In the News

Alcohol-Drug Combinations Account for Nearly 37 Percent of Substance Abuse Treatment Admissions

19091800 A new report shows that 37.2 percent of substance abuse treatment admissions involve both alcohol and drug abuse.

According to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 23.1 percent of all admissions reported the abuse of alcohol and one other drug, and 14.1 percent reported the abuse of alcohol and two or more drugs.

When alcohol is used with other drugs, it tends to be ingested in greater quantities than when used alone.

A Single Sip of Alcohol Could Put Children at Risk of Alcoholism

Parents often think that letting their children have a sip of alcohol at home is a safe way to promote responsible drinking but this could put their child at future risk.

A new study from Yale University shows that the earlier a child is introduced to alcohol, the greater their chances of developing a drinking problem later in life.

The study, which was published in the journal, Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, interviewed 1,160 college freshmen.

Those that participated in the study answered questions on the age they started drinking, how often they drank, how much they drank and if they had any problems with alcohol. The results of the study showed that the earlier a child sampled alcohol, the greater their chances of alcohol abuse in college.

Teen Pot Use Linked to Later Declines in IQ

Teens who routinely smoke marijuana risk a long-term drop in their IQ, a new study suggests.

The researchers didn't find the same IQ dip for people who became frequent users of pot after 18. Although experts said the new findings are not definitive, they do fit in with earlier signs that the drug is especially harmful to the developing brain.

"Parents should understand that their adolescents are particularly vulnerable,'" said lead researcher Madeline Meier of Duke University.

Addiction Recovery: How Yoga Can Help

Yoga I recent article on Yahoo Sports focused on how the use of yoga can aid in the journey to recovery.

It is reported that one in three Americans suffer from some form of addiction. Addictions break up families, destroy communities and can take on many forms: alcohol addiction, drug addiction, eating disorders, gambling addiction, sex addiction, smoking addiction, to mention a few. Put simply, addictions are habits that have spiraled out of control.

The use of the chosen substance becomes a necessity, as the brain and the body's chemistry changes and develops a physical and/or mental craving. Quite often the person suffering from the addiction is completely unaware that there is a problem and, even when it is pointed out to them, they will be in a state of denial.

Drinking Alcohol While Taking Hormone Replacement Therapy: Weighing the Risks

Women It is known that drinking alcohol and taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can increase breast cancer risk.

A previous large study combined the two by looking at how drinking alcohol while taking HRT affected breast cancer risk.

The study confirmed that drinking alcohol increases estrogen levels and it is possible that the extra estrogen from drinking combined with the estrogen in HRT caused the dramatic increases in risk in this study.

However, in a more recent study, researchers from the Cancer Prevention Institute of California (CPIC) examined whether the increased breast cancer risk related to alcohol consumption in postmenopausal women was affected by the use of hormone therapy (HT), and found that after women stopped using HT, their risk of breast cancer was no longer elevated with moderate alcohol consumption.

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