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Sunday, November 30, 2014

The Sobriety :60 #17 looks at alcohol's role in flu and pneumonia



Alcohol use compromises immune health (19th century discovery) but here's how new science has pegged the link between flu and booze, plus how drinking makes pneumonia worse. Read the article or watch the video on YouTube youtu.be/80D_eaLtbD0
www.alcohologist.com

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  


Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Wine not? Thanksgiving alcohol widening waistlines as much as turkey

Many Americans worry about the food coma or the extra calories from that green Jello stuff or slab of pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving Day. Put down the extra glass of wine and save yourself about 200 calories. If you drink a glass of wine before dinner, another glass with dinner and a sweet wine for dessert, that’s more than 400 calories in addition to the meal. If three beers help that dry turkey seem more palatable, that will add an extra 450 calories to the diet.

Alcoholic beverages are considered “food” because they do have calories, but they are mostly empty calories, contributing to the waistline more than they contribute to energy or overall health. The 2007-2010 survey found that on average, 100 calories came from alcoholic drinks.

Pilsener or lager beer usually comes in at around 148 calories in 12 ounces. Drinking light beer, offers about a third fewer, at around 99 calories per 12 ounces. Dry wine contains fewer calories than sweet: 106 calories for five ounces of dry wine and champagnes… double it for five ounces of sweeter wines. If you drink a glass of wine before dinner, another glass with dinner and a sweet wine for dessert, that’s more than 400 calories in addition to the meal.

Liquor calories depend on the proof for whiskey, tequila, gin, rum and vodka. Eighty proof contains 97 calories per shot (1.5 ounces). One hundred proof has 124 calories. How you mix the hard liquors will add calories faster. A whiskey sour will have 122 calories and a gin and tonic has 171 calories, a pina colada, 262 calories, and a large margarita can have as many as 400 calories.

However, by avoiding the alcohol for the holiday gathering, hosts and hostesses do their guests an additional favor aside from helping them manage their waistlines. Alcohol usage spikes throughout the holiday season and so do alcohol-related traffic crashes. Nine of 10 drinking and driving incidents happen after drinking with family, friends or co-workers – common during the holidays. “There is almost always somebody around who could be part of the solution,” says DrinkingAndDriving.org.

An average of 45 motorists die in drinking and driving crashes each day between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Thanksgiving Day is considered second only to New Year’s when it comes to traffic deaths. Drinking violations increase an average of 54 percent on Thanksgiving. (See related examiner article)

Alcohol use among adults is not the only issue around Thanksgiving Day. Indiana University indicates some grown-ups may feel inclined to “bend the rules” when it comes to minors and drinking alcohol. Adults, including visitors to the home such as uncles, grandparents and older cousins, may bend youth alcohol prohibitions during the holiday season as a treat or gesture of affection setting up a dangerous precedent for future use, with or without parental supervision.
www.alcohologist.com

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  



Thanksgiving and New Year's Day are the two deadliest days on the road

Throughout the entire year, an average of 28 people are killed each day by intoxicated motorists: During the holidays, the average jumps to 45 per day. Thanksgiving presents a recipe ready-made for family tragedy as more people are on the road, and more of them are impaired.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is a sponsor of the National Impaired Driving Awareness Month campaign, along with Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) and the Governors’ Highway Safety Association. In the United States the NHTSA tallied 10,873 people killed in alcohol-related collisions, representing a third of 2017 traffic deaths. One out of every 10 arrests for all crimes in the U.S. were for Driving Under the Influence (DUI) or Operating While Impaired (OWI), accounting for 1 out of every 80 licensed drivers. The death toll is higher than the previous year, despite tougher penalties, safer cars and more enforcement.
Four more facts:
  • In 2017, 29.1 million people admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol - that’s more than the population of Texas – according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
  • Intoxicated driving involvement in fatal crashes was 4.5 times higher at night than during the day (36 versus 8 percent) – according to the NHTSA.
  • Nine of 10 drinking and driving incidents happen after drinking with family, friends or co-workers – common during the holidays. “There is almost always somebody around who could be part of the solution,” says DrinkingAndDriving.org.
  • Highway alcohol-related deaths are 100 percent preventable. Passive alcohol detectors can measure a driver's BAC before starting the vehicle and render it unable to start. If the driver is intoxicated, he isn't driving. Critics claim the technology has not been perfected. However, the technology already exists for the non-invasive technique, although the public appetite for the device does not. The idea was suggested four years ago in the book What the Early Worm Gets as the way to conclusively eliminate all drinking and driving accidents.
“Our goal is to get to zero deaths because each alcohol-impaired death is preventable,” National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Deborah Hersman said. “They can and should be prevented. The tools exist. What is needed is the will.”

Drunk or buzzed driving is the act of operating or driving a motor vehicle while motor skills are impaired under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In the United States, the point of impairment is pegged at .08 Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). However, studies have demonstrated that motor-skill impairment begins at much lower BACs. Reaction time is 1/5 of a second for an unimpaired driver. With alcohol in the system, reaction time is slowed to 4/5 of a second at .06 BAC. At 60 mph, a second means 88 feet. A fifth of a second is 17.5 feet, 4/5 of a second is 70.4 feet. The family minivan slamming on the brakes in front of an impaired driver is 53 feet closer, reaction-time wise, compared to an unimpaired driver.

Lab research indicates at 0.02 to 0.05 BAC, the ability to see or locate moving lights correctly is reduced as is reaction time and the ability to judge distance. A 2014 study demonstrated crash risk increases 42 percent after just a single drink. (See Crash risk jumps at 0.01 BAC) Even if not obviously impaired, at 0.05 BAC drivers are twice as likely to have a crash as before they started drinking...At 0.08 BAC drivers are five times more likely to have a crash than before they started drinking. Over .08, the crash likelihood jumps to 10 times that of a sober driver.


www.alcohologist.com

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  


Monday, November 24, 2014

The Sobriety :60 #16 - Alcohol doesn't warm you, it increases hypothermia risk



The extreme cold temperatures bring about a warning or two about hypothermia, including the sixteenth episode of The Sobriety :60. (video) (article)


Hypothermia is a potentially fatal condition causing a change in your total body core temperature. A normal body temperature is 98.6 degrees, plus or minus one degree. But, with the temperatures as warm as 40, it doesn`t take long for your body to fall below 94 degrees.

One of the leading causes of hypothermia is alcohol abuse. When temperatures are in the 40s and lower, it’s important to wear clothing appropriate for cold weather. However, bundling up doesn’t do much to counter alcohol in the system. Alcohol gives a sensation of warmth, especially at higher concentrations. The sensation is not actual warming. Alcohol thins blood and increases blood flow near the skin. It's called vasodilation in doctorspeak. The blood near the skin cools in the extreme temperatures, leading to hypothermia.
Symptoms of hypothermia include shivering, exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech and drowsiness. Symptoms of too much booze include exhaustion, confusion, fumbling hands, memory loss, slurred speech and drowsiness. The drunk mind says, AH I'LL BE OK. The hypothermic mind says, "WHOA, I better start shutting down metabolism and some organs."  Point is, you won't know the difference if you don't bundle up, layoff the booze or both.


Fahrenheit or Celsius, zero degrees is very unfriendly to intoxicated people. If you passed out in Orlando tonight, you`d probably get hypothermia and likely survive. If you passed out, tonight, in the Midwest, you wouldn`t survive it. It`s just the nature of it. 

Some people will drink in the cold because they think it 'warms them up.' But it can kill you.
www.alcohologist.com

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  


Saturday, November 22, 2014

Treatment or mistreatment: CDC confirms alcoholism, partying not the same


A throat infection and throat cancer wouldn't get the same treatment just because they present similar symptoms. One gets a course of antibiotics, the other gets chemo and a lifestyle change. But there's a disconnect in that sort of logic when it comes to managing drinking problems versus counseling problem drinkers.

Part of the challenge is that society labels both the same, however a CDC study released Nov. 20 (see related chart and article) documents that nine of 10 adults who drink too much alcohol are excessive drinkers and are not alcoholic. Alcoholism is a chronic, progressive, primary and fatal disease, like cancer. The CDC says excessive drinking includes binge drinking, which is like the throat infection in the analogy above.

It’s a clinical difference and a behavioral one, borne out completely in study after study for sixty years. If you are a problem drinker, you aren’t automatically an alcoholic. The gap between is detrimental to addressing either. An alcoholic cannot consistently choose to drink or not to drink due to physical dependence, tolerance and altered cellular metabolism. A drinking problem is the loss of the ability to choose, a problem drinker can still choose but decides to drink anyway.

Alcohol Abuse may be a prequel to alcoholism—an alcoholic in training maybe—but it is not the same as alcoholism. This was called the Disease Concept. It’s not a concept anymore, though, any more than we have a world-is-flat concept. Misinterpreting the disease by applying the disease label to an excessive drinker gives that problem drinker an alibi for failing to make the right choice. Conversely, alcoholism isn't a social or psychological dependency, it is a physical dependency. Searching for a reason why alcoholics drink is superfluous. They drink because they have to.

We’ve come a long way since the disease was identified. Some credit Dr. Benjamin Rush for calling it a disease as early as the 1800s, but Dr. E. Morton Jellinek is acknowledged as the one to credit for our modern description. In fact, there is some effort to rename alcoholism Jellinek’s disease, much the way other diseases are named (Lou Gehrig’s, Hansen’s). That could settle any confusion about the behavioral problem versus the medical problem.

In our overly politically correct 21st century society we’ve become scared to death to call a spade a spade. A problem drinker is not sick. They are immature and self indulgent. JUST ASK ONE. Those are objective definitions, not sugar-coated ones, but not moral judgments either, like wicked or shameful.

One of the top researchers, Don Cahalan wrote “Problem Drinkers: A national survey” (Jossey-Bass) in 1970 based on four studies he authored or co-authored in the 1960s. He said, “Comparing estimates of alcoholics and problem drinkers is a rather futile exercise because the concepts of Alcoholism and problem drinking are not very similar, do not necessarily apply to the same people and have quite different implications for prevention measures and treatment.”

If alcoholism was a behavioral or emotional or psychological or moral or social or spiritual failing, lab rats would not be alcoholic. Rats do not even like alcohol to begin with—so they are incapable of excessive drinking—and haven’t the capacity of all of those psychological expressions commonly given as “causes” for alcoholism. Their genes are altered. They are biochemically different when alcoholism is present, not morally deficient.

Cahalan and others saw the difference between the Alcoholics and Alcohol Abusers in studies of drinking behavior in the armed services. There’s a lot of heavy drinking in the military. You’d expect it in a population consisting largely of young males away from their families and in a stressful environment. Many drank so much that they were at a high risk of developing alcoholism. Most however only had disciplinary problems, not telltale changes in body tissues. The medical risks and physiology of alcoholism weren’t there.

Extending the term alcoholic to excessive drinkers is like saying a Rottweiler and a water buffalo are the same since they are both mammals or that a rat and an opossum are the same because they both are ugly, eat garbage and scare girls. Or that a throat infection and throat cancer require the same treatment because they present the same symptoms. Treating one with the treatment designed for the other just may be mistreatment instead of treatment and may do more harm than good.
(View full article)

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  

Thursday, November 20, 2014

CDC study confirms drinking excessively doesn't mean alcoholism

Nine out of 10 adults who drink too much alcohol are not alcoholics, according to a Nov. 20 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The study, released in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, confirms the distinction between managing a chronic disease like alcoholism, and counseling a person who just drinks excessively.

The CDC said excessive drinking includes binge drinking. A binge is four or more drinks on one occasion for a woman and five or more drinks on one occasion for a man, while a per-week consumption of eight or more for a woman, 15 or more for a man, is considered excessive by the CDC.

Just because an excessive drinker doesn't have the disease of alcoholism doesn't mean he or she is out of the woods. Alcohol use has been linked to increased risk of more than 60 diseases and alcohol is a known carcinogen. The higher the use, the higher the disease risk increases.

Much of what is known about the disease of alcoholism connects it to flaws in genes which control metabolism of alcohol as well as the brain's risk/reward biochemistry.
The incentive for an alcoholic to keep drinking is the physical dependence on the alcohol itself. The incentive for a non-alcoholic to keep drinking excessively is a psychological quasi-dependence on the good times and/or good feelings. The two types of drinkers require two different treatment approaches, not a one-size-fits-all program.

As noted two years ago in the 2012 alcoholism recovery book Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud, “An alcohol abuser can quit but won't. An alcoholic wants to quit but can't... on his own.” The chart accompanying the article is from the book and its predecessor on treatment vs. mistreatment, What the Early Worm Gets.-- see full article.
www.alcohologist.com

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Widely misreported study says 'senior alcoholism rising' -- fact is, more are seeking help

A Nov. 17 report from by Public Health England notes the number of women over the age of 60 being treated for alcoholism is on the rise. Women in the age bracket account for nearly one in 10 people starting treatment for alcohol consumption, compared with six percent five years ago.

The report has been widely misreported as alcoholism being on the rise for the age group. In actuality, the research demonstrates only that the women are educated more than they were five years ago to the dangers of untreated alcohol problems and are doing something about it. Alcoholism, as a disease recognized by the American Medical Association and World Health Organization, is a primary, progressive, chronic and fatal disease held by about eight to ten percent of the population.


Using an increase in alcoholism treatment to claim more seniors are alcoholic is like claiming blindness is on the rise because eyeglass sales are up.

The percent of the women-over-60 population with the disease did not change. The percent getting help for it did. The other side of the spectrum – women under age 30 – shows the opposite trend. The figures showed that women beginning treatment for alcoholism between ages 18 and 29 fell to 14 percent, from 18 percent five years ago.

The report does shine a bright light on an often secret problem for seniors, especially senior women. (Watch The Sobriety :60 #1 – Senior Health on the dangers of drinking and aging, or listen to a replay of WIND-AM Chicago's program on AgingInfo Radioabout senior drinking. Links to both programs can be found on alcohologist.com) Loneliness, boredom, depression, failing health and isolation are some of the factors that contribute to senior drinking.

Dr Sally Marlow, a researcher at King's College Institute of Psychiatry, explained that study figures do run contrary to the portrayal of alcoholism in the media, which she said focuses on young people's binge drinking habits to a much greater extent.
-- See full article
www.alcohologist.com

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  

Sunday, November 16, 2014

The Sobriety :60 - Depression & Suicide


Alcohol causes depression rather than alleviating it... plus the tragic intersections of alcohol, depression and taking one's own life. The transcript of episode #15 of The Sobriety :60 is at http://www.examiner.com/article/the-sobriety-60-spotlights-alcohol-depression-and-suicide and the video is on YouTube http://youtu.be/1NLTnlt20Ow

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  

Friday, November 14, 2014

Sober Radio to feature alcoholism recovery book Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud



Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud author, Scott Stevens, is Chuck Duncan's guest this weekend on AM1590's Sober Radio. Listen to the broadcast in the Chicago area at 6am CST Saturday and Sunday, stream it at 1590WCGO.com or listen to the podcast later.  The host and guest, both in recovery, talk alcohol and health, alcoholism, sobriety, relapse and recovery as part of WCGO-AM's weekly Sober Radio program.

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  

Sunday, November 9, 2014

The Sobriety :60 - Heart health, part 2


In August 2013, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation put it this way: “Broad encouragement to drink in moderation, rather than not to drink at all, yields few survival benefits."  Because alcohol is NOT heart healthy. 

See episode #14 of The Sobriety :60 on youTube at http://youtu.be/W18gAbSHsB8 or read the transcript at http://www.examiner.com/article/the-sobriety-60-spotlights-alcohol-related-damage-to-the-heart

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."  

Monday, November 3, 2014

The Sobriety :60 - Heart health, part 1


In an "Ask The Doctor" newspaper column, a Marshfield Clinic (Wis.) cardiologist remarked that in HIS observation over 25 years, a few drinks a week is optimal for heart health.  "That statement contains more bullcrap than a rodeo," says the thirteenth episode of The Sobriety :60.  Watch the new video here  http://youtu.be/Vc12-9gdsk4 or read the transcript at The Sobriety :60 spotlights myths of alcohol and heart health.

Visit alcohologist.com for a replay of the Bringing Inspiration To Earth show feature with Scott Stevens. Lucy Pireel's "All That's Written" included a feature on Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud called "When alcohol doesn't work for you anymore."  Details on the third literary award for Every Silver Lining Has a Cloud also can be found on www.alcohologist.com, plus an interview with Scott Stevens on Health Media Now and one at Christoph Fisher Books.  Mr. Fisher is an acclaimed international author from the UK, among his works is the Alzheimer's book "Time to Let Go."