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Across the different developmental stages of the life course, alcohol and other drugs play an influential role in health, functioning, disease, disability, and premature mortality. A number of different approaches have emerged during the past 60 years to address areas impacted by alcohol and drug use, including formal professional treatment services, but also—in recognition of the need for ongoing...

Chronic alcohol consumption is a well-known risk factor for tissue injury. The link between alcohol use disorder (AUD) and kidney injury is intriguing but controversial, and the molecular mechanisms by which alcohol may damage the kidneys are poorly understood. Epidemiological studies attempting to link AUD and kidney disease are, to date, inconclusive, and there is little experimental evidence...

It is easy to think of genetics as the study of genes, but given our current knowledge of genetics, this definition is now considered inadequate. Genetics is the study of differences among individuals—even between identical twins. We know that some differences between individuals are linked to variations in DNA sequence (i.e., the genome), but most differences actually are caused by complex...

Introduction

Although historically cisgender women (i.e., women whose sex assigned at birth is consonant with their gender) in the United States have had lower levels of alcohol consumption than cisgender men, recent analyses of historical and cohort data suggest that overall gender differences are narrowing.¹ This narrowing is largely due to substantial increases in cisgender women's alcohol use...

Excessive alcohol consumption is a global healthcare problem. The liver sustains the greatest degree of tissue injury by heavy drinking because it is the primary site of ethanol metabolism. Chronic and excessive alcohol consumption produces a wide spectrum of hepatic lesions, the most characteristic of which are steatosis, hepatitis, and fibrosis/cirrhosis. Steatosis is the earliest response to...

Although stress is known to be an important contributing factor to alcohol abuse and alcoholism, the interaction between stress and alcohol drinking behavior, as well as the mechanisms underlying this interaction in the context of dependence are complex and not well understood. On the one hand, alcohol is an effective anxiety-reducing agent (i.e., anxiolytic). Hence, motivation for drinking may be...

Alcohol consumption is a leading risk factor for morbidity and mortality related to both intentional (i.e., violence- related) and unintentional injury. In 2000, 16.2 percent of deaths and 13.2 percent of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) from injuries, worldwide, were estimated to be attributable to alcohol (Rehm et al. 2009). Alcohol affects psychomotor skills, including reaction time, as...

Children exposed to severe adversity early in life are at increased risk of subsequently developing mental health problems, including alcohol dependence. In general, the onset of trauma precedes the onset of alcohol dependence. Although it is impossible to establish a direct causal relationship, this temporal relationship suggests a robust and positive relationship between exposure to early-life...

The College Alcohol Intervention Matrix (CollegeAIM) is a user-friendly, interactive decision tool based on a synthesis of the substantial and growing literature on campus alcohol use prevention. It includes strategies targeted at both the individual and environmental levels. Commissioned by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), CollegeAIM reflects the collective...