One in three Americans admits to alcohol abuse, survey finds.   Bloomberg (7/3, Zimm, Lopatto) reports that "almost a third of American adults admitted in a survey that they've abused alcohol during their lifetimes, and most said they didn't get treatment," according to a study in the July 2 issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. The survey of 43,093 people, conducted in 2001 and 2002, revealed that "about 18 percent of adults reported abusing alcohol during their lifetimes, and almost 13 percent said they had become dependent on it. Alcohol abuse developed at an average age of 22.5 years." People ages "30 to 44 showed the highest rate of abuse, and men were more than twice as likely as women to report struggling with a drinking problem. Only 24 percent of those who reported being dependent said they got treatment."
      The AP (7/3, Johnson) reports that alcohol abuse was defined as "drinking-related failure to fulfill major obligations at work, school or home; social or legal problems; and drinking in hazardous situations." Alcoholism was characterized by "compulsive drinking; preoccupation with drinking; and tolerance to alcohol or withdrawal symptoms." The definitions were based on the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual. Treatment, as defined in the study, "could have been by a doctor or another health professional, in a 12-step program, at a crisis center or through an employee-assistance program."
      On its website, ABC News (7/3, Childs) adds, "On the other side of the spectrum is alcohol dependence -- a more serious diagnosis that suggests a physiological addiction to alcohol. Those who reported experiencing such effects as tolerance to alcohol, unsuccessful attempts to cut back on their consumption or excessive time lost due to alcohol fell into this category, which accounted for 12.5 percent of all of those interviewed." According to one of the study authors, Dr. James C. Garbutt, medical director of the Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, alcohol abuse "is a big problem in our society, and every time we write a paper it becomes more clear. Nearly 100,000 people die every year of alcohol-related causes. Alcohol carries a $200-billion or more cost to society. These are huge statistics." Garbutt also pointed out that "the problem is further magnified by the fact that drinking -- moderately or otherwise -- is a more or less commonly accepted behavior."
      HealthDay (7/3, Reinberg) quotes lead researcher, Dr. Bridget F. Grant, chief of the Laboratory of Epidemiology and Biometry at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), who said that the "hallmarks of alcohol abuse are interpersonal problems, financial problems and problems in daily living due to excessive drinking." Dr. Grant also emphasized that "another major finding in the study is that there is an eight- to 10-year delay in treatment for alcohol problems after the problem starts. 'That 10 years can be devastating,' she said."
      MedPage Today (7/3, Peck) notes several other findings of the study, including that "Native Americans had a 40-percent greater risk for alcohol dependence than whites"; the risk for alcohol dependence was greatest "among adults younger than 30 who were almost seven times more likely to develop dependence than those 65 or older"; and, income was "inversely related to risk of alcohol dependence, so that those earning less than $35,000 had a 60-percent higher risk than those who earned $70,000 or more annually...and those who made $35,000 to $69,999 had a 40-percent increase in risk." Notably, "alcohol disorders are often part of a constellation of disorders including major depressive disorders, bipolar disorder, any personality disorder, as well as dependence on any drug including nicotine," the investigators stressed.
      WebMD (7/3, Hitti) also reports the study, adding that the NIAAA "suggests answering these four questions to help determine whether you or someone you know may have a drinking problem: Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking? Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking? Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking? Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover? According to the NIAAA, answering 'yes' to one of those questions suggests a possible alcohol problem, and more than one 'yes' means that it's highly likely that problem exists."
      Analysis identifies alcoholism subtypes.   The UPI (7/3) reports that "an analysis of a U.S. sample of people with alcohol dependence reveals five distinct subtypes of the disease, meaning there is no 'typical alcoholic,'" according to a study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence. The five identified subtypes include: (1) the young Adult subtype which comprises "31.5 percent of U.S. alcoholics; relatively low rates of co-occurring substance abuse and other mental disorders and a low rate of family alcoholism"; (2) the young antisocial subtype, which consists of "21 percent of U.S. alcoholics in their mid-20s; likely family alcoholism and about half have a psychiatric diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder"; (3) the functional subtype, which includes "19.5 percent of U.S. alcoholics; typically middle-aged, well-educated, with stable jobs and families; about 25 percent had major depressive illness"; (4) the intermediate familial subtype, denoting "19 percent of U.S. alcoholics; usually middle-aged, almost half have had clinical depression and 20 percent have had bipolar disorder"; and, (5) the chronic severe subtype, containing "9 percent of U.S. alcoholics; mostly of middle-aged individuals with high rates of antisocial personality disorder and criminality." WebMD (7/3, Hitti) also reports the analysis and includes excerpts of an interview with lead researcher, Howard Moss, M.D., who is the associate director for clinical and translational research at the NIAAA.

 

DEA reports drop in illegal methamphetamine production.   USA Today (7/3, Leinwand) reports, "small, toxic methamphetamine labs that overwhelmed rural and suburban communities in the past several years are disappearing as ingredients to make the drug become more difficult to find, federal law enforcement agents say." According to new statistics released by the Drug Enforcement Administration, there was a "58-percent drop in meth labs and abandoned sites seized last year by police and U.S. agents, to 7,347. That indicator peaked nationwide in 2003, with 17,356 sites seized." The DEA said it credits the decline to "state and federal laws that restrict the sale of cold medicines and chemicals used to make methamphetamine and to increased law enforcement."

New study disputes purported antidepressant-suicide link.   HealthDay (7/3, Edelson) reports that "suicide attempts dropped among people with depression soon after they started treatment, either with antidepressant drugs or psychotherapy," according to a findings in the American Journal of Psychiatry. The study "looked at suicide attempts among more than 70,000 people who got an antidepressant prescription from their primary care physicians, almost 7,300 people who got prescriptions from a psychiatrist and more than 54,000 who started psychotherapy for the treatment of depression." The pattern of suicide attempts over time "was the same in all three groups: highest in the month before starting treatment, next highest in the month after starting treatment, and declining thereafter." Moreover, "results were unchanged after eliminating patients receiving overlapping treatment with medication and psychotherapy." Also, "overall incidence of suicide attempts was higher in adolescents and young adults, but the time pattern was the same across all three treatments." MedPage Today (7/3, Osterweil) also reports the study.
      Epileptics have greater suicide risk, study suggests.   Bloomberg (7/3, Kuli) reports that "epileptics are three times more likely to commit suicide than people who don't have the disorder, and are especially susceptible in the six months after they're first diagnosed," according to a study in The Lancet Neurology. The researchers "collected more than 21,000 cases of suicide between 1981 and 1997. They matched each case with as many as 20 people of similar age and socioeconomic background who were not suicidal, creating a control group of more than 400,000 people. The authors found that 492 people who committed suicide, or 2.32 percent, had a history of epilepsy, while just 0.74 percent of the non-suicidal control group had the disease."
      Major depression may raise risks of brain shrinkage, dementia.   The Wall Street Journal (7/3, D1, Wang) reports on various findings that "highlight the importance of mood and stress to maintaining a healthy brain," noting that "researchers and psychiatrists say that a bout of depression may raise the risks of developing dementia later in life. People who have experienced a major depression even once in the previous 10 years in late middle age are twice as likely as those who haven't to develop problems in concentration, memory or problem-solving ability after the age of 65, according to several large, epidemiological studies." Depression is also associated with "shrinkage of the part of the brain related to memory, research shows. And while problems with concentration, decision making and memory can be common for people going through depression, studies show a significant portion of older people won't recover their mental sharpness even if their mood recovers."