Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · May 2004
Comparative StudyAlcohol use disorders among emergency department-treated older adolescents: a new brief screen (RUFT-Cut) using the AUDIT, CAGE, CRAFFT, and RAPS-QF.
Early identification of alcohol use disorders (AUD) among emergency department (ED)-treated patients is important for facilitating intervention and further evaluation outside EDs. A number of brief screening instruments have been developed for identifying patients with AUD, but it is not clear whether they are practical and perform well with older adolescents in an ED setting. This study contrasted four brief screening instruments for detecting DSM-IV-defined AUD and tested a newly developed brief screen for use among ED-treated older adolescents. ⋯ Among existing alcohol screening instruments, the AUDIT performed best for identifying ED-treated older adolescents with alcohol use disorders. The RUFT-Cut is a brief screening instrument for AUD that shows promise for identifying ED-treated older adolescents who are in need of intervention or further evaluation. Future research should focus on use of the RUFT-Cut in other settings with larger, more diverse samples of adolescents.
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Apr 2004
Comparative StudyAcute alcohol intoxication during hemorrhagic shock: impact on host defense from infection.
Acute alcohol intoxication is a frequent underlying condition associated with traumatic injury. Our studies have demonstrated that acute alcohol intoxication significantly impairs the immediate hemodynamic, metabolic, and inflammatory responses to hemorrhagic shock. This study investigated whether acute alcohol intoxication during hemorrhagic shock would alter the outcome from an infectious challenge during the initial 24 hr recovery period. ⋯ These results demonstrate that the early alterations in metabolic and inflammatory responses to hemorrhagic shock produced by acute alcohol intoxication are associated with neutrophil dysfunction and impaired host response to a secondary infectious challenge leading to increased morbidity and mortality.
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Jan 2004
Comparative StudyEndogenous opioid receptor genes and alcohol dependence among Taiwanese Han.
Nonselective opioid antagonists reduce alcohol consumption under various experimental situations, and several association studies have examined possible roles of opioid receptor mu (OPRM), delta (OPRD), and kappa (OPRK) genes in the development of alcohol dependence. ⋯ Our findings do not support a possible role of the opioid receptor genes for the proclivity to alcohol dependence in the Taiwanese Han.
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Nov 2003
Do college students drink more than they think? Use of a free-pour paradigm to determine how college students define standard drinks.
Much of what is known about college drinking comes from self-report survey data. Such surveys typically ask students to indicate how many drinks they consume within a given period of time. It is currently unclear whether college students and researchers use similar operational definitions of a single drink. This information is critical given the widespread reliance on survey data for assessing the correlates and consequences of college drinking. ⋯ The data suggest that college students drink more alcohol than indicated by their survey responses, raising questions about the validity of widely used alcohol surveys. Efforts to educate students about the alcohol content of standard drinks should be enhanced.
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Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. · Sep 2003
Compromised pontocerebellar and cerebellothalamocortical systems: speculations on their contributions to cognitive and motor impairment in nonamnesic alcoholism.
Corticopontocerebellar and cerebellothalamocortical circuits underlie a wide range of neuropsychological processes compromised by alcoholism. The analyses herein tested whether abnormalities of volumes of brain structures forming nodes of these separate feed-forward and feedback systems are selectively related to each other and whether any of these noncortical regions can account for cognitive and motor deficits occurring as sequelae of chronic alcoholism. ⋯ Each major node of frontocerebellar circuitry shows volume deficits in alcoholics but can be independently compromised. Disruption of these circuits may underlie alcoholism-related neuropsychological deficits, either by abnormalities present in individual nodes or by disconnection via interruption of selective circuitry.