AIM To examine the pattern of psychiatric comorbidity associated with nicotine dependence among alcohol-dependent respondents in the general population. METHODS Drawn from a US national survey of 43,000 adults The (National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions) who took part in a face-to-face interview, data were examined on the 4782 subjects with lifetime alcohol dependence...

Dopamine neurotransmission has been a key player in attempts to identify genetic factors involved in alcohol dependence. The dopamine transporter terminates dopaminergic neurotransmission, making the gene encoding the transporter (SLC6A3/DAT1) an attractive candidate in clinical studies on alcohol dependence. We conducted a systematic review of 18 studies examining associations between polymorp...

BACKGROUND ICD-10 includes a craving criterion for alcohol dependence while DSM-IV does not. Little is known about whether craving fits with or improves the DSM-IV criteria set for alcohol-use disorders. METHOD Data were derived from current drinkers (n=18 352) in the 1991-1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey (NLAES), a nationally representative survey of US adults >17 year...

Alcohol dependence is a chronically relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking and drug taking, loss of control in limiting intake, and the emergence of a withdrawal syndrome in the absence of the drug. Accumulating evidence suggests an important role for synaptic transmission in the central amygdala (CeA) in mediating alcohol-related behaviors and neuroadaptative mechanisms as...

OBJECTIVE In this critical review the authors evaluate the literature regarding the relationship between lifelong DSM-III-R anxiety disorders and alcohol dependence. Many alcohol-dependent individuals demonstrate severe anxiety symptoms in the context of acute or protracted abstinence syndromes, but it is unclear whether these anxiety conditions are independent psychiatric disorders or temporar...

Perceived impaired control over alcohol use is a key cognitive construct in alcohol dependence that has been related prospectively to treatment outcome and may mediate the risk for problem drinking conveyed by impulsivity in non-dependent drinkers. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether perceived impaired control may mediate the association between impulsivity-related measures ...

Excessive alcohol consumption is a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality, but few heavy drinkers receive treatment. Primary care physicians are in a position to address heavy drinking and alcohol use disorders with patients, and can do so quickly and effectively. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has published a guide for physicians that offers an evidence-ba...

AIMS To assess which baseline characteristics of patients predict response to treatment with acamprosate (ACAMP) and naltrexone (NTX) in alcohol dependence. METHODS Outcome data from a 12-week randomized controlled trial of NTX, ACAMP and placebo for alcohol dependence were analysed by multiple logistic regression analyses to determine the predictive effects of gender and the baseline measure...

OBJECTIVE The course of alcohol disorders in women is often described as "telescoped" compared to that in men, with a later age at initiation of alcohol use but shorter times from use to dependence and treatment. This study examined evidence for such a telescoping effect in the general population and tested birth cohort effects for gender differences. METHOD Data from two U.S. national survey...

BACKGROUND Alcohol dependence tends to aggregate within families. We analyzed data from the family collection of the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism to quantify familial aggregation using several different criterion sets. We also assessed the aggregation of other psychiatric disorders in the same sample to identify areas of possible shared genetic vulnerability. DESIGN Age-c...