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Real-time assessment, known as ecological momentary assessment (EMA), and real-time intervention (ecological momentary intervention [EMI]) can significantly extend the reach and impact of interventions to help individuals reduce their drinking behavior. For EMA, the user provides information on the variable of interest (e.g., drinking or craving) via a mobile device. This data reporting can occur...

Several systems for treating alcohol-use disorders (AUDs) exist that operate on mobile phones. These systems are categorized into four groups: text-messaging monitoring and reminder systems, text-messaging intervention systems, comprehensive recovery management systems, and game-based systems. Text-messaging monitoring and reminder systems deliver reminders and prompt reporting of alcohol...

During the first decade of the new millennium, remarkable advances in technology allowed investigators in all areas of biological research to collect massive amounts of genetic data at an unprecedented rate. The genomics revolution, which began with the sequencing of the human genome, was the basis for efforts such as the 1,000 Genomes Project (http://www.1000genomes.org/) that strive to compile a...

Alcohol is strongly linked to the leading causes of adolescent and adult mortality and health problems, making medical settings such as primary care and emergency departments important venues for addressing alcohol use. Extensive research evidence supports the effectiveness of alcohol screening and brief interventions (SBIs) in medical settings, but this valuable strategy remains underused, with...

Research on the use of mobile technologies for alcohol use problems is a developing field. Rapid technological advances in mobile health (or mHealth) research generate both opportunities and challenges, including how to create scalable systems capable of collecting unprecedented amounts of data and conducting interventions—some in real time—while at the same time protecting the privacy and safety...

Skeletal muscle dysfunction (i.e., myopathy) is common in patients with alcohol use disorder. However, few clinical studies have elucidated the significance, mechanisms, and therapeutic options of alcohol-related myopathy. Preclinical studies indicate that alcohol adversely affects both anabolic and catabolic pathways of muscle-mass maintenance and that an increased proinflammatory and oxidative...

Alcoholism is a complex disorder arising from a combination of genetic and environmental factors. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM–IV) (American Psychiatric Association 1994) requires that three of seven criteria be present during a 12-month period for a diagnosis of alcohol dependence. These criteria are tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, loss of control...

This article reviews literature aiming to explain the widespread reductions in binge and problem drinking that begin around the transition to young adulthood (i.e., “maturing out”). Whereas most existing literature on maturing out emphasizes contextual effects of transitions into adult roles and responsibilities, this article also reviews recent work demonstrating further effects of young adult...

Introduction

A vast body of evidence from human studies and animal research clearly indicates that chronic, heavy alcohol consumption causes structural damage and/or disrupts normal organ function in virtually every tissue of the body. In heavy consumers of alcohol, the liver is especially susceptible to alcohol-induced injury.^1,2 Additionally, several other organs—including the gastrointestinal...