of life. On the contrary, we shape our lives day to day, crisis by crisis… We each share the propensity to choose opportunistically when under stress. So, on a series of occasions, a drinker chooses what seems the lesser evil, the temporarily easier compromise, without a clear appreciation of the long-run implications. 

    “If our righteous condemnation is not in order, neither is our cooperation in excusing heavy drinkers or helping them evade responsibility for change. Compassion, constructive aid, and the respect manifest in expecting a person to act responsibly—these are usually the reasonable basic attitudes to take when confronting a particular heavy drinker who is in trouble…”

    Fingarette was born in Brooklyn in 1921 and wed his wife Leslie in 1945. Leslie predeceased him in 2011. They had one daughter (and eventually two grandsons). Fingarette taught philosophy at the University of California, Santa Barbara for 40 years. Some of his coworkers were angered when his book on alcoholism was published; one coworker went so far as to write an entire rebuttal which was distributed as a pamphlet.

    Fingarette wrote in his book that moderate drinking was ignored as an option in the recovery community, when in fact it could be a viable option for those struggling with heavy drinking.

    At the end of his life, Fingarette was writing an essay on how the dead continue to shape the lives of the living. In his book Death: Philosophical Soundings, he had written, “People hope never to know the end of consciousness. But why hope! They never will.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Sex And The City" Star Kristin Davis Credits Acting For Sobriety

    "Sex And The City" Star Kristin Davis Credits Acting For Sobriety

    “I don’t think I would be alive. I’m an addict. I’m a recovering alcoholic. If I hadn’t found acting…acting is the only thing that made me want to ever get sober.”

    Kristin Davis, best known for her role as Charlotte York on the hit HBO series Sex and the City, revealed in a recent interview that she credits her acting career with helping her beat alcoholism.

    Davis discussed her sober journey on the Origins With James Andrew Miller podcast, Entertainment Weekly reports.

    “I don’t think I would be alive,” without her career. “I’m an addict. I’m a recovering alcoholic. If I hadn’t found acting…acting is the only thing that made me want to ever get sober. I didn’t have anything that was that important to me other than trying to dull my senses.”

    Davis said she started drinking when she was young.

    “I didn’t think I would live to be 30,” she said. “Luckily I quit very young, before any success happened, thank goodness.”

    With her acting career, Davis realized she had “something that was more important to me than just drinking.”

    As a teen growing up in Southern California, Davis drank to help calm her insecurities.

    “I’m kind of shy normally, so I felt like I needed help,” she explained. “One thing led to another, and I was drinking.”

    Davis then turned to acting, but then she started showing up to her classes hung over, and she knew she had to make a choice. She told The Week, “I thought, It’s going to be one or the other. I can’t really have both.”

    After attending rehab, Davis confessed she would miss drinking on occasion. “Every once in a while, I’ll be with friends and they’ll be drinking red wine, and I’ll think, in a really innocent way, ‘Oh wow, that’s such a wonderful glass of red wine. Wouldn’t it be fun to drink it?’ Maybe it would be fine, but it’s really not worth the risk.”

    At the same time, Sex and the City made the Cosmo a very popular drink, and as Davis told Health in 2011, “It’s caused a lot of confusion out in the world. I get sent many a Cosmo! I never drink them. I believe [alcoholism] is a disease. I don’t think you can mess with it. There was a time when people who didn’t know me well would say, ‘Couldn’t you just have one glass of champagne?’ And I would say, ‘No.’ I’m doing well. I still have occasional bad days. Why risk it?”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • John Mayer Details Giving Up Alcohol After Drake's Birthday Party

    John Mayer Details Giving Up Alcohol After Drake's Birthday Party

    “I was in my sixth day of the hangover… I went, ‘OK, John, what percentage of your potential would you like to have?’”

    Singer-songwriter John Mayer hasn’t had a drink in two years.

    “I just went deep one night, and I remember being like, ‘What happens if I keep going?’” he said in a new interview with Complex.

    The decision was simple. “It was Drake’s 30th birthday party, and I made quite a fool of myself,” he recalled. “And then I had a conversation with myself. I remember where I was. I was in my sixth day of the hangover… I went, ‘OK, John, what percentage of your potential would you like to have?’”

    There was no wrong answer, he told himself. But in the end, he wanted it all—100%.

    “The voice in my head said, ‘OK. Do you know what that means?’ I went, ‘We don’t have to talk anymore. I get it.’”

    The “Your Body Is a Wonderland” singer is hoping to show people that there are alternatives to drinking. “I want people to know that ‘that’s enough for now’ is on the menu, so to speak,” he said on social media October 2017.

    Giving up drinking—a very personal experience, he says—paved the way to new things. “The next year, I did four tours, I was in two bands, I was happy on airplanes.”

    Not drinking “feels like boredom at first,” he explained. But sticking with it will level everything out. “You’re like, ‘Oh, I”m not having these high highs.’ But if you work, you can bring the whole line up.”

    Mayer says because it is different for everyone, it’s hard to explain how he came to quit booze on his own.”It’s the most personal thing to people. If I were to tell other people how they could do it, it just is so particular to your own spirit and your own psychology that it’s almost impossible to develop one way of explaining it to someone else.”

    Mayer also recalled collaborating on a song with late rapper Mac Miller (born Malcolm McCormick). The Pittsburgh native died of a drug overdose on Sept. 7 in his home in Studio City, California.

    “I just wish it wasn’t fatal. I just wish figuring out your life didn’t take your life away from you,” Mayer says. “I don’t have an answer for how to fix that, but once you get old enough to understand how valuable life is, you look at people and go, ‘I just wish you could work this out.’”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • How Much Do College Students Know About Heavy Drinking & Blackouts?

    How Much Do College Students Know About Heavy Drinking & Blackouts?

    A new study revealed that a lot of students are unaware of the consequences of risky drinking.

    With some statistics showing that nearly half of all college students who drink alcohol regularly also experience a memory blackout, researchers have launched a series of studies to determine exactly what this demographic understands about alcohol and blackouts, as well as the toll that it takes on their health.

    Their research underscored that while students are aware that hard drinking can lead to blackouts, they were unclear about how to avoid them. They were also unclear about the difference between a full blackout and a “brownout” (a shorter period of fuzzy memory).

    The researchers hoped to use the information gleaned from their studies to provide more detailed information to students about the risks of high-volume drinking.

    The research, published in the October 2018 edition of Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, was drawn from single-gender focus groups comprised of 50 students (28 women and 22 men) from four-year colleges and universities in the Providence, Rhode Island area.

    The researchers analyzed the data and composed three reports, the first of which looked at students’ understanding of the cause of blackouts.

    As Science Daily noted, the students were aware that drinking large quantities of liquor or drinking very quickly could produce a blackout; however, they were less aware of other factors—including mixing drugs with alcohol, gender and genetics—which could be contributing factors.

    The second study looked at how students viewed the experience of blackouts. The results showed a mixed reaction, with many reporting them as “scary” or “embarrassing,” with others describing them as “exciting.”

    External factors, such as friends’ perceptions of blackouts, who they were with at the time of the blackout, and what happened during the blackout, were also determining factors in how the experience was recalled.

    The third report sought to determine if the students understood the exact nature of a blackout. Most respondents described a blackout experience as a period of heavy drinking, though a blackout is defined as a period of complete memory loss lasting one hour or more. Shorter periods of memory loss were described as “brownouts.”

    Forty-nine percent of college students surveyed reported experiencing both blackouts and brownouts in the past month, while 32% only had brownouts and just 5% reported only blackouts.

    Respondents also claimed that brownouts were less troubling than full blackouts, which study co-author Kate Carey from the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown’s School of Public Health noted as “discounting the earlier signs of memory loss, suggesting that they weren’t serving as red flags or even yellow flags.”

    Carey and her fellow researchers hope to use the information culled from the study to create education modules for alcohol prevention programs that target high-volume, high-speed drinking or other behaviors that could lead to blackouts.

    These behaviors include “pre-gaming”—in which alcohol is consumed prior to an event where more alcohol will be available—drinking games or “chugging” were all cited as behaviors that could lead to blackouts.

    Reframing how students view these experiences as outside the norm could also serve as helpful prevention, Carey noted.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Americans Are Drinking And Spending More On Alcohol

    Americans Are Drinking And Spending More On Alcohol

    Researchers found that drinking increased in all subgroups of the population, and most steeply among women, the elderly and minorities.

    Americans are spending more on alcohol than ever before and are also reporting higher rates of alcohol use disorder, all while beverage companies are increasing their budgets for alcohol advertising. 

    Surprisingly, more than a quarter of Americans don’t drink at all, according to a study reported by 24/7 Wall Street. However, the percentage of Americans who said they have imbibed during the last year has risen steadily, from 65.4% in 2001-2002 to 72.7% in 2012-2013, according to data from the American Medical Association.

    The increase wasn’t just among social drinkers—high-risk drinking increased 30% over that period as well, while alcohol use disorder increased nearly 50%. 

    Researchers found that drinking increased in all subgroups of the population, and most steeply among women, the elderly and minorities. Authors noted the need for attention to problem drinking. 

    “Most important, the findings herein highlight the urgency of educating the public, policymakers, and health care professionals about high-risk drinking and AUD, destigmatizing these conditions and encouraging those who cannot reduce their alcohol consumption on their own, despite substantial harm to themselves and others, to seek treatment,” they wrote.

    Research on spending indicates that rates might have continued to rise. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Surveys, Americans spent more on alcohol in 2017 than they did in 2016.

    Overall, spending on alcohol has increased 56.6% since 1996, even though the price of booze has not increased substantially during that time. The increase in spending has been sharpest among baby boomers, while millennials spend the least on alcohol. 

    “Our findings suggest that older Americans increased their alcohol spending dramatically, which resonates with growing public health concerns pertaining to Baby Boomers and booze,” the authors wrote. “In a related finding, retired professionals spent 186% more money on alcohol. Conversely, those younger than 25 spent less in 2016 than in 1996, attesting to a trend in millennials choosing to live sober.”

    With so much spending at play, it’s no wonder that alcohol advertising is a massive industry, especially when it comes to sports. Each year the top 30 alcohol brands spend $764.5 million on sports sponsorship, according to industry data.

    Most of that spending is by beer brands, with Bud Light alone spending approximately $250 million per year, more than one-third of the money spent globally on alcoholic beverage sports sponsorship. Heineken spends $118.3 million on sponsorships, while Budweiser spends $84.4 million. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • "Sober October" Gains Traction As Way To Reset Mentally, Physically

    "Sober October" Gains Traction As Way To Reset Mentally, Physically

    Sober October is derived from a UK campaign aimed at raising awareness about alcohol consumption. 

    Going alcohol-free doesn’t have to be just for those in recovery. 

    According to Forbes, there are both mental and physical benefits to taking a month off from alcohol—and anyone can dial in on those benefits by taking part in Sober October. 

    The idea borrows from a popular campaign in the UK, where Go Sober for October acts as a way to raise awareness around alcohol consumption and is also part of a fundraiser for Macmillan Cancer Support. 

    Sober October is a good opportunity for individuals to reset their bodies before the holiday season, as the holiday months often involve eating and drinking more than is recommended. The month of abstinence can also reset the body as the winter months approach, which, for some, can be draining and depressing.

    For those who drink often and heavily, the idea of Sober October may sound intimidating. But, the Evening Standard notes, it’s doable if done in a safe manner.

    Dr. Fiona Sim, former general practitioner and medical adviser to the non-profit Drinkaware, tells the Evening Standard that individuals should be aware of the dangers of quitting cold turkey. 

    “Because your body has been used to having lots of alcohol, you may experience some very nasty side effects, including trembling hands, headaches and lack of appetite,” she said. “The same can apply even if you’re a moderate drinker, although the side effects tend to more psychological, such as irritability and poor concentration. So unless you need to give up drinking quickly, you would probably find it better to cut down more slowly and steadily by having some drink-free days each week.”

    Sim recommends telling those in your social circle the truth when participating in Sober October. 

    “Tell the people closest to you, because they’ll need to know why you turn down a drink of an evening, which you might not normally do,” she said. “Some people might even join you in stopping or cutting down their own drinking once they hear your story.”

    It’s also important to remember that people who pass judgment on the decision may be facing issues of their own, Sim says.

    “Like anything else in life, it’s important always to be yourself and not be swayed by other people judging you or by thinking they are judging you… So please remember that if you think people are going to judge you harshly for drinking less, it is those people who have the problem, not you.”

    Sober October isn’t the only month designated for going alcohol-free. Also popular is Dry January, during which individuals abstain from drinking for the first month of the new year, as a way to reset and start off the year on a healthy foot.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Frats To Ban Hard Liquor After Pledge Deaths

    Frats To Ban Hard Liquor After Pledge Deaths

    Frats will have until September 1, 2019 to implement the new alcohol policy.

    The party scene on many college campuses could be changing, after a governing body that oversees more than 6,000 fraternities around the nation banned its members from serving hard alcohol beginning next fall. 

    The North-American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) policy means that frats will only be allowed to serve hard liquor (over 15% alcohol) if they do so using a licensed third-party vendor. 

    “At their core, fraternities are about brotherhood, personal development and providing a community of support. Alcohol abuse and its serious consequences endanger this very purpose,” Judson Horras, NIC president and CEO, said in a statement. “This action shows fraternities’ clear commitment and leadership to further their focus on the safety of members and all in our communities.”

    The policy change received near-unanimous support, the statement said. Some campuses already have restrictions in place around hard alcohol and report that the policies led to positive change. 

    “Our IFC and member fraternities eliminated hard alcohol from facilities and events on our campus several years ago and have seen a positive shift in our culture when it comes to the health and safety of our members and guests,” said Seth Gutwein, Purdue University IFC President. “With all NIC fraternities implementing this critical change, it will provide strong support for fraternities to move as one to make campus communities safer.”

    The changes come after a series of high-profile deaths caused by alcohol consumption at frats around the country. One of the most well-known cases was the death of 19-year-old Tim Piazza of Lebanon, New Jersey, who died during a hazing ritual at Penn State in February of 2017. Since then, Piazza’s parents, Jim and Evelyn Piazza, have been advocating for stricter laws against hazing. 

    Tim’s father, Jim Piazza, told USA Today the new alcohol policy is “a good start.” He added that he and other family members have been talking to the NIC, and “they’ve been listening to us.”

    “It should make a meaningful difference,” Piazza said. “There are other reforms they need to put into place, and there’s still work to do. But this is a beginning.”

    Overall, Piazza said that a college culture that emphasizes drinking and partying is dangerous and needs to change. “Our aim is to make overall college life safer,” he said. 

    Frats will have until September 1, 2019 to implement the policy, which the NIC says is just one piece of an ongoing effort to make fraternity life safer and reduce hazing. 

    View the original article at thefix.com