In the News

Alcohol Treatments: Not One-Size-Fits-All

Despondent-man-with-bottle Not all treatments for alcoholism work for everyone who needs them, experts tell The New York Times. There are a few drugs that have shown promise in treating alcoholism when used with therapy. The challenge is to determine which treatments will benefit which patients.

"Just as breast cancer isn't just one type of breast cancer, alcoholism is heterogeneous as a disorder, so there's clearly not one drug that is going to work for everybody," Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, told the newspaper.

Revised Definition of Addiction Could Lead to Millions More Being Diagnosed

Addiction- A proposed revision to the definition of addiction by mental health specialists could lead to millions of additional people receiving an addiction diagnosis, The New York Times reports. The changes could lead to big consequences for both health insurers and taxpayers, according to the newspaper.

The revisions are being proposed for the new edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), scheduled for release in May 2013. The manual would enlarge the list of recognized symptoms for drug and alcohol addiction, and reduce the number of symptoms needed for a diagnosis.

Another Link Between Alcohol and Breast Cancer Found

womandrink A recent in the journal, Pediatrics looked at the impact of alcohol intake in adolescent girls on the development of proliferative benign breast disease (BDD), which is known to cause a fourfold increase in the risk of developing breast cancer. The researchers further asked whether folate intake during the teenage years could positively influence the development of proliferative BDD in female adolescent drinkers.

The data revealed that there was a dose-dependent relationship between alcohol consumption during adolescence and the development of proliferative benign breast disease.

NCADD Presents Award to Dr. Stanley E. Gitlow at Annual Spring Luncheon

stanleyegitlow The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. honoring ASAM Board Member Stanley E. Gitlow, MD with the NCADD Marty Mann Founder’s Award.

Click here to read the media release.

From left: NCADD Board Chair Greg Muth, Stanley E. Gitlow, and NCADD President/CEO Robert J. Lindsey

Scotland Sets Minimum Prices for Alcohol

At the bar Alcohol in Scotland is about to get more expensive.

The Scottish Government announced today that it will set a minimum price of 50 pence per unit (10 milliliters) of alcohol - or about $0.81 for every 0.34 fluid ounces of booze. In U.S. dollars, that means a 750ml bottle of wine that costs $5.14 will shoot up in price to $7.56, or a bottle of cheap whiskey will go from $16.07 to $22.56 - about a 40 percent increase. The crackdown targets the cheaper drinks that alcoholics and teens may turn to.

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