Are There Gender Differences in Alcoholism?

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Craig W

Could it be that alcohol affects women differently than men? If so, what implications does that have for treatment? That’s the issue discussed in a recent Scientific American article.

It starts out: “Alcohol abuse does its neurological damage more quickly in women than in men, new research suggests. The finding adds to a growing body of evidence that is prompting researchers to consider whether the time is ripe for single-gender treatment programs for alcohol-dependent women and men.”

It goes on to state: “Over the past few decades scientists have observed a narrowing of the gender gap in alcohol dependence. In the 1980s the ratio of male to female alcohol dependence stood at roughly five males for every female, according to figures compiled by Shelly Greenfield, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. By 2002 the “dependence difference” had dropped to about 2.5 men for every woman. But although the gender gap in dependence may be closing, differences in the ways men and women respond to alcohol are emerging. ”

See the entire article HERE

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LifeRing’s Office Hours a bit Uncertain in December

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Craig W

As happens in many places this time of the year, our office hours will be a bit irregular for the rest of this month. Definitely call before you drop by. We’ll keep up with messages, but you may not get an actual person on the phone. Our system is set up to forward most calls, when the office is empty, to a cell phone which will either by answered or will allow you to leave a message. Be patient — after the office phone rings there’s a pause while the system transfers the call to the cell phone. Don’t hang up! Your message, as they say, is important to us.

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A Message from LifeRing’s Chairman of the Board

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Craig W

One of my jobs for LifeRing is keeping an eye on the website comments. It’s a regular occurrence for someone to post a plaintive plea for help as a comment, often as a response to an item that seems completely unrelated. “I just found your website. I’ve tried and tried to quit drinking. Nothing I do works. Please help me,” they write, or words to that effect. I get similar messages in emails sent directly to me. I respond trying to give them hope and get them involved, usually online because they live in an area where we don’t yet offer face-to-face meetings.

The messages are often heartbreaking in their sadness and desperation. But they also remind me of how I felt when I first stumbled across LifeRing a dozen years ago. I feel undying gratitude to LifeRing for the support I received in overcoming my own addiction. I want everyone to have access to that kind of help. Becoming known to more people who need what we offer is a daunting task. We’re a tiny boat in a huge ocean. We’re trying to grow and are steadily doing so, but it’s slow and there aren’t very many of us and we don’t have much money. We could use your help.

There’s a button on this page that links to the donation section of this website. Or you can just click HERE. I used to spend a lot of money on alcohol; now I try to donate a fraction of that each month to LifeRing. We’re a volunteer organization with one part-time office worker – everybody else works for free (although the psychic rewards are huge). But we do have expenses and they’ve been growing. We’re running a deficit this year as we try to do more. In the new year we’ll either have to reduce our spending or increase our income, particularly from donations.

There aren’t very many causes you can contribute to that will do more good than this one – every day we work hard to save the lives of people, give them hope and allow them to regain a life of meaning and self-respect. Please help if you can. Donate.

Yours in sobriety,

Craig Whalley

Posted in Essays | 2 Comments

Another Myth Debunked: The French Don’t Handle Alcohol Any Better Than Other People

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Craig W

Steve S., a member of the LifeRing board of directors, pointed out in a comment on this blog the other day that the idea that Europeans — and particularly the French — deal with alcohol better than Americans is simply not true. He wrote: “France has one of the world’s highest rates of cirrhosis of the liver. The myth of moderate, wine-drinking Mediterranean peoples is largely just that – a myth.” NPR ran a story today that backed that up. The common French practice of allowing, and even encouraging, children to have wine with meals, thought to teach a healthy and balanced view of drinking, instead leads to those children developing alcohol-related problems later in life. Read or listen to the report HERE

Posted in Information, Media | 1 Comment

A Sober Look at Death From Drinking

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Craig W

A recent article in The Atlantic points to a study in Italy that makes the somewhat obvious point that drinking is bad for your health. The article starts out:

“A number of studies in the past few years have suggested health benefits from drinking small or moderate amounts of alcohol. This can encourage people to look at alcohol almost as if it’s medicine. A recent study of alcohol use in Italy paints a much more sobering picture.

“Death rates from infections, diabetes, diseases of the immunological, nervous, cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive systems, and violent causes all were elevated, as were death rates from many types of cancer. And while women in the study fared better than men, they still fared worse than the rest of the population.

“It’s hardly news that alcoholismis bad for the health. But few studies have examined these effects in such detail and in such a large population.”

Read the entire article HERE

Posted in Information, Science | 2 Comments

A LifeRing Keeper: Support, Information and Experience

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Craig W

Here’s a post from one of the LifeRing email groups. It’s a response to a person who was expressing their despair over how difficult it was to quit drinking. In it, the writer tries to give both support and information while drawing on their own experiences, something common in all LifeRing venues.

Ah, it all sounds so VERY familiar. I don’t know if it helps or not, but just about every drinker has been exactly where you are — waking up in the morning vowing that this time, I really, really will quit drinking, only to succumb to the urges in the afternoon or evening. That was me, for a very long time.

So you know that doesn’t work. The decision to quit has to come from somewhere else inside of you. Somewhere besides the sour stomach, the aching head, the angry spouse or the deep regrets. These things work differently for different people, but maybe you have to not only want to get away from a destructive and degrading habit, but also want something better. Think about what you want, not just about what you want to avoid. Think about what you want to be, and stop the self-condemnation. Continue reading →

Posted in Keepers | 9 Comments

Alcohol has Different Effects for Women vs. Men, Young vs. Old, Article Says

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Craig W

An article at the Star.com website of the Toronto (Canada) Star newspaper discusses what researchers have discovered about differences in the effects of alcohol on females — especially adolescent females — from their male counterparts. In both genders, one researcher says, “Quantity and frequency can be a killer for novice drinkers. Adding alcohol to the mix of the developing brain will likely complicate the normal developmental trajectory. Long after a young person recovers from a hangover, risk to cognitive and brain functions endures.”

The article also discusses ongoing studies about differences between the brains of addicts of all kinds and non-addicts. The brain’s reward system, in which certain parts of the brain react to the presence of dopamine by imparting feelings of pleasure, is weaker in addicts. Some of that is an effect of drinking or using: too much stimulation of the system by addictive drinking/using causes a scaling back in the number of receptors, which in turn leads to the “need” for addicts to use more and more of the drug of choice as time passes. It’s possible, though not yet proven, that some individuals are born with a relatively weak brain reward system, predisposing them to being vulnerable to addiction.

New Guide Helps Identify at-risk Kids, 9-18.

Posted on November 18, 2011 by Craig W

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has just released a guide for health care professionals to help identify children and teenagers age 9 to 18 who are at risk for alcohol-related problems, provide brief counseling, and refer them to treatment resources if that is indicated.

While aimed at professionals, the guide contains useful information for non-professionals and parents as well.

The evidence-based guide, Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth: A Practitioner’s Guide, includes a two-question risk assessment as well as links to resources for motivational interviewing. NIAAA developed the guide and supporting pocket guide in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics.

You can download or order the guide HERE

Posted in Information | 1 Comment

New LifeRing Meeting in Killorglin, Ireland

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Craig W

Another new LifeRing meeting has come to Ireland, this time in Killorglin in County Kerry, on the Southwest of the Island. It joins several meetings in Dublin and Cork, along with Clonakilty and, in Northern Ireland, Belfast. The new group meets each Wednesday evening at 7:30 at The Manor Inn Hotel in Killorglin. They began this week and, reports are, all went very well.

Posted in Meetings | 1 Comment

Drug Shows Promise for Help in Preventing Relapse

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Craig W

A new study — on mice, not people — shows promising results with the use of a drug called Mifepristone to reduce relapse stemming from high stress levels. The drug was initially commercialized by the name RU-486, a drug that is widely used for inducing terminations of pregnancy. “It seems to impede the activity of progesterone and cortisol in the brain that play a major role in supporting alcoholism and relapse.” The article about the study goes on to say:

“’It’s well-known that stress can lead to relapse in people who are trying not to drink. Until now, we have had very few interventions that showed potential as possible treatments,’ commented senior author Selena E. Bartlett, PhD, director of medications development at the Gallo Center.” The study was conducted by researchers from the University of California San Francisco and the Earnest Gallo Clinic.

Read the full article HERE

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