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Daily Drinking (daily + drinking)

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Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Alcohol drinking pattern and subjective health in a population-based study

ADDICTION, Issue 9 2006
Saverio Stranges
ABSTRACT Aims Some patterns of alcohol consumption (e.g. binge drinking, drinking outside of meals) have been associated with detrimental effects on health outcomes. Subjective health provides a global assessment of health status and is a strong predictor of total mortality; however, little is known about its relationship with alcohol drinking pattern. The association between several drinking patterns (i.e. drinking intensity and frequency, frequency of intoxication, drinking outside of meals, and beverage type) and subjective health was examined in a random sample of 3586 women and men. Design A population-based cross-sectional study. Methods Subjective health was assessed using the physical and mental health component summaries of the Short Form-36 health survey questionnaire. Alcohol consumption refers to the 30 days before the interview. Analysis of covariance compared gender-specific mean scores across alcohol drinking patterns. Findings Overall, non-current drinkers reported poorer physical and mental health than life-time abstainers and current drinkers, while no consistent differences were found between life-time abstainers and current drinkers. In female current drinkers, daily drinking, beer and mixed beverage consumption were associated with better mental health. In male current drinkers, moderate alcohol consumption (2,2.9 drinks per day), wine and mixed beverage consumption were associated with better physical health. Intoxication and liquor consumption were associated with poorer mental health in women and poorer physical health in men. No consistent associations were found for drinking outside meals. Conclusions Aspects of drinking pattern may affect subjective health differentially in women and men. Overall, intoxication and liquor drinking are associated with poorer self-perceived health status than regular, moderate consumption of other alcoholic beverages. [source]

Feasibility of Using Interactive Voice Response to Monitor Daily Drinking, Moods, and Relationship Processes on a Daily Basis in Alcoholic Couples

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 3 2010
James A. Cranford
Background:, Daily process research on alcohol involvement has used paper-and-pencil and electronic data collection methods, but no studies have yet tested the feasibility of using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology to monitor drinking, affective, and social interactional processes among alcoholic (ALC) couples. This study tested the feasibility of using IVR with n = 54 ALC couples. Methods:, Participants were n = 54 couples (probands who met criteria for a past 1-year alcohol use disorder and their partners) recruited from a substance abuse treatment center and the local community. Probands and their partners reported on their daily drinking, marital interactions, and moods once a day for 14 consecutive days using an IVR system. Probands and partners were on average 43.4 and 43.0 years old, respectively. Results:, Participants completed a total of 1,418 out of a possible 1,512 diary days for an overall compliance rate of 93.8%. ALC probands completed an average of 13.3 (1.0) diary reports, and partners completed an average of 13.2 (1.0) diary reports. On average, daily IVR calls lasted 7.8 (3.0) minutes for ALC probands and 7.6 (3.0) minutes for partners. Compliance was significantly lower on weekend days (Fridays and Saturdays) compared to other weekdays for probands and spouses. Although today's intoxication predicted tomorrow's noncompliance for probands but not spouses, the strongest predictor of proband's compliance was their spouse's compliance. Daily anxiety and marital conflict were associated with daily IVR nonresponse, which triggered automated reminder calls. Conclusions:, Findings supported that IVR is a useful method for collecting daily drinking, mood, and relationship process data from alcoholic couples. Probands' compliance is strongly associated with their partners' compliance, and automated IVR calls may facilitate compliance on high anxiety, high conflict days. [source]

Testing Genetic Susceptibility Loci for Alcoholic Heart Muscle Disease

ALCOHOLISM, Issue 10 2001
Olli A. Kajander
Background: Although many heavy alcohol users have subclinical alcoholic heart muscle disease, only a very few develop severe dilated cardiomyopathy. Therefore, and because cardiac abnormalities correlate only weakly with the duration or quantity of drinking, individual susceptibility differences may exist. In this work we examined whether common gene variants previously associated with cardiac hypertrophy or altered alcohol metabolism could modify the effects of alcohol on the heart. Methods: We studied 700 middle-aged male victims of sudden death who underwent a medicolegal autopsy. In addition to routine postmortem examination, the weights and the cavity and wall dimensions of the left and right ventricle were measured. Coronary artery stenoses were determined from a silicone rubber cast of the arteries. Alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk factors were assessed by a structured interview of the spouse. The following gene polymorphisms were determined by using polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism and solid-phase minisequencing techniques: angiotensin converting enzyme I/D, angiotensin II type 1 receptor 1166A/C, aldosterone synthase ,344C/T, alcohol dehydrogenases 2 and 3, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase 2, and cytochrome P-450 2E1 Dra I, Pst I, Rsa I, and Msp I. Results: The most consistent effects of alcohol (p < 0.05) were a higher total heart weight and a larger right ventricle size with increasing daily drinking. However, these and other effects of alcohol were statistically fully independent of the studied genotypes. Conclusions: The gene polymorphisms selected for and analyzed in our study are unlikely to modify the effects of alcohol on the heart. Other unknown factors determine the individual susceptibility to alcoholic heart muscle disease. [source]

Moderate alcohol intake increases fibrosis progression in untreated patients with hepatitis C virus infection

JOURNAL OF VIRAL HEPATITIS, Issue 3 2002
J. Westin
Although excessive alcohol consumption in combination with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is known to increase the risk of liver cirrhosis, the effect of moderate alcohol intake remains to be elucidated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on fibrosis progression in HCV infection. A group of 78 patients with HCV infection and moderate alcohol consumption were analysed retrospectively. All patients had undergone two liver biopsies, with a median time between biopsies of 6.3 years, and had not received any antiviral therapy. Their lifetime drinking history was recorded. All patients except one had daily alcohol consumption below 40 g of ethanol (median 4.8 g/day, interquartile range 1.1,11.6 g/day) during the period between the biopsies. The patients whose liver fibrosis had deteriorated had a higher total alcohol consumption and higher drinking frequency between the biopsies. The degree of fibrosis progression was greater in patients with a total alcohol intake and drinking frequency above the median level for the group. A multiple logistic regression analysis showed that drinking frequency and time between biopsies were independently associated with fibrosis progression. Hence, even moderate alcohol intake seems to increase fibrosis progression in HCV-infected patients. From that point of view, total abstention ought to be recommended. If this is not achieved, occasional use of alcohol is probably less harmful than daily drinking for patients with low or moderate alcohol consumption. [source]