heavy drinking

New Program Allows Teens to See Future Alcohol Damage

Posted on by azalcrehabctr

Many teenagers do not realize the dangers of heavy alcohol consumption. Drinking alcohol almost always starts out as a social endeavor. Drinking at parties and with friends is something that many teens try at least once, which can quickly escalate. Binge drinking and heavy drinking have serious effects on the body and the brain, and now there is a program that allows teenagers to upload their picture and see how alcohol would affect their appearance over time.

This in-your-face type of campaign is important for a demographic like teenagers. Teenagers and children in the past have grown up with slogans like; “Just Say No” and have been lectured and talked to about the dangers of drugs, underage drinking and drinking and driving. Illustrating the dangers of alcohol by using their own face may be more powerful than any speech of catchy slogan.

The program shows the destruction alcohol can have on a person’s facial features. The preventative tool works by uploading a picture into the program and seeing how your face is affected after two years, five years, 10 years, 15 years and 20 years of heavy drinking. The original picture is distorted and altered to accurately portray someone who has engaged in heavy drinking. Red blotches, facial alterations and wrinkles are just some of the changes one can see in their picture after submitting it to the program.

Alcohol abuse is something that oftentimes gets overlooked in the wake of the prescription drug and heroin epidemic that is running through our society. However, alcohol still remains one of the most deadly drugs on the market and has long lasting effects on the body. Binge drinking, defined as consuming a large amount of alcohol in a short time, is common among teenagers and younger adults. Binge drinking is most often done among large groups of people, usually at a party. Experts warn that excessive binge drinking can lead to a more severe alcohol problem in the future.

New Treatment for Heavy Drinkers May Be Possible According to New Study

Posted on by azalcrehabctr

When alcoholism or heavy drinking becomes a problem, the solution is usually to stop drinking altogether – a tough feat to accomplish on your own. Recent research shows that reducing alcohol consumption could be easy with the help of the anti-epilepsy drug, topiramate AKA Topamax.

The study included 138 heavy drinkers divided into two groups. One group took the drug for 12 weeks and the other group took an inactive placebo. Both groups participated in brief counseling to help them decrease their drinking.

After the 12-week period, the placebo group patients were five times more likely to have had a heavy drinking day compared to the patients in the Topamax group. Also, the Topamax group had twice as many patients who had no heavy drinking days during the last four weeks of the study.

Although there have been recent studies that associate anti-epilepsy drugs with alcohol recovery, this is the first that evaluates the drug as an option for patients who want to limit their drinking to safe levels, rather than stop drinking completely.

After further analysis, researchers discovered that only people with a specific genetic makeup found in 40% of European-Americans benefited from the treatment. As a result, it could be assumed that personalized treatments for heavy drinking may be on the horizon.

“Our hope is that the study will result in additional research focusing to help patients who have struggles with heavy drinking and the problems it causes, but who are unable or unwilling to abstain from alcohol altogether,” explains Dr. Henry Kranzler, director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Studies of Addiction.

The results of the study not only supported the theory that the drug helps in decreasing alcohol consumption, but also point to what groups of people the drug could help. Hopefully future research will shine a light on what the use of Topamax could mean for alcoholics continuing to struggle with recovery.