What's the best way to treat problem alcohol use?
CAMH scientists weigh the evidence in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
2012-06-27
(Press-News.org) June 26, 2012 – Scientists from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have released comprehensive reviews of the most effective treatments for alcohol dependence, one of the most prevalent addictions in Canada.
Published in the latest edition of the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, the reviews explore the most effective treatments and interventions for problem alcohol use and concurrent disorders. Almost 40 per cent of people with an alcohol use problem also have a concurrent mental illness, particularly schizophrenia, mood or anxiety disorders.
The reviews can serve as the go-to resource for researchers and decision-makers who fund or deliver treatment and support services, in Canada or internationally. The papers cover the following topics:
Using medication to treat drinking problems: Dr. Bernard Le Foll, Clinician Scientist and Head of CAMH's Alcohol Research and Treatment Clinic within the Addiction Medicine Service, discusses the effectiveness of common medication therapies available for problem alcohol use. Dr. Le Foll and colleagues stress that those effective medications are under-used despite their effectiveness and that treatment for people with concurrent disorders is especially crucial considering their increased risk for morbidity.
Psychosocial treatment for alcohol dependence: Dr. Jürgen Rehm, Director of CAMH's Social and Epidemiological Research (SER) Department, examines the effectiveness of psychosocial treatments to help treat drinking problems. With co-author Dr. Garth Martin, Dr. Rehm finds that cognitive-behavioural therapies, motivational therapy and brief interventions have the strongest research evidence for effectiveness, but notes that greater attention needs to be paid to ensure that therapists deliver care in a consistent manner, in order to minimize varied outcomes.
The societal burden of not treating alcoholism: Dr. Brian Rush, Senior Scientist and Head of the Health Systems and Health Equity Research Group, contributes a guest editorial on the two reviews, and looks at the five factors that need to be in place for these interventions to have an effect at a population level. He concludes that treatment and support can have an impact in reducing the burden to society and costs incurred by the criminal justice and healthcare systems.
###
To read the full papers, please visit the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.
Media Contact: Michael Torres, Media Relations, CAMH; 416-595-6015
The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in the area of addiction and mental health. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues.
CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2012-06-27
Tropical Storm Debby continues to be a big rainmaker in Florida and southern Georgia and NASA's TRMM satellite has measured those rainfall rates from space, showing where heavy rain has fallen.
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite is basically a flying rain gauge in space. Scientists use TRMM data to calculate rainfall rates and rain totals from space. TRMM imagery from June 25 showed Debby's heaviest rains were falling at a rate of over 2 inches (50 mm) per hour, and to the southeast of the center.
Debby has been a huge rainmaker. For example, Debby ...
2012-06-27
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rhode Island Hospital researcher Suzanne de la Monte, M.D., has found a link between brain insulin resistance (diabetes) and two other key mediators of neuronal injury that help Alzheimer's disease (AD) to propagate. The research found that once AD is established, therapeutic efforts must also work to reduce toxin production in the brain. The study, Dysfunctional Pro-Ceramide, ER Stress, and Insulin/IGF Signaling Networks with Progression of Alzheimer's Disease, is published in the June 22, 2012, supplement of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
Alzheimer's ...
2012-06-27
The MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics (YPP), under the direction of co-principal investigators University of Chicago political scientist Cathy Cohen, and Joseph Kahne, professor of education at Mills College, has unveiled the findings of the largest nationally representative study to date of new media and politics among young people.
The national survey questioned 3,000 young people, ages 15-25 on how they use the Internet, social media and engage in politics. Unlike any prior study on the topic, the YPP survey included large numbers of black, ...
2012-06-27
WASHINGTON — Nuclear physics is a discovery-driven enterprise aimed at understanding the fundamental nature of visible matter in the universe. For the past hundred years, new knowledge of the nuclear world has also directly benefited society through many innovative applications. In its fourth decadal survey of nuclear physics, the National Research Council outlines the impressive accomplishments of the field in the last decade and recommends a long-term strategy for the future. The report builds on the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee's 2007 five-year plan and commends ...
2012-06-27
BOSTON – While current American Heart Association heart failure prevention guidelines warn against habitual coffee consumption, some studies propose a protective benefit, and still others find no association at all. Amidst this conflicting information, research from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center attempts to shift the conversation from a definitive yes or no, to a question of how much.
"Our results did show a possible benefit, but like with so many other things we consume, it really depends on how much coffee you drink," says lead author Elizabeth Mostofsky, MPH, ...
2012-06-27
Compared to normal cells, cancer cells have a prodigious appetite for glucose, the result of a shift in cell metabolism known as aerobic glycolysis or the "Warburg effect." Researchers focusing on this effect as a possible target for cancer therapies have examined how biochemical signals present in cancer cells regulate the altered metabolic state.
Now, in a unique study, a UCLA research team led by Thomas Graeber, a professor of molecular and medical pharmacology, has investigated the reverse aspect: how the metabolism of glucose affects the biochemical signals present ...
2012-06-27
When we turn on the A/C in the summer, our first thought is probably one of relief. If it's 100 degrees in the shade, we're probably not thinking about how our decision might influence the environmental legacy we leave for future generations. It's not that we don't care, it's just that we typically don't think about our behavior in terms of long-term, inter-generational tradeoffs. But new research suggests that reminders of our own mortality may encourage us to keep future generations in mind as we make decisions.
In a study published in Psychological Science, a publication ...
2012-06-27
PASADENA, Calif.—In 1969, an exploding fireball tore through the sky over Mexico, scattering thousands of pieces of meteorite across the state of Chihuahua. More than 40 years later, the Allende meteorite is still serving the scientific community as a rich source of information about the early stages of our solar system's evolution. Recently, scientists from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) discovered a new mineral embedded in the space rock—one they believe to be among the oldest minerals formed in the solar system.
Dubbed panguite, the new titanium oxide ...
2012-06-27
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — A new study published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that the federal government made about $13 billion in duplicative payments to provide health-care services to veterans who were simultaneously enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans from 2004-2009. The study was conducted by researchers at Brown University, VA Palo Alto Medical Center and the Institute for Population Health Improvement at UC Davis Health System.
Some veterans are entitled to health-care coverage through both the U.S. Department of Veterans ...
2012-06-27
As the Supreme Court prepares to issue its ruling on Thursday, Americans are divided along party, ideology and gender lines on a key provision of the healthcare law.
A new National Agenda Opinion Poll by the University of Delaware's Center for Political Communication reveals women are significantly more likely to support health insurance requirements than men. Additionally, Democrats and liberals overwhelmingly favor insurance mandates, whereas large majorities of Republicans and conservatives oppose them.
The national telephone survey of 906 Americans was conducted ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] What's the best way to treat problem alcohol use?
CAMH scientists weigh the evidence in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
