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Gut-Liver-Brain Axis and Alcohol Use Disorder: Treatment Potential of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation

Introduction

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in people with alcohol use disorder (AUD).1 Alcohol exerts its effect on the liver through both direct and indirect pathways and can eventually lead to steatosis, steatohepatitis, fibrosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and cirrhosis.2 However, only approximately 10% to 20% of patients with ALD develop...

Nature and Treatment of Comorbid Alcohol Problems and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Among American Military Personnel and Veterans

Many service members and veterans seeking treatment for alcohol problems have experienced the life-threatening stress of combat, many have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and many service members and veterans seeking treatment for PTSD have alcohol or other substance problems. Sensitivity to these issues can influence how a therapist relates to the patient and also has possible...

Under-Researched Demographics: Heavy Episodic Drinking and Alcohol-Related Problems Among Asian Americans

Behavioral Treatments for Alcohol Use Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are highly prevalent and debilitating psychiatric conditions that commonly co-occur. Individuals with comorbid AUD and PTSD incur heightened risk for other psychiatric problems (e.g., depression and anxiety), impaired vocational and social functioning, and poor treatment outcomes. This review describes evidence-supported...

Alcohol and Mortality: Global Alcohol-Attributable Deaths From Cancer, Liver Cirrhosis, and Injury in 2010

Alcohol and Mortality

Alcohol is causally linked to more than 200 different diseases, conditions, and injuries (as specified in the International Classification of Diseases, Revision 10 [ICD-10] three-digit codes [see Rehm 2011; Rehm et al. 2009; Shield et al., 2013c [pp. 155–173 of this issue]). All of these disease, condition, and injury categories cause mortality and disability, and, thus...

Social and Cultural Contexts of Alcohol Use: Influences in a Social–Ecological Framework

The alcohol research literature is overwhelmingly focused on risk factors, from the societal level down to the individual. Worldwide, 3.3 million deaths were attributed to alcohol misuse in 2012 (World Health Organization 2014). Excessive alcohol use is the third leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for 88,000 deaths per year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2014)...

Co-Occurring Alcohol Use Disorder and Anxiety: Bridging the Psychiatric, Psychological, and Neurobiological Perspectives

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

—George Santayana

Few observations in psychiatry have been documented as long and as consistently as the association between anxiety (and general negative affect) and the chronic misuse of alcohol. Research has shown that up to 50% of individuals receiving treatment for problematic alcohol use also met diagnostic criteria for one...

Focus On: Women and the Costs of Alcohol Use

Even though the prevalence of alcohol use in the United States generally is lower among women compared with men (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA] 2011), this gap has narrowed (Grucza et al. 2008). Furthermore, although women consume alcohol at lower levels than men, their body composition puts them at higher risk than men of developing some alcohol-related...

The World Health Organization’s Global Monitoring System on Alcohol and Health

With growing awareness of the impact of alcohol consumption on global health (Rehm et al. 2004; World Health Organization [WHO] 2002, 2009) the demand for global information on alcohol consumption and alcohol-attributable and alcohol-related harm as well as related policy responses has increased significantly. Public health problems attributable to harmful alcohol consumption have become the focus...