(Press-News.org) Contact: Erik Lykke Mortensen, M.Sc.
elme@sund.ku.dk
45-3532-7839 (Denmark)
University of Copenhagen
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Population-based study confirms parental alcoholism carries risk for offspring to develop the same
Researchers know that there is a strong link between parental alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and the risk for developing an AUD among their offspring. This study looked at the risk of AUDs in the offspring of a large population-based sample of Danish parents. Findings confirmed that parental AUDs were associated with an increased risk of AUDs among the offspring.
Results will be published in the July 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.
"Few studies have used a broad population-based approach to examine associations between a parental history of AUD and risk of an AUD in offspring," said Erik Lykke Mortensen, associate professor in medical psychology at the University of Copenhagen and corresponding author for the study. "Longitudinal population studies are both expensive and take a long time to complete. In some countries it may also be a problem to follow several generations through decades. But in Denmark we have personal identification numbers and national health registries."
Mortensen and his colleagues gathered data on 7,177 individuals (3,627 men, 3,550 women) born in Copenhagen between October 1959 and December 1961: information on AUDs was gathered from three Danish health registers, and information on other psychiatric disorders (OPDs) was gathered from the Danish Psychiatric Central Register. Offspring registration with an AUD was analyzed in relation to parental registration with an AUD and/or OPD. The gender of the offspring and parental social status were also noted.
Results showed that parental AUDs were associated with an increased risk of AUDs among the offspring, independent of other significant predictors such as gender, parental social status, and parental psychiatric hospitalization with other diagnoses.
"Furthermore, this association appeared to be stronger among female than male offspring, which suggests that inherited factors related to AUDs are at least as important among daughters as among sons," said Mortensen. "This finding is important because some early studies suggested that a genetic load played a stronger role in males than in females."
One of the important aspects of this study, added Mortensen, is that contrary to a number of previous adoption and twin studies – often based on relatively small and selected samples – these findings represent risk estimates from a population-based study.
"The key message for the general public is that there is an increased risk associated with parental alcoholism," said Mortensen, "but obviously many other factors determine whether an individual develops an AUD."
###
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research (ACER) is the official journal of the Research Society on Alcoholism and the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. Co-authors of the ACER paper, "The Contribution of Parental Alcohol Use Disorders and Other Psychiatric Illness to the Risk of Alcohol Use Disorders in the Offspring," were: Holger J. Sørensen of the Department of Psychiatry, and the Institute of Preventive Medicine, at Copenhagen University Hospital; Ann M. Manzardo, Elizabeth C. Penick, Wendy Madarasz, Elizabeth J. Nickel, and William F. Gabrielli of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Kansas Medical Center; Joachim Knop of the the Institute of Preventive Medicine at Copenhagen University Hospital; and Ulrik Becker of the Department of Medical Gastroenterology at Copenhagen University Hospital. The study was funded by the Sygekassernes Helsefond, the Danish Research Council, the Danish National Board of Health, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. This release is supported by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network at http://www.ATTCnetwork.org.
Population-based study confirms parental alcoholism carries risk for offspring to develop the same
2011-04-16
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Researchers link alcohol-dependence impulsivity to brain anomalies
2011-04-16
Contact: Eric D. Claus, Ph.D.
eclaus@mrn.org
505-925-4742
The Mind Research Network
Daniel W. Hommer, M.D.
danh@mail.nih.gov
301-402-6094
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Researchers link alcohol-dependence impulsivity to brain anomalies
Alcohol dependence (AD) is strongly associated with impaired impulse control.
A new study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine impulsive choices among people with a range of alcohol use disorders (AUDs).
Findings suggest that impulsive ...
Health care-associated infections are exacerbated by alcohol use disorders
2011-04-16
Contact: Marjolein de Wit, M.D., M.S.
mdewit@mcvh-vcu.edu
804-828-9071
Virginia Commonwealth University
Claudia D. Spies, M.D.
claudia.spies@charite.de
49-30-450-551002 (Germany)
Charité Universitaetsmedizin Berlin
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Health care-associated infections are exacerbated by alcohol use disorders
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are infections that patients acquire during their hospitalization and that were not present at the time of admission to the hospital.
A new study has found that people with ...
Drinking energy beverages mixed with alcohol may be riskier than drinking alcohol alone
2011-04-16
Contact: Cecile A. Marczinski, Ph.D.
marczinskc1@nku.edu
859-572-1438
Northern Kentucky University
Amelia M. Arria, Ph.D.
aarria@umd.edu
301-405-9795
University of Maryland School of Public Health
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Drinking energy beverages mixed with alcohol may be riskier than drinking alcohol alone
A new laboratory study compares the effects of alcohol alone versus alcohol mixed with an energy drink on a cognitive task, as well as participants' reports of feelings of intoxication.
Results show that energy drinks can ...
Non-cardiac surgery: Safe for patients with heart device
2011-04-16
DETROIT – Non-cardiac surgery can be performed safely in patients with a heart device typically implanted into patients waiting for a transplant, according to a study at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
The left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a mechanical pump implanted in the chest to help a weakened heart pump blood.
The devices are increasingly used in the United States, where heart failure affects five million people, but there are less than 3,000 donor organs available annually worldwide. Last year, nearly 2500 patients were implanted with the device in the ...
FDA approves the NovoTTF-100A system for the treatment of patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumors
2011-04-16
WASHINGTON, D.C. – April 14, 2011 – Novocure today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the NovoTTF-100A System (NovoTTF) for the treatment of adult patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) brain tumors, following tumor recurrence after receiving chemotherapy. The portable, wearable device delivers an anti-mitotic, anti-cancer therapy as patients maintain their normal daily activities. The NovoTTF is a novel, first-in-class treatment option for patients and physicians battling glioblastoma.
"Our device provides patients and physicians ...
Twitter and natural disasters
2011-04-16
Adam Acar and Yuya Muraki of the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies surveyed and questioned Twitter users and tracked updates from people in the disaster-struck area on the social media site two weeks after the Tohoku earthquake and devastating tsunami of March 11. They hoped to determine what benefits such a system can bring to people involved in a disaster and to those hoping to hear news.
The researchers found that people in directly affected areas tended to tweet about their unsafe and uncertain situation while people in remote areas posted messages to let their ...
Human rules may determine environmental 'tipping points'
2011-04-16
A new paper appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) suggests that people, governments, and institutions that shape the way people interact may be just as important for determining environmental conditions as the environmental processes themselves.
"Tipping points," qualitative changes in an ecosystem that often result in reduced ecosystem health and are difficult and costly to reverse increasingly concern environmental scientists.
The prevailing assumption among scientists has been that tipping points are fixed values. However, a unique ...
Search for dark matter narrowed by new data from XENON100
2011-04-16
Today, scientists from the XENON collaboration announced the result from their search for the elusive component of our universe known as dark matter. After analyzing one hundred days of data taken with the XENON100 experiment, they see no evidence for the existence of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), the leading candidates for the mysterious dark matter. The XENON100 experiment is operated deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory of the Italian National Institute for Physics (INFN).
While the group observed three candidate events, two had been ...
Wistar researchers follow a path to a potential therapy for NF2, a rare tumor disorder
2011-04-16
PHILADELPHIA – (April 15, 2011) – The proteins that provide cells with a sense of personal space could lead to a therapeutic target for Neurofibromatosis Type 2 (NF2), an inherited cancer disorder, according to researchers at The Wistar Institute. Their findings, which appear in the April 12 issue of the journal Cancer Cell, could have profound implications for NF2 and related cancers, such as mesothelioma.
The researchers describe, for the first time, that Merlin, the protein encoded within the NF2 gene interacts with a protein called angiomotin. This connection between ...
When it comes to carbon footprints, location and lifestyle matter
2011-04-16
Tips to reduce your carbon footprint frequently include buying compact florescent light bulbs, taking your own bag to the grocery store or buying local produce. But how much difference do these actions make?
A new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that who you are and where you live make a big difference in which activities have the largest impact.
"Everyone has a unique carbon footprint," says Christopher M. Jones, lead author of the study and a researcher in UC Berkeley's Renewable and Appropriate Energy Laboratory (RAEL). "There ...