Veterans are at higher risk of alcohol abuse relapse due to smoking

Recent study controls for genetic variables in cognitive performance

2012-10-12

(Press-News.org) (October 12, 2012) In a new study published in Frontiers, Dr Timothy Durazzo and colleagues from the San Francisco VA Medical Center and University of California, San Francisco, expand upon their decade of research showing that smoking while kicking the alcohol habit impairs memory, learning and other cognitive skills--ultimately making it more difficult to weather the long storm of sobriety.

Cigarettes, substance abuse and the military "Given our strong and consistent research findings in both Veterans and civilians on the ill-effects of chronic smoking, we truly hope to see smoking cessation programs become increasingly available for our current active-duty war fighters," says Dr. Durazzo

Active duty US soldiers smoke at around a 10% higher rate than the civilian population. And after serving their country in the military, they statistically run higher risks of alcohol and substance abuse. In 2007, over 375,000 VA patients had a substance use disorder diagnosis and nearly 500,000 additional patients had a nicotine dependence. According to Dr. Durazzo, alcohol and cigarettes have a greater negative effect on brain biology and cognitive function when they are combined.

"Our results suggest that it is a high priority to offer comprehensive smoking cessation treatment for all patients, especially for those seeking treatment for alcohol and substance abuse, given the high prevalence of smoking in these individuals," Dr. Durazzo adds.

Controlling for the genetic variables Previous research showed that variants in the COMT and BDNF genes influence cognitive function. Therefore, the researchers wanted to determine if variants in these genes explained the poorer cognitive performance they repeatedly observed in their smoking alcohol dependent patients.

In 70, primarily male Veterans seeking treatment for alcohol dependence, Durazzo and colleagues studied the effects of cigarette smoking and genetic factors on cognitive function after about 1-month of abstinence. The results showed after controlling for the influence of these genotypes that smokers performed significantly worse than non-smokers on measures of learning and memory, general intelligence, processing speed and global cognitive abilities. Importantly, within the smoking group, greater number of years of smoking was related to worse cognitive function.

According to Durazzo: "Intact functioning in these areas will assist individuals in incorporating the treatment they receive in into their everyday lives."

Overall, the results confirm their previous research and lend strong support to the growing movement to make smoking cessation programs common fare at the inception of alcohol and substance abuse treatments. There are an increasing number of studies that report smokers have a greater chance of relapse to alcohol or substances than non-smokers.

### Article reference: Associations of Cigarette Smoking and Polymorphisms in Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and Catechol-O-Methyltransferase with Neurocognition in Alcohol Dependent Individuals during Early Abstinence. Authors: Durazzo Timothy, Hutchison Kent, Fryer Susanna, Mon Anderson, Meyerhoff Dieter

Frontiers in Pharmacology / DOI=10.3389/fphar.2012.00178 http://www.frontiersin.org/neuropharmacology/10.3389/fphar.2012.00178/abstract

Researcher contact: Timothy C. Durazzo, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging
University of California, San Francisco
Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases
San Francisco VA Medical Center
Tel: +1 (415) 221-4810 x4157
Email: Timothy.Durazzo@ucsf.edu

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

New report shows educated young adults moving to pittsburgh region in pursuit of job opportunities

2012-10-12

Despite Pittsburgh's mass exodus of young people in the 1980s, data released today by the University of Pittsburgh's University Center for Social and Urban Research and PittsburghTODAY show that over the past five years Pittsburgh has seen a seven percent influx of young people ages 20-34. The report, Young Adults Report 2012, draws the most comprehensive profile to date of the young men and women in the 32-county Pittsburgh region. Findings are based onPittsburghTODAY's reporting, as well as on an extensive regional survey and focus groups conducted jointly by the University ...

USADA's chief science officer publishes editorial on anti-dope testing in sport: History and science

2012-10-12

Lance Armstrong's doping scandal may be considered by U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) as "more extensive than any previously revealed in professional sports history," but a new editorial in The FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) by USADA's Larry D. Bowers shows that it is clearly not the first. From early athletes who used rat poison and heroin to fight fatigue to modern Olympians who perform under the ever-present shadow of high tech hormones, stimulants and steroids, this editorial lays out both the history and the science behind athletic "doping" scandals. Bowers ...

Single gene variant in donors may affect survival of transplanted kidneys

2012-10-12

Highlights In the largest study of its kind, a variant within the multidrug resistance 1 (MDR-1) gene in kidney transplant donors was linked to a 69% increased risk for long-term failure of transplanted organs. This variant affects the expression of the protein that the MDR-1 gene encodes, which pumps drugs out of cells. (Immunosuppressant drugs are critical for preventing organ rejection but are also toxic to the kidneys.) Washington, DC (October 11, 2012) — A single genetic variant in kidney donors' cells may help determine whether their transplanted organs will survive ...

Using cell phone data to curb the spread of malaria

2012-10-12

Boston, MA -- New research that combines cell phone data from 15 million people in Kenya with detailed information on the regional incidence of malaria has revealed, on the largest scale so far, how human travel patterns contribute to the disease's spread. The findings from researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and seven other institutions indicate that malaria, in large part, emanates from Kenya's Lake Victoria region and spreads east, chiefly toward the capital, Nairobi. The study appears in the October 12, 2012 issue of the journal Science. "This ...

New web-based model for sharing research datasets could have huge benefits

2012-10-12

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A group of researchers have proposed creating a new web-based data network to help researchers and policymakers worldwide turn existing knowledge into real-world applications and technologies and improve science and innovation policy. Researchers around the world have created datasets that, if interlinked with other datasets and made more broadly available could provide the needed foundation for policy and decision makers. But these datasets are spread across countries, scientific disciplines and data providers, and appear in a variety of inconsistent ...

Unusual genetic structure confers major disease resistance trait in soybean

2012-10-12

MADISON — Scientists have identified three neighboring genes that make soybeans resistant to the most damaging disease of soybean. The genes exist side-by-side on a stretch of chromosome, but only give resistance when that stretch is duplicated several times in the plant. "Soybean cyst nematode is the most important disease of soybean, according to yield loss, worldwide, year after year," says senior author Andrew Bent, professor of plant pathology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. "As we try to feed a world that is going from 6 billion toward 9 billion people, soybean ...

1 CVD death in China every 10 seconds

2012-10-12

Sophia Antipolis, 12 October 2012: Urgent actions including smoking bans in public places, salt restrictions and improved blood pressure control are needed to fight rising cardiovascular disease in China. Half of male physicians in China smoke and they can lead the way to healthy lifestyles by kicking the habit. Cardiovascular disease is the top cause of death in China and causes more than 40% of all deaths. "Every year three million Chinese people die from cardiovascular disease and every 10 seconds there is one death from CVD in China," said Professor Dayi Hu, chief ...

University of Washington researchers focus on quorum sensing to better understand bacteria

2012-10-12

The relatively new field in microbiology that focuses on quorum sensing has been making strides in understanding how bacteria communicate and cooperate. Quorum sensing describes the bacterial communication between cells that allows them to recognize and react to the size of their surrounding cell population. While a cell's output of extracellular products, or "public goods," is dependent on the size of its surrounding population, scientists have discovered that quorum sensing, a type of bacterial communication, controls when cells release these public goods into their environments. ...

Researchers ID unique geological 'sombrero' uplift in South America

2012-10-12

Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego have used 20 years of satellite data to reveal a geological oddity unlike any seen on Earth. At the border of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile sits the Altiplano-Puna plateau in the central Andes region, home to the largest active magma body in Earth's continental crust and known for a long history of massive volcanic eruptions. A study led by Yuri Fialko of Scripps and Jill Pearse of the Alberta Geological Survey has revealed that magma is forming a big blob in the middle of the crust, pushing up the earth's ...

In the bacterial world of your mouth, nurture wins out over nature

2012-10-12

October 12, 2012 – The human mouth is home to a teeming community of microbes, yet still relatively little is known about what determines the specific types of microorganisms that live there. Is it your genes that decide who lives in the microbial village, or is it your environment? In a study published online in Genome Research (www.genome.org), researchers have shown that environment plays a much larger role in determining oral microbiota than expected, a finding that sheds new light on a major factor in oral health. Our oral microbiome begins to take shape as soon ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Revolutionizing ammonia synthesis: New iron-based catalyst surpasses century-old benchmark

A groundbreaking approach: Researchers at The University of Texas at San Antonio chart the future of neuromorphic computing

In a landmark study, an NYBG scientist and colleagues find that reforestation stands out among plant-based climate-mitigation strategies as most beneficial for wildlife biodiversity

RSClin® Tool N+ gives more accurate estimates of recurrence risk and individual chemotherapy benefit in node-positive breast cancer

[Press-News.org] Veterans are at higher risk of alcohol abuse relapse due to smoking
Recent study controls for genetic variables in cognitive performance