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Alcohol Only (alcohol + only)
Selected AbstractsDoes an Energy Drink Modify the Effects of Alcohol in a Maximal Effort Test?ALCOHOLISM, Issue 9 2004Sionaldo Eduardo Ferreira Background: There are popular reports on the combined use of alcohol and energy drinks (such as Red Bull® and similar beverages, which contain caffeine, taurine, carbohydrates, etc.) to reduce the depressant effects of alcohol on central nervous system, but no controlled studies have been performed. The main purpose of this study was to verify the effects of alcohol, and alcohol combined with energy drink, on the performance of volunteers in a maximal effort test (cycle ergometer) and also on physiological indicators (oxygen uptake, ventilatory threshold, respiratory exchange rate, heart rate, and blood pressure), biochemical variables (glucose, lactate, insulin, cortisol, ACTH, dopamine, noradrenaline, and adrenaline), and blood alcohol levels. Methods: Fourteen healthy subjects completed a double-blind protocol made up of four sessions: control (water), alcohol (1.0 g/kg), energy drink (3.57 ml/kg Red Bull®), and alcohol + energy drink, each 1 week apart. The effort test began 60 min after drug or control ingestion, and the dependent variables were measured until 60 min after the test. Results: Heart rate at the ventilatory threshold was higher in the alcohol and alcohol + energy drink sessions in comparison with control and energy drink sessions. Although in comparison to the control session, the peak oxygen uptake was 5.0% smaller after alcohol ingestion, 1.4% smaller after energy drink, and 2.7% smaller after the combined ingestion, no significant differences were detected. Lactate levels (30 min after drug ingestion, 30 and 60 min after the effort test) and noradrenaline levels (30 min after the effort test) were higher in the alcohol and alcohol + energy drink sessions compared with the control session. Conclusions: The performance in the maximal effort test observed after alcohol + energy drink ingestion was similar to that observed after alcohol only. No significant differences between alcohol and alcohol + energy drink were detected in the physiological and biochemical parameters analyzed. Our findings suggest that energy drinks, at least in the tested doses, did not improve performance or reduce alterations induced by acute alcohol ingestion. [source] Cognitive Efficiency in Stimulant Abusers With and Without Alcohol DependenceALCOHOLISM, Issue 3 2003Andrea Lawton-Craddock Background: Although previous studies have found stimulant (i.e., cocaine, methamphetamine) abusers and alcoholics to have neuropsychological deficits, research examining which cognitive abilities are most affected by concurrent exposure to these substances is lacking. To address this issue, detoxified men and women who met criteria for dependence of (a) alcohol only (ALC) (n= 15); (b) stimulants only (STIM) (n= 15); and (c) both alcohol and stimulants (A/STIM) (n= 15) were compared with age- and education-matched community controls (n= 15). Methods: Tasks that measured visual spatial skills, problem-solving and abstraction, short-term memory, cognitive flexibility, and gross motor speed were administered to participants. For each test, both speed and accuracy were assessed and an efficiency ratio (accuracy/time) was derived. Based on an average of these efficiency ratios, an overall performance index of cognitive efficiency was obtained. Results: Overall, controls performed more efficiently than all other groups. However, they were statistically significantly better only in relation to the A/STIM and STIM groups (p < 0.01). Individual comparisons revealed that the ALC group performed significantly better than the STIM group, although the ALC group did not differ from either the control or A/STIM groups (p, 0.05). This pattern of results was relatively consistent across the individual subtests of problem-solving/abstraction, short-term memory, and cognitive flexibility. Conclusions: As expected, substance abuse was associated with cognitive inefficiency. More importantly, these findings suggest that the cognitive effects of chronic stimulant abuse are not additive with those of alcohol abuse. That is, singly addicted stimulant abusers demonstrated similar or greater neurocognitive impairments than individuals who abuse alcohol and stimulants concurrently. The reason for this pattern is speculative but may be attributed to alcohol's opposing actions on cerebrovascular effects brought on by stimulant abuse. [source] The Significance of Marijuana Use Among Alcohol-using Adolescent Emergency Department PatientsACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 1 2010Thomas H. Chun MD Abstract Objectives:, The objective was to determine if adolescents presenting to a pediatric emergency department (PED) for an alcohol-related event requiring medical care differ in terms of substance use, behavioral and mental health problems, peer relationships, and parental monitoring based on their history of marijuana use. Methods:, This was a cross-sectional comparison of adolescents 13,17 years old, with evidence of recent alcohol use, presenting to a PED with a self-reported history of marijuana use. Assessment tools included the Adolescent Drinking Inventory, Adolescent Drinking Questionnaire, Young Adult Drinking and Driving Questionnaire, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Behavioral Assessment System for Children, and Peer Substance Use and Tolerance of Substance Use Scale. Results:, Compared to adolescents using alcohol only (AO), adolescents who use alcohol and marijuana (A+M) have higher rates of smoking (F = 23.62) and binge drinking (F = 11.56), consume more drinks per sitting (F = 9.03), have more externalizing behavior problems (F = 12.53), and report both greater peer tolerance of substance use (F = 12.99) and lower parental monitoring (F = 7.12). Conclusions:, Adolescents who use A+M report greater substance use and more risk factors for substance abuse than AO-using adolescents. Screening for a history of marijuana use may be important when treating adolescents presenting with an alcohol-related event. A+M co-use may identify a high-risk population, which may have important implications for ED clinicians in the care of these patients, providing parental guidance, and planning follow-up care. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:63,71 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine [source] Extraction of policosanols from hydrolysed rice bran wax by high-intensity ultrasoundINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 5 2008Yuanfa Liu Summary This study provided a detailed method for extraction and purification of policosanols from hydrolysed rice bran wax (RBW) by high-intensity ultrasound (HIU), where the hydrolysis of RBW under HIU was focused. The optimised operating conditions for hydrolysis were as the following: 20 kHz, 100 W, 1:2 of wax to 4% sodium hydroxide (w:v) and 50 min at ambient temperature, under which the hydrolysis rate of 94.3% was obtained. Thereafter, policosanols were extracted and purified from the hydrolysed RBW. With the analysis by GC, it was shown that even-numbered aliphatic alcohols were the major components of the policosanols, accounting for 95% or so, where triacontanol (C30) was the predominant component with 26.95%, followed by octacosanol (C28) with 17.04%, dotriacotanol (C32) with 16.01%, tetracosanol (C24) with 11.13%, hexacosanol with 10.90%; however, the odd-numbered alcohols only accounted for about 5% and they were non-acosanol (C29) with 2.92%, heptacosanol (C27) with 1.57% and pentacosanol (C25) with 0.65%. [source] | ||||||||||