Cancer Research; Long-term NSAID use may reduce colorectal cancer risk ♦ Divide and rule: A tumor's strategy ♦ Imaging software could speed up breast cancer diagnosis

Imaging software could speed up breast cancer diagnosis New software could speed up breast cancer diagnosis with 90 percent accuracy without the need for a specialist. This could improve breast cancer management, particularly in developing countries where pathologists are not routinely available.

Divide and rule: A tumor's strategy Researchers have discovered how aggressive cells can invade healthy tissue during the earliest stage of tumor development. This opens up new ways of attacking cancer at its root, they say

Light/moderate drinking linked to increased risk of some cancers in women, male smokers Even light and moderate drinking (up to one drink a day for women and up to two drinks a day for men) is associated with an increased risk of certain alcohol related cancers in women and male smokers.

Electronic trigger reduces delays in evaluation for cancer diagnosis Electronic triggers designed to search for key data, developed by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, were able to identify and reduce follow-up delays for patients being evaluated for a diagnosis of colon or prostate cancer.

Long-term NSAID use may reduce CRC risk Long-term, continuous use of low-dose aspirin and nonaspirin nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is associated with decreased colorectal cancer risk. The findings of a population-based, case-control study.

Women's Health: Drinking at conception boosts diabetes risk for baby ♦ Benefits, risks of antidepressants during pregnancy ♦ Depressed females have overactive glutamate receptor gene

Depressed females have overactive glutamate receptor gene Numerous genes that regulate the activity of a neurotransmitter in the brain have been found to be abundant in brain tissue of depressed females. This could be an underlying cause of the higher incidence of suicide among women.

Women's immune system genes operate differently from men's A new technology for studying the human body's vast system for toggling genes on and off reveals that genes associated with the immune system toggle more frequently, and those same genes operate differently in women and men.

Drinking at conception boosts diabetes risk for baby, Babies conceived by women who drink alcohol around the time of conception face dramatically increased risks of type 2 diabetes and obesity in early middle age, a study has found.

Benefits, risks of antidepressants during pregnancy Treating maternal psychiatric disorder with commonly used antidepressants is associated with a lower risk of certain pregnancy complications including preterm birth and delivery by Caesarean section, according to researchers. However, the medications -- selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs -- resulted in an increased risk of neonatal problems.

Study Shows Increase in Problem Drinking

Alcohol use disorder, or AUD, is the clinical term for drinking that causes mild to severe harm or distress. Excessive drinking can interfere with school, work, and relationships. It also increases the risk of many ailments, including heart disease, high blood pressure, liver disease, depression, and certain cancers. Almost 88,000 Americans died from alcohol-related causes between 2006 and 2010, making it the third-leading cause of preventable death.

Alcohol use disorder, the clinical term for drinking that causes mild to severe harm or distress, is becoming more common. Image credit: Kieferpix/Thinkstock.

Doctors and researchers diagnose AUD using criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The fifth version of these standards, called DSM-5, was published in 2013. DSM-5 combined 2 different disorders described previously in DSM-IV—alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence—into the single disorder of AUD.

To find out how many Americans meet the criteria for the new diagnosis, a team of researchers led by Dr. Bridget F. Grant of NIH’s National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) interviewed more than 36,000 U.S. adults. The interviews were conducted in 2012 and 2013. The study, funded by NIAAA and NIH’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), was published online on June 3, 2015, in JAMA Psychiatry.

About 14% of the people interviewed met the criteria for AUD in the past year and 29% at some point in their lives. However, only 7.7% of the former group and 19.8% of the latter sought help with their drinking problems. AUD was more common in men than in women. It was also more common in young adults than in older adults.

To compare changes in the population over time, the researchers examined how many people met the DSM-IV’s criteria for the 2 disorders that were merged into AUD. They found that 12.7% of respondents met those criteria in the past year and 43.6% did at some point in their lives. This was a large increase from survey results in 2001 and 2002, in which 8.5% of respondents met the criteria for AUD in the past year and 30.3% at some point in their lives.

“These findings underscore that alcohol problems are deeply entrenched and significantly under-treated in our society,” says NIAAA Director Dr. George F. Koob. “The new data should provide further impetus for scientists, clinicians, and policymakers to bring AUD treatment into the mainstream of medical practice.”

The researchers say that more research is needed to figure out why rates of disordered drinking have increased. They also call for better prevention and intervention programs

10/10/14 Healthy News: Milk powder sales suspended over food poisoning ♦ Healthy eating can becomes an obsession ♦ Heavy coffee drinker? Blame your genes

Sri Lanka suspends Fonterra milk powder sales over food poisoning

DBR Staff Writer Published 06 October 2014 Sri Lanka has temporarily halted the sale of Fonterra's Anchor milk powder after children in a village fell ill on consumption of the product. The country's government health officials suspended the sale and distribution of three batches of 400 g Anchor full cream milk powder after receiving three complaints. Reuters reported …Continue Reading

Orthorexia: When healthy eating becomes an obsession

Three years ago, after suffering from chronic abdominal pain, digestive problems and a crushing breakup that left her depressed and sluggish, Ashley Bailey started researching whether “clean eating” could help her feel better. Continue Reading

Heavy coffee drinker? Blame your genes, study suggests

Ever wonder why you can’t get through the day without your two cups of java, but your spouse and college-age daughter shun the brew? (Okay, I have.) A new study led by Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers found genes may be at least partly to blame — and not necessarily those that govern our taste buds. Continue Reading

One in 10 Deaths Among Working-age Adults Due to Excessive Drinking

One in 10 deaths among working-age adults due to excessive drinking

Excessive alcohol use accounts for one in 10 deaths among working-age adults ages 20-64 years in the United States, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths per year from 2006 to 2010, and shortened the lives of those who died by about 30 years.  These deaths were due to health effects from drinking too much over time, such as breast cancer, liver disease, and heart disease; and health effects from drinking too much in a short period of time, such as violence, alcohol poisoning, and motor vehicle crashes.  In total, there were 2.5 million years of potential life lost each year due to excessive alcohol use.

Nearly 70 percent of deaths due to excessive drinking involved working-age adults, and about 70 percent of the deaths involved males.  About 5 percent of the deaths involved people under age 21.  The highest death rate due to excessive drinking was in New Mexico (51 deaths per 100,000 population), and the lowest was in New Jersey (19.1 per 100,000).

“Excessive alcohol use is a leading cause of preventable death that kills many Americans in the prime of their lives,” said Ursula E. Bauer, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. “We need to redouble our efforts to implement scientifically proven public health approaches to reduce this tragic loss of life and the huge economic costs that result.”

Excessive drinking includes binge drinking (4 or more drinks on an occasion for women, 5 or more drinks on an occasion for men), heavy drinking (8 or more drinks a week for women, 15 or more drinks a week for men), and any alcohol use by pregnant women or those under the minimum legal drinking age of 21.  Excessive drinking cost the United States about $224 billion, or $1.90 per drink, in 2006.  Most of these costs were due to lost productivity, including reduced earnings among excessive drinkers as well as deaths due to excessive drinking among working age adults.

To estimate deaths due to excessive drinking, CDC scientists analyzed data from the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI) application for 2006-2010.  ARDI provides national and state-specific estimates of alcohol-attributable deaths and years of potential life lost.  ARDI currently includes 54 causes of death for which estimates of alcohol involvement were either directly available or could be calculated based on existing scientific information.

“It’s shocking to see the public health impact of excessive drinking on working-age adults,” said Robert Brewer, M.D., M.S.P.H., head of CDC’s Alcohol Program and one of the report’s authors. “CDC is working with partners to support the implementation of strategies for preventing excessive alcohol use that are recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force, which can help reduce the health and social cost of this dangerous risk behavior.”

The independent HHS Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends several evidence-based strategies to reduce excessive drinking.  These include increasing alcohol taxes, regulating alcohol outlet density, and avoiding further privatization of alcohol retail sales.

For more information about excessive drinking, including binge drinking, and how to prevent this dangerous behavior, visit the CDC’s Alcohol and Public Health website at http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/index.htm.  Members of the public who are concerned about their own or someone else's drinking can call 1-800-662-HELP to receive assistance from the national Drug and Alcohol Treatment Referral Routing Service.  

Strategies Help Reduce Underage Drinking

Strategies recommended by the Surgeon General to reduce underage drinking have shown promise when put into practice, according to scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health. These approaches include nighttime restrictions on young drivers and strict license suspension policies, interventions focused on partnerships between college campuses and the community, and routine screening by physicians to identify and counsel underage drinkers.

“The downward trend in underage drinking and alcohol-related traffic deaths indicates that certain policies and programs put in place at the federal, state, and local levels have had an impact,” said NIAAA Acting Director Kenneth R. Warren, Ph.D.

Since 2007, alcohol use and heavy drinking have shown appreciable declines in national surveys of middle and high school students. One study found that 12th-grade alcohol use declined from 66.4 percent to 62 percent in 2013, with a similar downward trend seen in eighth- and 10th-graders.

The researchers’ analysis of recent studies on driving policies found that certain driving laws affecting underage drivers deter drunk driving and reduce fatal crashes. Graduated driver licensing laws for underage drivers, which include nighttime restrictions, and use/lose laws that lead to license suspension for an alcohol violation, have been effective, the review said. Individuals under the age of 21 are half as likely to drive after drinking in states with the strongest use/lose and graduated licensing laws, based on a national study.

The Surgeon General’s Call to Action also recommended addressing college drinking by increasingly involving the surrounding community in intervention efforts. Studies since 2007 have shown the effectiveness of this approach, with successful programs implemented on campuses in North Carolina, West Virginia, Rhode Island, California, and Washington state. These programs focused on addressing alcohol availability, alcohol pricing and marketing, and enforcement of existing laws. Many campuses saw reductions in drunk driving and other alcohol-related harms.

Since the Call to Action, progress has also been made in establishing the effectiveness of screening and brief motivational interventions. In these types of short counseling sessions, individuals get feedback about their drinking patterns, and counselors work with clients to set goals and provide ideas for helping to make a change.

While studies show that brief motivational interventions can reduce alcohol consumption, only a small proportion of individuals under 21 are screened for alcohol use and advised of the risks. Among the 62 percent of 18- to 20-year-olds who saw a doctor in the past year, only 25 percent were asked about driving and only 12 percent were advised of health risks.

“An evaluation of the recommendations in the Call to Action reveals that certain strategies show promising results,” said first author Dr. Hingson, director of NIAAA's Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research. “While progress has been made in addressing underage drinking, the consequences still remain unacceptably high. We must continue research to develop new interventions and implement existing strategies that have been shown to be effective.”

Drs. Hingson and White say expanded studies of the effects of alcohol on the developing brain, legal penalties for providing alcohol to minors, and parent-family alcohol interventions are among the research opportunities that could lead to further reductions in underage drinking.

Recent studies show that interventions aimed at strengthening family relationships in the middle-school years can have a lasting effect on students’ drinking behavior, but more studies are needed to build on this finding, say the authors.

Underage drinking is linked to 5,000 injury deaths per year, poor academic performance, potential damage to the developing brain, and risky sexual behavior.

For more information on the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Underage Drinking, see:http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/calls/underagedrinking/index.html