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Physician Advice for Problem Drinkers Project TrEAT (trial for early Alcohol Treatment) is the first large U.S. clinical trial conducted by primary care practitioners to elucidate the effect of brief [...]

Does effective clinical supervision lead to positive client outcome? It seems logical that it does; however, studies that correlate client outcome to effective clinical supervision, with regard to successful long-term [...]

* This review considers the management of one of the more difficult clinical problems among a notoriously difficult group of accident and emergency (A&E) patients, namely Wernicke's encephalopathy in alcoholics. [...]

Kuffer EK, Dart RC, Bogdan GM, Hill RE, Caper E, Darton L. Effect of maximal daily doses of acetaminophen on the liver of alcoholic patients. Arch Intern Med 2001; 161:2247-2252. [...]

Substance abuse counseling and intervention have long been at the core of our profession, and this edition of the Journal of Employee Assistance features some thought-provoking views on addiction treatment. [...]

British scientists are considering whether brewers should add nutritional supplements to beer to reduce the risk of alcohol-related brain damage among heavy drinkers. According to Ananova, the Scottish Executive Health [...]

Diphtheria, once a common disease affecting the mucous membranes of the throat, has been reduced thanks to immunization of infants, but the disease still occurs in the form of a skin disease. There were three outbreaks of diphtheria causing a total of 1,100 infections in Seattle between 1972 and 1982. Eighty-six percent of the infections involved the skin and 14 percent affected the nasopharynx. The outbreaks occurred among alcoholic adults who were living in Seattle's Skid Row, and affected Native Americans primarily. Diphtheria is caused by the bacteria Corynebacterium diphtheriae and the outbreaks were traced to three different strains of the bacteria, intermedius, mitis, and gravis. Another bacterium, Streptococcus pyogenes, was isolated from 73 percent of the lesions caused by diphtheria and 41 percent of nondiphtherial lesions. Complications occurred in 21 percent of the infections of the nasopharynx but in only 3 percent of the skin infections caused by the strain intermedius. The complications occurred more frequently in individuals who were over 60. The antibiotic erythromycin was used to treat the diphtheria and pyodermas, but the bacteria which caused the diphtheria became resistant to erythromycin. The outbreaks of cutaneous diphtheria were associated with poor hygiene of the alcoholics, underlying skin disease, seasonal occurrence (with peaks in the winter and spring), high rates of environmental contamination such as contaminated fomites (objects, such as dirty clothing, that contain the bacteria), co-infection with Streptococcus pyogenes and the emergence of new strains of bacteria which were resistance to erythromycin. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Heavy consumption of alcohol--tour drinks a day or more--can increase the risk for hemorrhagic stroke and bring it on earlier in life, according to research reported in a recent issue [...]

Patients with alcohol-related end-stage liver disease (ARESLD) should be considered as candidates for liver transplants despite opposing arguments. Medical arguments cite recidivism and greater morbidity, but these are not significantly higher than non-ARESLD transplant patients. Morally, drunkenness is attached to ethical defects, yet ARESLD patients exhibit heterogenous behavior patterns. Social arguments emphasize scarce resources, but fear generated by negative publicity should not limit the efforts to increase donors., Over the past 6 years, patients with alcohol-related end-stage liver disease (ARESLD) have received 16% of the liver transplants performed in the United States. Following a decade of controversy and [...]

Results of a major international study published in the British Medical Journal confirmed a strong link between heavy alcohol consumption and high blood pressure. The study found that a pattern [...]

Of 300 patients admitted to an alcohol rehabilitation unit, serological testing of discarded admission blood samples revealed that 31 (10.3%) had HIV infection. Chart records indicated that four patients were known to be HIV infected on admission, and HIV infection was detected in another three patients during hospitalization; however, 24 (77.4%) of the HIV-positive patients were discharged with their HIV infection still undetected.

North American beer drinkers are better educated today about their beverage of choice than perhaps ever before, thanks in large part to the efforts of enlightened breweries, both big and [...]

A new interactive training video is available from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) to show clinicians quick and effective strategies to screen patients for heavy drinking [...]

People who drink up to almost two-and a-half bottles of wine a week hove a lower risk of premature death than those who abstain from alcohol, according to Danish research [...]

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- Most physicians who treat alcohol-dependent patients know that studies have shown that depressed patients are much less likely to quit, or reduce, their drinking. It is less [...]