The Endocrine System and Alcohol Drinking in Females
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Stress and the HPA Axis: Role of Glucocorticoids in Alcohol Dependence
Stress, generally defined as any stimulus that disrupts the body’s internal balance (i.e., physiological homeostasis), has long been suggested to be an important correlate of uncontrolled alcohol consumption or relapse to drinking following a period of abstinence. Large epidemiological studies have reported that a variety of stressors are associated with increased alcohol consumption and binge...
Alcohol Use Among Special Populations - Editor's Note
Do characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, sex, gender, occupation, or even geographical location influence how likely people are to drink alcohol or to experience problems related to alcohol use? This issue of Alcohol Research: Current Reviews (ARCR) explores this question with an in-depth look at special populations, or groups of people who may be at increased risk for—or protected from...
The Epidemiology of Binge Drinking Among College-Age Individuals in the United States
Alcohol Use Disorder and Traumatic Brain Injury
Treatment Interventions for Women With Alcohol Use Disorder
Alcohol Dependence and Genes Encoding α2 and γ1 GABAA Receptor Subunits
Even though the consequences of alcohol dependence (AD) clearly are devastating and obvious to observers, the molecular mechanisms involved in the development of the disease are far from clear and understood. The search for these mechanisms is made even more difficult by the vast number of genes, proteins, and pathways in the human body that potentially could be involved, and by the obvious...
Biology, Genetics, and Environment: Underlying Factors Influencing Alcohol Metabolism
Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that drinking patterns and the prevalence of alcohol-related adverse consequences, including alcohol use disorder (AUD), differ substantially among racial/ethnic groups in the United States. For example, analyses comparing drinking patterns and their consequences among Whites, Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics found the following: Whites have the highest risk...
Religious affiliation, spirituality, and spiritual practices often have been studied as protective factors in the prevention and treatment of hazardous alcohol consumption (defined as drinking at a level that causes significant problems in functioning or that increases potential harms) and alcohol u...
Neuroimaging, particularly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has begun to tease apart the underlying mechanisms behind alcohol’s deleterious effects on the fetus and eventually may lead to earlier detection of what can be devastating child neurodevelopmental deficits. In 1968, researchers first reported an association between prenatal alcohol exposure and what can be persistent adverse cognitive...