AIMS:

To test if changes in national alcohol policy have had an impact on alcohol use among 12- to 18-year-old adolescents in Finland over a 30-year period.

METHODS:

Frequencies of drinking any amounts of alcohol and drinking alcohol until really drunk from bi-annual repeated cross-sectional surveys from 1981 to 2011 were examined against a national alcohol policy review using nationally representative samples of 12-, 14-, 16- and 18-year-old adolescents (n = 99,724) in Finland.

RESULTS:

Twelve-year-olds' alcohol drinking remained rare throughout the period. Drinking among 18-year-olds generally increased throughout the period. Significant increases until the late 1990s and decreases thereafter were observed in 14- and 16-year-olds' drinking patterns. A sharp increase was predicted between 2003 and 2005 as a result of EU-related processes, but instead decrease was observed among 14-16-year-olds. The tests of hypothesized decrease from 2005 to 2011 due to tightening alcohol policy including several tax raises produced mixed results.

CONCLUSION:

Alcohol policy changes between 1981 and 2011 seem not to have had noticeable influence on alcohol drinking or drunkenness among the under-aged in Finland. Conspicuous increases seen in population total consumption in association with EU-related developments have not materialized among adolescents.

Ethanol (ETOH) consumption has been associated with endocrine and autonomic changes, including the development of hypertension. However, the sequence of pathophysiological events underlying the emergence of this effect is poorly understood.

AIMS:

This study aimed to establish a time-course correlation between neuroendocrine and cardiovascular changes contributing to the development of hypertension following ETOH consumption.

METHODS:

Male adult Wistar rats were subjected to the intake of increasing ETOH concentrations in their drinking water (first week: 5%, second week: 10%, third and fourth weeks: 20% v/v).

RESULTS:

ETOH consumption decreased plasma and urinary volumes, as well as body weight and fluid intake. Furthermore, plasma osmolality, plasma sodium and urinary osmolality were elevated in the ETOH-treated rats. ETOH intake also induced a progressive increase in the mean arterial pressure (MAP), without affecting heart rate. Initially, this increase in MAP was correlated with increased plasma concentrations of adrenaline and noradrenaline. After the second week of ETOH treatment, plasma catecholamines returned to basal levels, and incremental increases were observed in plasma concentrations of vasopressin (AVP) and angiotensin II (ANG II). Conversely, plasma oxytocin, atrial natriuretic peptide, prolactin and the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis components were not significantly altered by ETOH.

CONCLUSIONS:

Taken together, these results suggest that increased sympathetic activity may contribute to the early increase in MAP observed in ETOH-treated rats. However, the maintenance of this effect may be predominantly regulated by the long-term increase in the secretion of other circulating factors, such as AVP and ANG II, the secretion of both hormones being stimulated by the ETOH-induced dehydration.

AIMS:

The evaluation aimed to assess the impact of The Alcohol Improvement Programme (AIP). This was a UK Department of Health initiative (April 2008-March 2011) aiming to contribute to the reduction of alcohol-related harm as measured by a reduction in the rate of increase in alcohol-related hospital admissions (ARHAs).

METHODS:

The evaluation (March 2010-September 2011) used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to assess the impact of the AIP on ARHAs, to describe and assess the process of implementation, and to identify elements of the programme which might serve as a 'legacy' for the future.

RESULTS:

There was no evidence that the AIP had an impact on reducing the rise in the rate of ARHAs. The AIP was successfully delivered, increased the priority given to alcohol-related harm on local policy agendas and strengthened the infrastructure for the delivery of interventions.

CONCLUSION:

Although there was no measurable short-term impact on the rise in the rate of ARHAs, the AIP helped to set up a strategic response and a delivery infrastructure as a first, necessary step in working towards that goal. There are a number of valuable elements in the AIP which should be retained and repackaged to fit into new policy contexts.

AIMS:

The molecular epidemiological studies on the association of the opioid receptor µ-1 (OPRM1) polymorphism A118G (Asn40Asp, rs1799971) and alcohol use disorders have given conflicting results. The aim of this study was to test the possible association of A118G polymorphism and alcohol use disorders and alcohol consumption in three large cohort-based study samples.

METHODS:

The association between the OPRM1 A118G (Asn40Asp, rs1799971) polymorphism and alcohol use disorders and alcohol consumption was analyzed using three different population-based samples: (a) a Finnish cohort study, Health 2000, with 503 participants having a DSM-IV diagnosis for alcohol dependence and/or alcohol abuse and 506 age- and sex-matched controls; (b) a Finnish cohort study, FINRISK (n = 2360) and (c) the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study (n = 1384). The latter two populations lacked diagnosis-based phenotypes, but included detailed information on alcohol consumption.

RESULTS:

We found no statistically significant differences in genotypic or allelic distribution between controls and subjects with alcohol dependence or abuse diagnoses. Likewise no significant effects were observed between the A118G genotype and alcohol consumption.

CONCLUSION:

These results suggest that A118G (Asn40Asp) polymorphism may not have a major effect on the development of alcohol use disorders at least in the Finnish population.

AIMS:

This study aimed to analyse if changes in drinking in Sweden have been similar in different population subgroups between 2004 and 2011, a period when per capita consumption declined significantly.

METHOD:

The analysis starts out from monthly alcohol survey data including 1500 telephone interviews every month. The population is divided into 20 equally large consumption groups separately for men and women and two broad age groups. Both absolute and relative changes in drinking are studied.

RESULTS:

Most findings confirmed a collectivity of change in drinking: a decline was found at all consumption levels overall, among men and women, and among those under 50 years of age. The decline was smaller in groups with the highest consumption, and among those over 50 years consumption rather increased among the heaviest drinkers.

CONCLUSION:

Support was obtained for the conception of a social component in recent consumption changes in Sweden. This finding has an important policy message in line with the total consumption model, namely that measures that reduce per capita consumption are likely to imply fewer heavy drinkers. Some exceptions from the collectivity theory that deserves attention in future studies were also noted, e.g. the development among heavier drinkers above 50 years of age.

AIMS:

As alcohol dependency is characterized by severe executive function deficits, we examined the influence of high-frequency (HF) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) applied to the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) on executive functioning in recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients.

METHODS:

In this randomized, single blind, sham (placebo)-controlled, crossover study, we included 50 detoxified alcohol-dependent patients. We examined the effect of a single right DLPFC HF-rTMS session on commission errors, mean reaction times (RTs) and intra-individual reaction time variability (IIRTV) during a Go-NoGo task (50% Go/50% NoGo condition) in 29 alcohol-dependent patients. Patients completed this cognitive task immediately before and immediately after the stimulation session. In order to avoid carry-over effects between stimulation sessions, a 1-week inter-session interval was respected. Because rTMS treatment has been shown to affect subjective craving, all patients were also assessed with the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale (OCDS).

RESULTS:

After both stimulation conditions, we observed a significant decrease of commission errors, without differences between active and sham HF-rTMS stimulation. No significant difference was observed between active and sham stimulation on mean RT. However, only active stimulation resulted in a significant decrease in IIRTV. No effects of stimulation were found for the craving measurements.

CONCLUSION:

Our findings suggest that in recently detoxified alcohol-dependent patients, one right-sided HF-rTMS session stabilizes cognitive performance during executive control tasks, implying that active stimulation reduces patients' proneness to attentional lapses.

AIMS:

Breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) estimation training has been effective in increasing estimation accuracy in social drinkers. Predictors of estimation accuracy may identify populations to target for training, yet potential predictors typically are not evaluated. In addition, the therapeutic efficacy of estimation training as a preventive strategy for problematic drinking is unknown.

METHODS:

Forty-six social drinkers with a recent binge history were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group (n = 23 per group). In each of three sessions (pretraining, training, testing), participants consumed alcohol (0.32, 0.24, 0.16 and 0.08 g/kg, in random order) every 30 min (total dose: 0.8 g/kg). Participants provided five BrAC estimates within 3 h of alcohol administration. The intervention group, but not control group, received internal and external training. During testing, participants provided BrAC estimates, but received no feedback. Participants returned for two follow-up visits to complete self-report measures.

RESULTS:

BrAC estimation training improved intervention group estimation accuracy within the laboratory. Together, training, low trait anxiety and low risk expectancy predicted high testing accuracy. There were no significant group differences in subsequent alcohol consumption, behavior under the influence or risk expectancy regarding potentially hazardous behaviors.

CONCLUSION:

BrAC estimation training is effective in the laboratory but may not translate into naturalistic settings.

AIMS:

The objective of this study was to examine brain activity related to visual attention processes in youths who had maintained a binge drinking (BD) pattern of alcohol consumption for >2 years.

METHODS:

The participants were 57 university students (26 binge drinkers: BDs) with no personal or family history of alcoholism or psychopathological disorders in first-degree relatives. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded while participants performed a visual oddball task (twice within a 2-year interval). The latency and amplitude of the P3b component of the ERPs were analysed.

RESULTS:

The P3b amplitude was larger in young BDs than in aged-matched controls at both evaluation times, and the difference was more pronounced after 2 years of maintenance of a BD pattern of consumption. The larger P3b amplitude was associated with an earlier onset of regular drinking and with a greater quantity and intensity of consumption.

CONCLUSIONS:

These findings suggest that young BDs exhibit anomalies in neural activity involved in attentional/working memory processes, which increase after 2 years of maintenance of BD. This anomalous neural activity may reflect underlying dysfunctions in neurophysiological mechanisms as well as the recruitment of additional attentional/working memory resources to enable the binge drinkers to perform the task adequately.