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A new study indicates that a sweet tooth in children may be an indicator for problems with depression and, later, alcoholism.

The study, conducted by the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, included 500 children ages 5 to 12. The children were asked to taste five samples of sugar (sucrose) water with varying amounts of sugar and indicate their preferred level of sweetness. About one-fourth of the participants had depressive symptoms and 49 percent had a family history of alcoholism.

Researchers found that a liking for intense sweetness was greatest in the 37 children with both depressive symptoms and a family history of alcoholism. Among these children, the preferred level of sweetness was 24 percent sucrose -- the equivalent of 14 teaspoons of sugar, or about twice as much sugar as the average soda. The other children participating in the study preferred about 18 percent sucrose, or one-third less sugar.

The researchers believe that more study is needed to establish whether a liking for intense sweetness is a reliable indicator of later alcohol problems.

Study author Julie A. Mennella, a developmental psychobiologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, said in a news release: "We know that sweet taste is rewarding to all kids and makes them feel good. In addition, certain groups of children may be especially attracted to intense sweetness due to their underlying biology. At this point, we don't know whether this higher 'bliss point' for sweets is a marker for later alcohol use."

(Source: www.businessweek.com)

Labels: depression, sugar, alcoholism

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Men and women in treatment for alcohol dependency respond in similar way to a certain drug. However, there are subtle differences in the ways that female alcoholics approach and respond to treatment programs, according to a new study funded by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

• Researchers studied 378 women and 840 men in treatment for alcohol dependency.
• Some took the drug naltrexone while a control group took sugar pills.
• Both men and women in the study responded in similar ways to naltrexone.

The study found that women developed alcohol dependence approximately three years later than men in the same study. Women were less likely to have been in treatment before, and they consumed fewer alcoholic drinks per day. They were more likely to have consulted with their primary care physicians than to go into specialized treatment for alcoholism.

The study appeared in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
 

Labels: alcoholism, treatment, naltrexone

Posted By: Teen Drug Help 0 Comments

Massachusetts now has three "sobriety-intensive" schools to help students who have drug or alcohol dependencies. Students not only take academic classes, they also attend counseling sessions and are required to be tested for drugs and alcohol once a week.

Will Luzier, director of the Governor's Interagency Council on Substance Abuse said the state needs more such schools, even though they are expensive.

Nationwide, there has been a 400% increase in the number of people over age 12 years old admitted to treatment programs for addiction to pain medications in the past few years. One study found that 26% of high school students in Massachusetts were offered, sold or given drugs on the grounds of their schools.

For students who don't have access to public-funded sober schools, a private residential boarding school for teens with drug and alcohol problems may be answer.
 

Labels: drug addiction, alcoholism, teens, schools

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 1 Comment

Alcoholism can cause loss of memory and executive function, even though alcoholics may think their brain functions are normal, according to a new study from France.

• Dr. Anne-Pascale LeBerre, of the University of Caen/Basse-Normandie asked 28 patients in alcohol rehabilitation to estimate how well they would do on tests of remembering episodes and tests of executive brain function.
• The patients had not had a drink in two weeks and were not on any medications.
• All of them predicted they would do well on the tests, yet all of them performed below average.

"If patients are unaware of memory deficits, and especially if they overestimate their memory ability, they will benefit only partially from clinical treatment, and they will labor under the illusion that they have sufficiently consolidated this important clinical information for everyday life, where as the reality is actually very different," said Dr. LeBerre.

This study appears in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Labels: alcoholism, brain damage

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments