Binge drinking is usually seen as a problem of college campuses, but many older adults may be overindulging in alcohol as well, a study published Monday suggests. Using data from a government survey of nearly 11,000 Americans age 50 and up, researchers found that 23 percent of men between the ages of 50 and 64….
Continue reading ›
Most people think they know what a woman alcoholic looks like –a fall-down drunk whose life is littered with DUI convictions, or maybe the sad lush acting a fool at every office party. In truth, women struggling with alcohol often look just like everybody else. An estimated 5.3 million American women either are alcoholic or….
Continue reading ›
She spent 30 years “wheedling, cajoling, arguing, fighting, threatening and blackmailing” her alcoholic husband. But it was only after attending a local Al-Anon Family Group, for the family and friends of alcoholics, that Mary* realised no one could stop her husband drinking except her husband himself. Mary, a former nurse in her 60s, and her….
Continue reading ›
Call it the chicken-and-egg debate of the addiction world: Cocaine addicts are known for being frenetic, but which came first, the behavior or the habit? New research indicates that, at least in rats, it’s the behavior that begets addiction. What’s more, the study has pinpointed the character trait–impulsiveness–that is responsible for developing true drug dependence…..
Continue reading ›
Poisoning caused by binge drinking – drinking excessively within a short period. For men, that’s five standard-sized alcoholic beverages within two hours. For women it’s four or more standard-sized drinks, which is defined as a 12-ounce beer, a 5- ounce glass of wine or a mixed drink with one shot. With excessive drinking, the liver struggles….
Continue reading ›