Search results for "Alcoholism"
showing 10 items of 184 documents
Epidemiological and clinical scenario of chronic liver diseases in Italy: Data from a multicenter nationwide survey
2016
The last Italian prevalence survey on chronic liver diseases (CLD) was performed in 2001. The present study evaluated the changes occurring over thirteen years. Background The last Italian prevalence survey on chronic liver diseases (CLD) was performed in 2001. The present study evaluated the changes occurring over thirteen years. Methods We enrolled 2,557 CLD consecutive patients in 16 Italian liver units in 2014. Results HBV etiology accounted for 513 (20.2%) cases, alone in 439 and associated with HCV and/or alcohol abuse in 74. Of these 513, 11.9% were anti-HDV-positive and 7.2% HBeAg-positive. HCV alone was responsible for 50.3% of CLD and with alcohol abuse for 5.9%. HCV RNA was detec…
Characteristics of liver cirrhosis in Italy: Evidence for a decreasing role of HCV aetiology
2017
Previous cross-sectional studies have shown that hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection had been the main agent associated with liver cirrhosis in Italy. Abstract BACKGROUND: Previous cross-sectional studies have shown that hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection had been the main agent associated with liver cirrhosis in Italy. AIM: To assess epidemiological, laboratory and clinical features of liver cirrhosis in Italy in 2014. PATIENTS: Out of the 2557 consecutive subjects evaluated in 16 hospitals located throughout Italy in 2014, 832 (32.6%) had liver cirrhosis and were enrolled in this study. RESULTS: The mean age of subjects was 60.3years, with a male/female ratio of 1.7; 74.9% of cases had Child…
Substance-use disorder in high-functioning autism: clinical and neurocognitive insights from two case reports.
2014
Background Low prevalence of substance-use disorder has been reported in adults with autism. However, on a superficial level, adults with high-functioning autism (HFA) display a ‘normal’ façade when they drink alcohol, which may explain why their alcohol dependency is not better diagnosed. Case presentation Here, we report two cases of HFA adults who use alcohol and psychostimulants to cope with their anxiety and improve their cognitive abilities and social skills. We analyze how neurocognitive traits associated with HFA may be potential triggers for substance-use disorder. Conclusion Better identification of autism and its cognitive impairments, which may be vulnerability traits for develo…
Gender differences and gender convergence in alcohol use over the past three decades (1984–2008), The HUNT Study, Norway
2016
Background: To examine changes in men‘s and women’s drinking in Norway over a 20-year period, in order to learn whether such changes have led to gender convergence in alcohol drinking. Methods: Repeated cross-sectional studies (in 1984–86, 1995–97, and 2006–08) of a large general population living in a geographically defined area (county) in Norway. Information about alcohol drinking is based on self-report questionnaires. Not all measures were assessed in all three surveys. Results: Adult alcohol drinking patterns have changed markedly over a 20-year period. Abstaining has become rarer while consumption and rates of recent drinking and problematic drinking have increased. Most changes were…
Unexplained chronic liver disease in Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study
2018
Background Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is assumed to be the major cause of chronic liver disease (CLD) in sub-Saharan Africa. The contribution of other aetiological causes of CLD is less well documented and hence opportunities to modulate other potential risk factors are being lost. The aims of this study were to explore the aetiological spectrum of CLD in eastern Ethiopia and to identify plausible underlying risk factors for its development. Methods A cross-sectional study was undertaken between April 2015 and April 2016 in two public hospitals in Harar, eastern Ethiopia. The study population comprised of consenting adults with clinical and radiological evidence of chronic liver dise…
Hampered long-term depression and thin spine loss in the nucleus accumbens of ethanol-dependent rats.
2014
Alcoholism involves long-term cognitive deficits, including memory impairment, resulting in substantial cost to society. Neuronal refinement and stabilization are hypothesized to confer resilience to poor decision making and addictive-like behaviors, such as excessive ethanol drinking and dependence. Accordingly, structural abnormalities are likely to contribute to synaptic dysfunctions that occur from suddenly ceasing the use of alcohol after chronic ingestion. Here we show that ethanol-dependent rats display a loss of dendritic spines in medium spiny neurons of the nucleus accumbens (Nacc) shell, accompanied by a reduction of tyrosine hydroxylase immunostaining and postsynaptic density 95…
Early Signs of Emotional Recognition Deficits in Adolescent High-Binge Drinkers
2019
Background: Emotional dysregulation, measured with face recognition tasks, is prevalent in alcohol use disorders (AUD), constituting a risk factor for alcohol use and relapse. It is not clear howev...
Depressive Symptoms and Alcohol Use are Genetically and Environmentally Correlated Across Adolescence
2010
Depressive symptoms and alcohol use are frequently positively associated during adolescence. This study aimed to assess the heritability of each phenotype across adolescence; to assess potential shared liabilities; to examine changes in the nature of shared liabilities across adolescence; and to investigate potential causal relationships between depressive symptoms and alcohol use. We studied a longitudinally assessed sample of adolescent Finnish twins (N = 1,282) to test hypotheses about genetic and environmental influences on these phenotypes within and across ages, using data from assessments at ages 12, 14, and 17.5 years. The heritability of depressive symptoms is consistent across ado…
Age- and sex-related differences in the acquisition and reinstatement of ethanol CPP in mice
2011
Many people begin to experiment with alcohol during adolescence, an important developmental period during which sex differences in the effects of ethanol appear. In the present study we evaluated the effect of ethanol (0, 0.625, 1.25 or 2.5 g/kg) on the acquisition of a conditioned place preference (CPP) in early and late adolescent male and female mice. In addition, we assessed the capacity of ethanol to induce reinstatement of the CPP after its extinction. CPP was induced in early and late adolescent females with 2.5 g/kg, and in early adolescent males with 1.25 or 2.5 g/kg of ethanol. No CPP was observed in late adolescent males. Priming with ethanol reinstated the CPP induced by the hig…
Traits that define the different alcohol intensive consume type during the practice of "botellon".
2012
Un fenómeno que en España favorece el actual patrón de consumo de alcohol juvenil es el conocido como botellón. A partir de una investigación financiada por el Plan Nacional sobre Drogas (2004-2007), se recogieron datos de 6009 jóvenes entre 14 y 25 años en tres ciudades españolas, considerando para este trabajo a quienes realizan episodios de consumo intensivo de alcohol (n = 2807). El objetivo ha sido identificar los distintos tipos de consumidores de riesgo intensivos mediante un análisis de conglomerados y establecer el perfil característico de cada uno. Se diferencian cuatro grupos en función de la edad, sexo, cantidad de alcohol y años de consumo. Los estudiantes de secundaria ingiere…