Question

research about Alcohol Abuse

Answer 1

Introduction-

Alcohol is part of our society. People use it to celebrate, socialize, relax, and enhance the enjoyment of meals. Nearly 90 percent of adults in the United States report that they drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime, and more than half report drinking in the last month.Although most people drink in moderation, nearly 40 percent of U.S. adults drink in excess of the low-risk guidelines established by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).(See “Drinking Patterns and Their Definitions.”)

Alcohol misuse has wide-ranging adverse consequences. In the United States, nearly 88,000 people per year die from alcohol-related causes; globally, alcohol accounts for 3.3 million deaths—5.9 percent of all deaths—each year.Alcohol misuse also contributes to poor performance at school and work; family problems; unprotected sex and sexually transmitted diseases; violence; memory blackouts; unintentional injuries, accidents, and overdoses; and organ damage and disease. It can lead to alcohol use disorder (AUD), a serious chronic condition that affects nearly 16 million people in the United States.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that alcohol misuse, including AUD, costs the United States $249 billion per year due to health care expenses, lost workplace productivity, crime, property damage, and other outcomes.

NIAAA, a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the largest funder of alcohol research in the world. For nearly five decades, NIAAA’s extramural research program has supported a diverse portfolio of innovative investigator-initiated research to elucidate the effects of alcohol on health and reduce the burden of alcohol misuse for individuals at all stages of life. This work is complemented by a robust intramural research program that leverages the state-of-the-art resources available at NIH to advance high-risk, high-reward studies in key areas of alcohol science. In addition, through the Collaborative Research on Addiction at NIH (CRAN) initiative, NIAAA is partnering with the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Cancer Institute to integrate resources and expertise across NIH to develop a comprehensive, well integrated understanding of substance use, misuse, and addiction that considers the common and distinctive features of addictive substances and substance use disorders (SUDs).

Research supported by NIAAA has spurred tremendous progress in identifying the factors that contribute to alcohol-related problems and the fundamental biological and behavioral mechanisms by which they develop, and it has paved the way for innovative preventive and treatment interventions. Once viewed as a moral failing or character flaw, AUD is now widely regarded as a chronic but treatable brain disease that develops through complex, dynamic interactions among biological, environmental, and developmental factors. This shift in perspective, bolstered by decades of research on the neurobiology of addiction, has helped reduce the stigma associated with AUD and has underscored the need for a multipronged approach to preventing and treating alcohol-related problems, with interventions designed for individuals, families, communities, and society at large.

This strategic plan serves as a roadmap for catalyzing continued progress across the spectrum of alcohol research and translating these advances for the benefit of the public. It highlights NIAAA’s research goals in five key areas:

• Goal 1: Identify Mechanisms of Alcohol Action, Alcohol-Related Pathology, and Recovery
  
• Goal 2: Improve Diagnosis and Tracking of Alcohol Misuse, Alcohol Use Disorder, and Alcohol-Related Consequences
  
• Goal 3: Develop and Improve Strategies To Prevent Alcohol Misuse, Alcohol Use Disorder, and Alcohol-Related Consequences
  
• Goal 4: Develop and Improve Treatments for Alcohol Misuse, Alcohol Use Disorder, Co-Occurring Conditions, and Alcohol-Related Consequences
  
• Goal 5: Enhance the Public Health Impact of NIAAA-Supported Research

Along with the goals outlined above, NIAAA has identified several cross-cutting research themes, which are woven throughout this strategic plan.

Address Alcohol Misuse Across the Lifespan

Human biology and behavior change throughout life; these changes affect drinking patterns and risks for alcohol-related injury and disease. NIAAA has adopted a “lifespan approach” to alcohol research that considers how the emergence and progression of drinking behavior and related outcomes interact with developmental changes and environmental inputs across the lifespan, from the embryonic and fetal stages of development into older adulthood. This perspective guides the identification of life-stage–appropriate strategies for preventing, treating, and facilitating recovery from alcohol problems, as well as tailoring resources to the needs of individuals of all ages.

New study suggests oxytocin could help treat alcohol addiction-

Oxytocin, a brain peptide that is widely known for its role in love and bonding, may hold potential for helping individuals overcome alcohol addiction. In a collaborative study with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), scientists at Scripps Research discovered that oxytocin blocked enhanced drinking in alcohol-dependent rats, concluding that targeting the oxytocin system may be a successful pharmaceutical approach for treating alcohol-use disorder.

Because oxytocin is already produced in your brain, is generally well-tolerated as a treatment, and is approved by the FDA for use in humans, it has lot of potential for alcohol addiction,” says Dean Kirson, PhD, co-lead author of the study and a researcher in the laboratory of Marisa Roberto, PhD, a professor of neuroscience at Scripps Research. “We are cautiously optimistic that this research may lead to the development of new treatments for alcohol addiction that could help millions of people worldwide.”

Alcohol-use disorder is a chronic relapsing brain disease characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational or health consequences. With such enormous impacts on families and society, a great need exists for new solutions to combat the disease.    

In the new study, the Scripps Research-NIDA team tested the hypothesis that oxytocin administration could normalize the maladaptive brain changes that occur in alcohol dependence, thereby reducing alcohol drinking in an established rat model of alcohol dependence. The authors investigated oxytocin’s effects on dependence-induced alcohol consumption and the altered chemical signaling in the central nucleus of the amygdala, a key brain region associated with stress and addiction.

GAPS IN SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE AND NEW RESEARCH DIRECTIONS

Heterogeneity of individuals with alcohol use disorder

This review has briefly summarized the treatments currently available for alcohol use disorder that are relatively effective, at least in some patients. Many new treatments are also being developed, and some of them seem promising. Nevertheless, numerous gaps in scientific knowledge remain. Notably, most people who drink alcohol do not develop an alcohol use disorder, most people with alcohol use disorder do not seek treatment, and most of those who do not seek treatment “recover” from alcohol use disorder without treatment. Very little is known about factors, particularly neurobiological, genetic, and epigenetic factors, that predict the transition from alcohol use to alcohol use disorder, although basic science models suggest that a cycle of neuroadaptations could be at play.We also lack a basic understanding of how individuals recover from alcohol use disorder in the absence of treatment and what neurobiological, psychological, social, and environmental factors are most important for supporting recovery from alcohol use disorder. Gaining a better understanding of recovery in the absence of treatment, particularly modifiable psychological, neurobiological, and epigenetic factors, could provide novel insights for medications and behavioral treatment development. Among many other factors, special attention is needed in future studies to shed light on the role of sex and gender in the development and maintenance of alcohol use disorder and on the response to pharmacological, behavioral, and other treatments.