The latest issue of the premier British medical journal, Lancet, carries a report from the University of Toronto describing the alarming increase in alcohol-related illness and death in recent years.  The report describes the global burden as large enough to…

In more and more communities across the nation, laws and ordinances against social hosting are popping up, an effort to curb the number of teenagers who drink and drive.  These social hosting laws incriminate the parents, or any other adult,…

No doubt about it, alcohol consumption is controversial business.  Does it protect the heart or destroy the liver?  Wine OK but hard liquor a “no no”?  Abstinence better than moderation?  There’s one new finding about alcohol consumption that seems rather…

Medical science says our brains shrink just less than 2% per decade as we age but a team of Wellesley College researchers say heavy drinking can speed that rate of shrinkage while increasing the risk of dementia and otherwise impaired…

Teenagers who exhibit symptoms of insomnia are more likely than other teens to develop depression or problems with substance abuse or to entertain thoughts of suicide by the time they reach early adulthood, according to a study recently concluded at…

The November issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research will carry the results of a study of women and teenage girls to determine what, if any, effect drinking problems have on a woman’s ability to bear children. The study’s conclusion…

Military personnel returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely to turn to the bottle to ease painful memories and shocking experiences of the war front than military personnel who did not see combat.  The tendency to turn…

Americans at the beginning of the current century are consuming fewer alcoholic beverages than their relatives at the beginning of the previous century, according to new data published in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine.  And, of…

Glynn Birch, National President for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), issued a press release calling on adults to help in the fight against underage drinking.  In response to the recently released report on underage drinking by the Substance Abuse ad…

Researchers at the University of Virginia (UV) Health System have completed a landmark study using topiramate, a drug currently approved for the treatment of migraine headaches and seizures.  The findings of the study suggest topiramate might be a highly effective…

Alcohol consumption cuts the risk of developing arthritis in half according to a recent Scandinavian study. The study, which was published ahead of print for the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases, included  2750 participants.

A new study suggests that heavy smoking and drinking can hasten the onset of Alzheimer’s disease by several years.  Eliminating smoking and drinking are considered the two most important steps to preventing Alzheimer’s disease.

A woman’s history of drinking is directly linked to her chances of developing the most common form of breast cancer and it doesn’t matter what form of alcoholic beverage she prefers, either.  The largest study ever conducted that matches alcoholic…

Med Headlines - Alcoholism is a sad, tragic illness that often leads the sufferer to take desperate measures. Researchers in London recently reported that an alarming number of alcoholics are ingesting alcohol-based hand wipe solutions when other form of alcohol…