Alcohol abuse more harmful to female brain

According to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, 45% of county women consume alcohol, 2% are chronic drinkers, and 16% are binge drinkers. In actuality, those figures may be higher because, when asked, many heavy drinkers “sanitize” their response to a lesser amount. According to a new study by Swedish researchers, alcohol abuse appears to be much more detrimental to the female brain than to the male brain. Researchers from the multidisciplinary Gothenburg Alcohol Research Project in Sweden found that after four years of excessive drinking, women experienced the same loss of serotonergic function that occurred in men who had been abusing alcohol for 12 years. "We have to be aware that women are more vulnerable to excessive drinking, not just bodily harm but also [harm] to the brain. We also have to be aware that prevalent psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety, which are related to imbalance in the serotonin system and which women often are seeking help for, may also be influenced by excessive drinking," noted principal investigator Claudia Fahlke, PhD, from the Department of Psychology, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg. The study was published online July 28 in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and will appear in the January 2012 print edition of the journal.

How Alcohol Impacts the Brain

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According to the study, alcohol dependence has been associated with reduced function of serotonin and dopamine, as well as with a reduction of noradrenaline activity. The researchers note that no previous study had investigated all three systems in the same alcohol-dependent individuals. They investigated all three systems in a group of alcohol-dependent individuals and compared them with those of a group of control participants who engaged in non-harmful alcohol consumption. The study group was comprised of 70 individuals: 19 women (10 alcohol-dependent, 9 healthy control patients) and 51 men (32 alcohol-dependent, 19 control patients). All of the alcohol-dependent participants were recruited from three outpatient clinics and were considered high-functioning: 86% had jobs, and 93% had permanent residences. Men and women had consumed the same amount of alcohol during the last year before the investigation; the average alcohol intake during that period was 759 ± 564 grams of pure alcohol per week.

Testing revealed that both sexes experienced a 45% decrease in serotonergic neural transmission relative to control participants at three, four, and five after citalopram administration. However, the effect was seen after only four years of alcohol abuse in women compared with 14 years in men. (Citalopram administration measures serotonin response in the brain.) "We expected that long-term excessive alcohol intake would impair the serotonin function in both genders, but [it] was a surprise for us that women´s serotonin function should be equally affected as men's, despite [the fact] that they, on average, had been drinking excessively just for 4 years," Dr. Fahlke said. According to the authors, the similar loss of serotonergic function in alcohol-dependent women and men despite the disparity in length of alcohol abuse suggests a "telescoping effect" in women.

Alcohol and health

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Alcohol-impaired drivers responsible for many child passenger deaths

Although all states have tough laws for driving under the influence, many intoxicated driver weave down the nation’s highways and are responsible for many deaths. For example, approximately 1,500 Californians are killed and 30,000 are injured each year as a result of drinking and driving. A new study assessed recent trends and state-specific rates of these deaths. The findings were published online on May 5 in the journal Pediatrics by researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois and the Center for Injury Prevention and Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia

Drunk Driving Statistics in the United States

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The study authors note that about 1 in 5 child passenger deaths in the US involves an alcohol-impaired driver; in most cases, it is the child’s own driver. They reviewed a descriptive analysis of 2001–2010 Fatality Analysis Reporting System data for child passengers aged less than 15 years of age who were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Driver impairment was defined as a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 g/dL or higher.

The investigators found that from 2001to 2010, 2,344 children under the age of 15 years were killed in crashes involving at least one1 alcohol-impaired driver. Among these children, 1.515 (65%) were riding with an impaired driver. On a positive note, annual deaths among children riding with an alcohol-impaired driver decreased by 41% over the study decade. Among the 37 states included in the state-level analysis, Texas (272) and California (135) reported the most children killed while riding with an impaired driver; South Dakota (0.98) and New Mexico (0.86) had the highest annualized child passenger death rates (per 100,000 children). Despite seatbelt laws, most (61%) child passengers of impaired drivers were unrestrained at the time of the crash. In addition, one-third of the impaired drivers did not have a valid driver license.

The authors concluded that alcohol-impaired driving remains a major threat to the safety of child passengers in the US; furthermore, the death usually involves children being driven by impaired drivers. The risk varies significantly between among states. The authors recommended that in order to make further progress, states and communities should consider increased use of effective interventions and efforts aimed specifically at protecting child passengers from impaired drivers.

Many individuals who drive under the influence are not fully aware of the consequences of a DUI conviction. The first offense could easily cost more than $12,000. Estimated costs for first misdemeanor DUI conviction:

· Fine (minimum): $390 or more

· Penalties (typical): $780

· Vehicle tow/storage: $187

· 15-week alcohol education classes: $500

· Victim restitution fund: $100

· DMV licensing re-issue fee: $125

· Booking, fingerprinting, and photo fee: $156

· Auto insurance rate increase: $7,424 over a ten year period

· Attorney fees: $2,500

· Total: $12,162

Additional potential costs:

· Up to 48 hours in jail, possibly more

· Lost work time and wages—or losing your job entirely

· Medical costs

· Vehicle or property damage

· Transportation costs during a 4-month license suspension

· Cost of an ignition interlock device if required by the court

· Other court-imposed fines and fees

· Civil liability

All states define driving with a blood alcohol concentration at or above 0.08 percent as a crime; however, specific laws and penalties vary substantially from state to state. Most states (43) and the District of Columbia impose an administrative license suspension on the first offense. This suspension allows law enforcement to confiscate a driver license for a period of time if he or she fails a chemical test. Most of these states allow limited driving privileges (such as to and from work).

Impaired Driving

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