A National Directory of Drug Treatment Centers and Alcohol Treatment Centers, Therapists and Specialists. A free, simple directory providing assistance and guidance for those seeking help regarding alcohol addiction, drug addiction, dependency and many other conditions that affect the mind, body and soul.
Call 800-580-9104 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Women who binge drink more likely to engage in unsafe sex

A U.S. study says women who have more than five alcoholic drinks at one sitting are at increased risk of having unsafe sex and contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

Researchers at John Hopkins University medical school in Baltimore looked at the correlation between binge drinking and risky sexual behaviours in women. They interviewed patients at an urban clinic for sexually transmitted infections to explore the link.

In their study, which will be published in the November issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the researchers found that women who binge drink are at increased risk of practising unsafe sex, including having multiple partners and engaging in anal sex, leading to high rates of gonorrhea.

“The link between binge drinking and risky sexual behaviour is complex,” said Heidi Hutton, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at the medical school and an author of the study.

“We wanted to examine one component of that relationship, whether binge drinking increased the risk of engaging in sexual behaviours and having STDs. We found … that binge drinking increased STD risk for women.”

Binge drinking was defined as having more than five drinks at one time.

Not surprising

Geetanjali Chander, assistant professor of medicine in the general internal medicine division at the school, said the results are not entirely surprising.

“Binge drinking results in a decreased ability to make clear decisions and can enable individuals to engage in behaviours that they would not if sober,” she said.

“Initially, some individuals may drink with the expectation of decreasing inhibitions, or some may drink because they are anxious or depressed, and they expect alcohol to alleviate their symptoms. Regardless of why they choose to drink, many people do not perceive the potential risk or harm that may result from binge drinking.”

The researchers asked 795 patients who were being evaluated or treated at the urban clinic for sexually transmitted infections whether they would be interested in being interviewed. Of that number, 671 agreed to answer questions about their recent alcohol and drug use and risky sexual behaviours.

The respondents included 322 men and 349 women, though the research focused on the women. Ninety-five per cent of the respondents were African-American. Their answers were analyzed to examine the link between binge drinking, sexual behaviours and sexually transmitted infections.

The researchers also took into consideration the age, employment and drug use of the respondents.

Hutton said the results are worthy of further study and she recommends that staff at STD clinics routinely screen for binge drinking.

“While it is standard practice in most STD clinics to discuss behavioural factors for STD risk, binge drinkers may be harder to identify than alcohol-dependent individuals because the latter have more obvious impairment of function.”
________________
source: CBC News

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Teen drug rehabilitation

Teens are very prone to addiction or drug abuse. It may start with trial of excitement or fun with friends, but they may never know when they get addicted to such a harmful thing. The habit of taking drugs, can largely affect the performance of the teen in the school and also at sports, hampering….

Continue reading

Web intervention reduced students’ drinking

Heavy drinkers in the study were given an estimate of their peak blood-alcohol concentration. Heavy drinkers in the study were given an estimate of their peak blood-alcohol concentration. University students who received a brief personalized online assessment of their drinking habits reduced their alcohol consumption for at least several months afterward, a recent study by….

Continue reading

Malibu Outpatient Rehab: A Second Chance at Life

Seasons Recovery Center of Malibu, California is proud to provide outpatient rehab that offers recovering addicts a new beginning and a second chance at life. Tucked away in the tropical beaches of Malibu sits Seasons Recovery Center, a full scale treatment campus which features several residences over 5 acres of pristine landscape. The campus is….

Continue reading

Working hard, drinking harder

When does a glass or two at the end of the day spill over into high-functioning alcoholism? After work every day you either go to the pub or return home to crack open a bottle of wine. Twice a week you might drink so much alcohol that you suffer memory loss. You spend much of….

Continue reading

Heavy drinkers seek out bargains

A study of heavy drinkers consuming hundreds of units of alcohol a week found they were buying cheaper drink than most other people. One study author said it was “likely” a minimum price for alcohol, as proposed by the Scottish government, would cut these problem drinkers’ consumption. A total of 377 people were interviewed as….

Continue reading

Where do calls go?

Calls to numbers on a specific treatment center listing will be routed to that treatment center. Calls to any general helpline (non-facility specific 1-8XX numbers) could be forwarded to SAMHSA or a verified treatment provider. Calls are routed based on availability and geographic location.

The TreatmentCenters.com helpline is free, private, and confidential. There is no obligation to enter treatment. In some cases, TreatmentCenters.com could charge a small cost per call, to a licensed treatment center, a paid advertiser, this allows TreatmentCenters.com to offer free resources and information to those in need by calling the free hotline you agree to the terms of use. We do not receive any commission or fee that is dependent upon which treatment provider a caller chooses.

I NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE NOWI NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE NOW 800-580-9104Response time about 1 min | Response rate 100%
Who Answers?