Alcohol Use

A brief, disease-tailored intervention reduced alcohol use among vulnerable adolescents with chronic medical conditions, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

BOSTON — Girls and boys who experienced stress early in life were more likely than those with lower stress scores to use alcohol, nicotine and cannabis by age 13 years, according to a presenter at ENDO 2024.

April is Alcohol Awareness Month, an annual campaign intended to boost awareness of the heavy burden that alcohol misuse places on affected individuals and their families, as well as its adverse impact on their health and society.

Researchers have estimated that annual costs associated with alcohol-associated liver disease will climb from $31 billion in 2022 to $66 billion in 2040 — a 118% increase — with costs among women accounting for 43% of the total expenditure.

A “vast majority” of liver transplant centers use stigmatizing language, such as “alcoholic” or “alcohol abuse,” when describing patients with alcohol use disorder and alcohol-associated liver disease on their websites, researchers reported.

Adhering to a higher number of healthy lifestyle behaviors, such as not smoking, staying physically active and getting optimal sleep, was significantly associated with lower incidence of irritable bowel syndrome, according to data in Gut.

Around 17% of patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease have or will be diagnosed with alcohol-related disease, which research shows is associated with a threefold higher rate of developing cirrhosis or cancer.

An analysis of ED utilization from 2016 to 2019 revealed an increase in visits for alcohol-associated hepatitis, particularly among patients aged 25 to 44 years, as well as an increase in disease severity.

Around 20% of U.S. child passenger deaths in auto accidents from 1982 through 2020 involved an alcohol-impaired driver — typically the child’s own driver, according to a study.

The popular trend of Dry January is coming to a close for the year, but it helped spark interest in the benefits of abstaining from alcohol, even for just a month.