Determination of ethyl glucuronide in hair samples

Ethyl glucuronide (EtG) is a non-volatile, water-soluble, stable-upon-storage,direct metabolite of ethanol and can be detected in body fluidsand tissues (and also in post-mortem material) for an extendedtime period after the complete elimination of alcohol from thebody (Alt et al., 1997; Schmitt et al., 1997; Seidl et al.,1998; Wurst et al., 1999a,b). The aim of the present Letteris to emphasize . . . [Full Text of this Article]FOOTNOTESREFERENCES     

Alcohol exposure in utero and breast cancer risk later in life

Since the pioneering work of Hiatt and Bawol (1984), there hasamassed a considerable amount of evidence that moderate-to-heavyalcohol consumption increases risk of breast cancer in women(Willett et al., 1987; Longnecker, 1999). A plausible mechanismis by alcohol's effects on circulating hormone levels. Alcoholadministration has been reported to increase circulating oestradiollevels in pre-menopausal women (Reichman et al., 1993); theevidence is mixed in . . . [Full Text of this Article]FOOTNOTESREFERENCES     

Long-term abstinent alcoholics have a blunted blood glucose response to 2-deoxy-d-glucose

With regard to the article entitled as above by Umhau et al.(2002),     

REPLY: THE SBU EVALUATION OF THE EFFECT OF TREATMENT OF ALCOHOL AND DRUG PROBLEMS

I am happy that the authors (Berglund and Thelander, 2003) havefound several of my comments (Poikolainen, 2002) helpful and     

Alcohol and hypertension: an old relationship revisited

The American comedian Henny Youngman (1906–1998) oncesaid, ‘When I read about the evils of drinking, I gaveup reading.’ Ironic, but interestingly as though witha sense of foresight, he did not speak of giving up drinking!It is despite the fact that alcohol is responsible for increasedillness, being causally related to more than 60 different medicalconditions (Rehm et al., 2003). Around 4% of the global diseaseburden is also thought to be alcohol related, which is comparablewith that attributed to the effects of tobacco (4.1%) and highblood pressure (4.4%) (Ezzati et al., 2002; WHO, 2002). For most diseases related to alcohol consumption, a dose–responserelationship exists with risk of the disease increasing withgreater amounts of alcohol intake, with cardiovascular     

Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB)-deficiency in alcohol-dependence?

I wish to propose a hypothesis that could help explain someof the effects of baclofen in alcohol dependence that are describedin Dr. Bucknam's case study (Bucknam, 2007) and in my self-casereport (Ameisen, 2005). At a behavioural     

Thiamine administration in alcohol-dependent patients

Thiamine (vitamin B1) is a water-soluble vitamin that is involvedin the metabolism of glucose and lipids as well as in the productionof glucose-derived neurotransmitters (see Cook et al., 1998).Its deficiency leads to a variety of neurological and cardiovascularsymptoms and signs. Early symptoms may include fatigue, weaknessand emotional disturbance, whereas prolonged gradual deficiencymay lead to a form of polyneuritis (known as dry beriberi),cardiac failure or peripheral oedema (wet beriberi) (Thomson,2000). Severe thiamine deficiency (TD) may result in the     

Cyanamide or disulfiram in the treatment of adolescent alcohol misusers?

The Randomised Controlled Trial by Niederhofer et al.(2003)describing the successful use of cyanamide in a group of alcohol-misusingadolescents, is further and convincing evidence of the effectivenessof deterrent or antagonist medication in the management of sometypes of substance     

CUNNINGHAM CONCERNING 'REGRESSION TO THE MEAN: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?'

We agree that our interpretation of our results regarding acognitive behaviour alcohol programme compared with post-mailedminimal intervention (Johnsson and Berglund, 2006) is conservativein that we did     

One hundred alcoholic doctors: a 21-year follow-up

I read with great interest the article by Lloyd (2002) entitled‘One     

Pragmatic trials and the ARES study

The ARES study (Kiritzé-Topor et al., 2004) addressesan important issue of the use of acamprosate in general practicepatients with alcohol dependence. The paper gives a stronglyargued advocacy for pragmatic trials in alcohol dependence.The authors have tried to ensure that the study closely mimicsclinical practice in almost all possible ways, thus increasingthe     

Intravenous injection of alcohol by drug injectors: report of three cases

The injection of psychoactive drugs, usually by the intravenousroute, has been recognized for more than a century, and hasbecome more widespread over recent decades (Golding, 1993; Derricotet al., 1999). We have been unable to identify any publishedexamples of the recreational injection of alcohol. We describehere three cases in which intravenous injection of alcohol isreported. Case 1 was a 29-year-old, single, unemployed and homeless man,admitted to hospital for alcohol and diazepam detoxification.He fulfilled ICD-10 criteria . . . [Full Text of this Article]FOOTNOTESREFERENCES     

Is daily single dosage of diazepam as effective as chlordiazepoxide in divided doses in alcohol withdrawal--a pilot study

We report on a pilot double-blind study on the effectivenessof divided doses of chlordiazepoxide and a single daily doseof diazepam in the treatment of the alcohol-withdrawal syndrome.While a variety of drugs (chlormethiazole, propranolol and clonidine)have been used for treatment of alcohol-withdrawal symptoms,benzodiazepines remain the drugs of choice for alcohol detoxification(Mayo-Smith, 1997). Diazepam and chlordiazepoxide are both . . . [Full Text of this Article]APPENDIXFOOTNOTESREFERENCES     

Disulfiram, cocaine, and alcohol: two outcomes for the price of one?

The concurrent abuse of cocaine and alcohol is a common phenomenon,and is increasingly recognized as a difficult clinical issue.Several effective pharmacotherapies for substance dependencedisorders have been identified, though the search for an effectivepharmacotherapy for cocaine dependence has proved difficult.However, it has been suggested that disulfiram may offer a promisingtreatment option. The randomized, placebo-controlled study of Carroll et al. (2004)provides some of the strongest evidence to date regarding theeffectiveness of disulfiram treatment in reducing cocaine use.In a large     

Regression to the mean: what does it mean?

To the Editor Johnsson and Berglund's recent article evaluating two interventionsfor high-risk drinking in university freshman could be regardedas a model of appropriately conservative interpretation of experimentalresults (Johnsson and Berglund, 2006). The authors found statisticallysignificant reductions in drinking from baseline to one-yearfollow-up but little evidence of differences     

Why build a health promotion evidence base about gender?

Gender has long been recognized as an important determinantof health service usage, but gender is increasingly importantin understanding how women and men experience and respond tohealth promotion programs and interventions and their outcomes.Gender frameworks are vital for understanding not just the differingeffects of the determinants of health on either women or men(Doyal, 1995; Krieger, 2000), but also how health programs shouldrespond in order to improve health outcomes for either womenor men. Much needs to be done to improve the evidence base inhealth promotion with respect to gender. Gender, as a determinant of health, refers to inter-relateddimensions of biological difference, psychological differenceand social experience. Biological     

Reply to the commentary by Kari Poikolainen on evaluation of the effect of treatment of alcohol and drug problems by the Swedish Council on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU)

We appreciate the careful reading and evaluation of the SwedishCouncil on Technology Assessment in Health Care (SBU, 2001)report by Dr Poikolainen (SBU, 2002). Poikolainen discussesseveral important issues, not only related to the report butalso to systematic reviews in general. First, we shall commenton the SBU methodology. SBU METHODOLOGY It is important to stress that the methodology applied is basicallya series of systematic reviews of the available literature.The use of meta-analytical procedures depends on the characterof the studies on the different topics. In most previous SBUreports meta-analytical techniques have not been applied. Inour opinion, the development of meta-analytical methodologyand the availability of effective software for performing meta-analyticalcalculations have made this     

Prevalence of asthma in schoolchildren under-represents those from socially deprived areas

We were interested to read the excellent study by McCann etal. in the February edition of Health Education Research (McCannet al., 2002). We have recently conducted a similar, but smaller,study that sheds some light upon their results. Our study aimedto assess the impact of our local asthma health promotion schemefor schools [Asthma Friendly Schools (AFS) Initiative], whichhad been in place for 5 years and had been adopted by abouthalf of all Portsmouth schools. We     

Health and nature-new challenges for health promotion

The time is right for health promoters to take a close lookat the evidence of the impacts nature has on the health of individualsand communities. Why? Because we may actually be able to achievemore appropriate and sustainable conditions that support healththan if we only address interventions that focus on a particularhealth issue, e.g. poor diet, sedentary behaviour or drug misuse. The environment (and nature) have always featured as key componentsin health promotion models and concepts. Lalonde (Lalonde, 1974),Hancock and Perkins (Perkins, 1985), Kickbusch (Kickbusch, 1989)and many others incorporated ecological perspectives into theirconstructs of health. These models have been used to informthe development of health promotion practices and have beenlargely influential in the shaping of the extensive theoreticaldesigns and implementation strategies of the settings movement(e.g. healthy cities, health promoting schools, health     

Alcohol-dependent patients with neuroendocrine evidence for reduced dopamine d(2) receptor function have decreased platelet monoamine oxidase-B activity

This letter is a report of a re-evaluation of the results obtainedin an earlier study of ours (Balldin et al., 1994) of plateletmonoamine oxidase (MAO)-B activity in alcoholics with reduceddopamine (DA) D₂ receptor function, as assessed by the growthhormone (GH) response to the D₁/D₂ agonist apomorphine (APO),which was published in this journal. The reason for the re-evaluationof the results in our study is a Letter to the Editors of thisjournal by Farren and Dinan (1996) reporting on platelet MAO-Bactivity in alcoholics with reduced DA D₂ receptor function,as assessed by the GH response to the DA D₂ receptor agonistbromocriptine. In the report by Farren and Dinan (1996), fourof eight alcoholics had no increase in GH above baseline, whereasall eight subjects in the control group had the expected GH. . . [Full Text of this Article]FOOTNOTESREFERENCES