Heavy Drinking and Cancer Linked at Cellular Level

A study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research identifies structures at the cellular level that appear to explain a link between heavy alcohol use and cancer, HealthDay News reported.

Andrea Baccarelli, who heads a research center at the University of Milan, reported that a team of investigators found the connection in looking at telomeres — structures at the end of chromosomes that shorten as people age. In comparing DNA from a group of 59 heavy drinkers with 197 individuals who drank less, the researchers found that telomeres were considerably shorter in the heavy-drinking group.

Heavy alcohol use has been linked with premature aging and earlier onset of illnesses associated with aging, such as cancer, according to the researchers.

"The decrease we found in telomere length is very sharp, and we were surprised to find such a strong effect at the cellular level," Baccarelli said.

From Join Together

• Of Course You’re Angry, Second Edition
• Chicken Soup for the Soul
• 10 Steps to Happiness
• Harmful Effects of Alcohol on Sexual Behaviour
• Women Drinkers have more Problems

Twelve-Step groups emphasize abstinence and have 12 core developmental “steps” to recovering from dependence.

Other elements of 12-Step groups include

• taking responsibility for recovery,
• sharing personal narratives,
• helping others, and
• recognizing and incorporating into daily life the existence of a higher power.

Participants often maintain a close relationship with a sponsor, an experienced member with long-term abstinence, and lifetime participation is expected.

Alcoholics Anonymous is the oldest and best known 12-Step mutual support group. There are more than 100,000 AA groups worldwide and nearly 2 million members.

The AA model has been adapted for people with dependence on drugs and for their family members. Some groups, such as Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and Chemically Dependent Anonymous, focus on any type of drug use. Other groups, such as Cocaine Anonymous and Crystal Meth Anonymous, focus on abuse of specific drugs. Groups for persons with co-occurring substance use and mental disorders also exist (e.g., Double Trouble in Recovery; Dual Recovery Anonymous).

Other 12-Step groups—Families Anonymous, Al-Anon/Alateen, Nar-Anon, and Co-Anon—provide support to significant others, families, and friends of persons with substance use disorders.

Twelve-Step meetings are held in locations such as churches and public buildings. Metropolitan areas usually have specialized groups, based on such member characteristics as gender, length of time in recovery, age, sexual orientation, profession, ethnicity, and language spoken. Attendance and membership are free, although people usually give a small donation when they attend a meeting.

Meetings can be “open” or “closed”?that is, anyone can attend an open meeting, but attendance at closed meetings is limited to people who want to stop drinking or using drugs.

Although meeting formats vary somewhat, most 12-Step meetings have an opening and a closing that are the same at every meeting, such as a 12-Step reading or prayer.

The main part of the meeting usually consists of

1. members sharing their stories of dependence, its effect on their lives, and what they are doing to stay abstinent,
2. the study of a particular step or other doctrine of the group, or
3. a guest speaker.

Twelve-Step groups are not necessarily for everyone. Some people are uncomfortable with the spiritual emphasis and prefer a more secular approach. Others may not agree with the 12-Step philosophy that addiction is a chronic disease, thinking that this belief can be a self-fulfilling prophesy that weakens the ability to remain abstinent. Still others may prefer gender- specific groups.

Mutual support groups that are not based on the 12-Step model typically do not advocate sponsors or lifetime membership. These support groups offer an alternative to traditional 12-Step groups, but the availability of in-person meetings is more limited than that of 12-Step programs (see individual group descriptions below). However, many offer literature, discussion boards, and online meetings.

For People Who Have a Substance Use Disorder

• Alcoholics Anonymous: http://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org
• Chemically Dependent Anonymous: http://www.cdaweb.org
• Cocaine Anonymous: http://www.ca.org
• Crystal Meth Anonymous: http://www.crystalmeth.org
• Heroin Anonymous: http://www.heroin-anonymous.org
• Life Ring Secular Recovery: http://www.unhooked.com
• Marijuana Anonymous: http://www.marijuana-anonymous.org
• Methadone Anonymous: http://www.methadone-anonymous.orgn
• Narcotics Anonymous: http://www.na.org
• Secular Organizations for Sobriety/Save Our Selves: http://www.sossobriety.org
• SMART Recovery: http://www.smartrecovery.org
• Women for Sobriety: http://www.womenforsobriety.org

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Try the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST)

Answering an anonymous set of questions can help one become aware of particular problems.

This 22-question self-test may help you become aware of your use or abuse of alcohol. This test specifically focuses on alcohol use.

“When I first answered these questions I scored very well. I was not very honest. Three months later I did the test again. Oh man, what a wake up call.” Said Garry.

The test can be found at; Michigan Alcohol Screening Test

Heavy Drinkers Engage in Array of Unhealthy Behaviors

New research suggests that heavy drinking is just one part of a constellation of unhealthy and unwise behaviors, HealthDay News.

Researchers who surveyed 7,884 hospital patients in Oregon and Washington found that risky drinkers — those who had an average of three or more alcoholic drinks daily

• were more likely to have poor eating habits and
• not wear seatbelts, and
• were less likely to see their doctors regularly.
• They also were less likely to think that they could change their own health behaviors.

"People should not only be concerned about heavy drinking, but also these other health-related practices," said study author Carla Green of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.

Moderate drinkers were more likely to report good health than either heavy drinkers or abstainers or light drinkers, the study also found.

The findings were published in the journal Addiction Research and Theory.

• See also
• Of Course You’re Angry, Second Edition
• 5 Alcoholism Subtypes
• Diet & Health Books
• Smoking and Erectile Dysfunction
• Things We Can Learn from a Dog

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Excessive Alcohol Use and Risks to Men’s Health

Men are more likely than women to drink excessively. Excessive drinking is associated with significant increases in short-term risks to health and safety, and the risk increases as the amount of drinking increases. Men are also more likely than women to take other risks (e.g., drive fast or without a safety belt), when combined with excessive drinking, further increasing their risk of injury or death.

Drinking levels for men

• Approximately 62% of adult men reported drinking alcohol in the last 30 days and were more likely to binge drink than women (47%) during the same time period.
• Men average about 12.5 binge drinking episodes per person per year, while women average about 2.7 binge drinking episodes per year.
• Most people who binge drink are not alcoholics or alcohol dependent.
• It is estimated that about 17% of men and about 8% of women will meet criteria for alcohol dependence at some point in their lives.

Injuries and deaths as a result of excessive alcohol use

• Men consistently have higher rates of alcohol-related deaths and hospitalizations than women.
• Among drivers in fatal motor-vehicle traffic crashes, men are almost twice as likely as women to have been intoxicated (i.e., a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or greater).
• Excessive alcohol consumption increases aggression and, as a result, can increase the risk of physically assaulting another person.
• Men are more likely than women to commit suicide, and more likely to have been drinking prior to committing suicide.

Reproductive Health and Sexual Function

Excessive alcohol use can interfere with testicular function and male hormone production resulting in impotence, infertility, and reduction of male secondary sex characteristics such as facial and chest hair.

Excessive alcohol use is commonly involved in sexual assault. Impaired judgment caused by alcohol may worsen the tendency of some men to mistake a women’s friendly behavior for sexual interest and misjudge their use of force. Also, alcohol use by men increases the chances of engaging in risky sexual activity including unprotected sex, sex with multiple partners, or sex with a partner at risk for sexually transmitted diseases.

Cancer

Alcohol consumption increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, and colon in men.

There are a number of health conditions affected by excessive alcohol use that affect both men and women. Some additional conditions are covered in the Alcohol Use and Health Fact Sheet.

See also

Take Control of Your Drinking Problem…and You May Not Even Have to Quit by Michael S. Levy

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New Report Highlights Alcohol Abstainers, Quitters as Well as Current Drinkers

A new US federal report may not show how many people are in recovery from alcoholism, but it does provide interesting insights into the number of adults who have quit drinking or abstain for health and other reasons.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics estimated in its Health Behaviors of Adults: United States, 2005-2007 report that

• 61.2 percent of American adults currently drink alcohol, but that
• 24.6 percent are lifetime abstainers and
• 14.3 percent of Americans call themselves former drinkers.

Of the latter,

• 8.1 percent said they are former infrequent drinkers, while
• 6.2 percent classified themselves as former regular drinkers.

Men (67.6 percent) were more likely than women (55.3 percent) to be current drinkers. More white adults were current drinkers (64.2 percent) than members of any other ethnic group; Asians were the least likely to drink (43.1 percent).

Most of the current alcohol users surveyed were considered to be

• light drinkers (29.3 percent), while
• 14.4 percent were classified as moderate drinkers,
• 12.3 percent were considered infrequent drinkers, and
• 5 percent were labelled heavy drinkers (having more than 7 drinks per week for women, or more than 14 drinks per week for men, on average, during the past year).

1. See also
2. 5 Alcoholism Myths
3. 5 Alcoholism Subtypes
4. Chicken Soup for the Recovering Soul
5. Of Course You’re Angry, Second Edition
6. Am I an Alcoholic?

How to tell when drinking is becoming a problem

ALCOHOLISM

Alcoholism is a rough word to deal with.
Yet nobody is too young (or too old) to have trouble with booze.
That’s because alcoholism is an illness. It can hit anyone. Young, old. Rich, poor. Black, white. And it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been drinking or what you’ve been drinking. It’s what drinking does to you that counts.

To help you decide whether you might have a problem with your own drinking, we’ve prepared these 12 questions. The answers are nobody’s business but your own. If you can answer yes to any one of these questions, maybe it’s time you took a serious look at what your drinking might be doing to you. And, if you do need help or if you’d just like to talk to someone about your drinking, call us. We’re in the phone book under Alcoholics Anonymous.

A Simple 12-Question Quiz designed To Help You Decide

1 Do you drink because you have problems? To relax?

2 Do you drink when you get mad at other people, your friends or parents?

3 Do you prefer to drink alone, rather than with others?

4 Are your grades starting to slip? Are you goofing off on your job?

5 Did you ever try to stop drinking or drink less — and fail?

6 Have you begun to drink in the morning, before school or work?

7 Do you gulp your drinks?

8 Do you ever have loss of memory due to your drinking?

9 Do you lie about your drinking?

10 Do you ever get into trouble when you’re drinking?

11 Do you get drunk when you drink, even when you don’t mean to?

12 Do you think it’s cool to be able to hold your liquor?

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
• The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
• A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any causes.
• Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

^{This is A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature Copyright © 1988, 1998 by A.A. World Services, Inc. All Right Reserved reprinted with permission}

Alcohol Self Test

Are you wondering if you have an addiction to alcohol?

Are you concerned about the role alcohol plays in your life?  With 26 questions, this simple self-test is intended to help you determine if you or someone you know needs to find out more about alcoholism.

Directions: The following questions are a self-test to help your review the role that alcohol plays in your life.

Carefully read each statement. When preparing each response, take into consideration your actions over the course of the past 12 months.

Yes or No: Decide whether your answer is YES or NO and then check the appropriate space. Please be sure to answer every question.

Self-Test:  What are the Signs of Alcoholism?

Go to; Alcohol Abuse Self Test.

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We don’t think of alcohol as a drug, but it is. Alcohol is often thought of as a stimulant, because it lowers inhibitions, which may mean that you take chances you wouldn’t otherwise take. However, alcohol actually acts as a depressant on your central nervous system, slowing down brain functioning.

Short-Term Effects

A common effect of drinking alcohol is a sense of well-being. This feeling could be accompanied by drowsiness, dizziness and flushing. After one or two drinks, you may not appear drunk, but you have already lost some of your coordination skills. Drinking more alcohol will affect your speech, balance and vision.

When a person drinks too much, they often wake up with a hangover. A hangover is actually alcohol withdrawal. Beginning eight to 12 hours after you stop drinking, a headache accompanied by shakiness and nausea may result. Short-term loss of memory (blackouts) can also occur after a bout of drinking.

Remember, alcohol is not safe to use when you’re taking other drugs. Even a small amount of alcohol can change the effect of another drug.

Long-Term Effects

Drinking heavily over a long period of time can lead to serious health problems such as stomach ulcers, sexual problems, liver disease, brain damage, and many kinds of cancer. Excessive drinking is often responsible for financial, legal and family problems.

Because no safe level of drinking during pregnancy has been established, experts recommend no alcohol during pregnancy or while breastfeeding.

Drinking Patterns

Most people are able to drink alcohol in a responsible and safe way. They are referred to as social drinkers. However, some people are problem drinkers. They may be physically addicted to alcohol and not able to function without the drug in their systems. Other people are able to go days or weeks without alcohol, but drink a great deal at one time (for men this is defined as four or more drinks on one occasion and for women, it is defined as three or more drinks on one occasion). This pattern of drinking is commonly referred to as binge drinking. Binge drinking increases the risk of injuries from accidents, impaired driving and health problems (such as seizures, stroke and kidney failure).

Heavy drinking, or binge drinking, is just an example of problem drinking. What is important to consider is how your use of alcohol is affecting your life. If you are experiencing difficulties in one or more of the following areas, you may want to evaluate the role alcohol plays in your life:

• physical/emotional health
• relationships
• job/school performance
• legal/financial situation

Alcohol and Addiction

People who use alcohol may find that they need more and more to get the same effect. Regular users of alcohol may not appear to be drunk, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe for them to drive a car or to do other tasks.

If you suddenly stop using alcohol after a period of use, you may have withdrawal symptoms. These may vary from insomnia, jumpiness and sweating to more severe symptoms such as tremors, hallucinations, and convulsions.

• Inspirational Books
• Diet & Health Books

A woman in her 30s in Gwangju (Korea) recently died while on a so-called booze diet. She was under extreme pressure to lose weight, and after 10 days of only drinking alcohol for dinner while skipping breakfast and lunch, her system packed up.

Those on a liquor diet drink alcohol to lose weight, skipping breakfast and lunch and eating only side dishes with a drink for dinner. Some then throw up to ruin their appetite for the next morning. The method may appeal to those who want to lose weight fast, but it is perilous. "It’s such a dreadful way to lose weight," says Prof. Cho Kyung-hwan of the Department of Family Medicine at Korea University’s Anam Hospital. "It should never be recommended, and no one should listen when it is."

Two out of every 10 Koreans have less than the normal amount of the enzyme that breaks down alcohol, which is why their face reddens or they keel over after just one glass. If such people go on a booze diet, they can die. But even those who have enough enzymes are in danger as the booze diet badly hurts their stomach and esophagus.

Full story at; Deadly Perils of the Booze Diet

• See also;
• A Problem Shared is a Problem Halved
• Alcohol and Pregnancy
• Binge Drinking
• Effects of alcohol on women
• Healthy Chocolate

Korean Spirituality (Dimensions of Asian Spirituality) by Don Baker

Essential Spirituality: The 7 Central Practices to Awaken Heart and Mind by Roger Walsh