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Drinking Can Lead to Increased Social Stress and Poor Grades in Teens

Teen in school Alcohol consumption can lead to increased social stress and poor grades in teens, a new study shows.

Teens who drink are more likely than their non-drinking peers to feel like social outcasts, according to HealthDay.

Social isolation that comes with drinking is most evident in schools that have tight cliques and fewer student drinkers. This suggests that teens who drink feel like outcasts when they are not with other drinkers, the University of Texas researchers said. They looked at data from a national survey of almost 8,300 teens at 126 schools. They found a direct connection between teens' feelings of isolation and worse grades.

Alcohol in Medicines Can Affect Some Kids

41831015 Many cough and cold liquids and other over-the-counter products contain some alcohol. In the formulation, this helps to dissolve certain ingredients or preserve the product. Most people wouldn't give this a second thought, and rightly so, but now and then the amount of alcohol in medicines becomes extremely important. One situation is with young children.

Not too long ago we received a report from a woman whose 11 year old child began having seizures while taking a shower. The family immediately called for help. Paramedics took the child to a nearby hospital for examination. All scans and x-rays were negative. Doctors then ordered blood tests on the child. The family was surprised to learn that the child had an elevated blood alcohol level, which was most likely the cause of the child's symptoms.

Weight-Loss Surgery Increases Alcohol Use Disorders Over Time

NIH-funded study sheds light on risk of bariatric procedures

Adults who had a common bariatric surgery to lose weight had a significantly higher risk of alcohol use disorders (AUD) two years after surgery, according to a study by a National Institutes of Health research consortium.

Researchers investigated alcohol consumption and alcohol use disorders symptoms in 1,945 participants from the NIH-funded Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (LABS), a prospective study of patients undergoing weight-loss surgery at one of ten hospitals across the United States.

New Studies Shed Much-Needed Light on Alcohol-Induced Memory Blackouts

headache National survey studies suggest that roughly one in four college students who drink will experience a blackout in a given year, making blackouts a surprisingly common outcome of excessive drinking.

Blackouts are periods of amnesia, caused by excessive consumption of alcohol, during which a person actively engages in behaviors but the brain is unable to create memories for what transpires. This leaves holes in a person's memory that can range from spotty recall for the events of the previous night (known as fragmentary blackouts) to the utter absence of memory for large portions of an evening (known as en bloc blackouts).

Government Study Finds More Teenagers Smoke Marijuana Than Cigarettes

ore teenagers smoke marijuana than cigarettes, according to a survey released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The survey found 23 percent of high school students said they recently smoked marijuana, compared with 18 percent who said they had smoked cigarettes.

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