Charter News

Recent report from SAMHSA.

A new report based on a national survey [in the U.S.A] shows that only 1.2 percent of the nation's more than 7.4 million adults aged 21 to 64 with an untreated alcohol abuse disorder perceive they could benefit from treatment. The report released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in conjunction with National Alcohol Screening Day, April 7, highlights the need to raise awareness about adult problem drinking, how to identify when someone has a problem, how to confront a problem drinker and how to get help.

The report focuses on those who met the diagnostic criteria for either alcohol abuse or alcohol dependence as defined by the American Psychiatric Association's Fourth Edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). Alcohol abuse includes drinking-related behavior that may cause a person to physically endanger themselves or others; get into trouble with the law; experience difficulties in relationships or jobs; and fail to fulfill major role obligations at work, school or home.

Alcohol dependence is a more serious disorder than alcohol abuse. The hallmarks of this disorder are addiction to alcohol, inability to cut down or stop drinking, and repeated interpersonal, school, or work related problems that can be directly attributed to the use of alcohol. Alcohol dependence can have serious consequences, affecting an individual's health and personal life, as well as impacting society at large. Among the nearly six million Americans aged 21 to 64 with untreated alcohol dependence, only 7.8 percent or 506,000 of them recognized they needed treatment.

"SAMHSA's spotlight provides striking evidence that millions of Americans are in serious denial regarding problem drinking," said SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. "Individuals, friends and family members clearly need help and support in confronting and doing something about the problem. Without help alcoholism can be fatal. As a nation we need to ask ourselves why we stand by and allow so many people to self destruct before intervening. National Alcohol Screening Day provides one day to have the conversation we should be willing to have every day until screening for alcohol problems becomes the norm -- just like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes."

SAMHSA Spotlight: Most Adults with Alcohol Problems Do Not Recognize Their Need for Treatment was developed as part of the SAMHSA's strategic initiative on Data, Outcomes and

Quality. It is based on data from SAMHSA's 2006 - 2009 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reports. NSDUH is a scientifically conducted annual survey of approximately 67,500 people throughout the country, aged 12 and older. Because of its statistical power, it is the nation's premier source of statistical information on the scope and nature of many substance abuse behavioral health issues affecting the nation. A copy of this SAMHSA spotlight report is accessible at: http://oas.samhsa.gov/spotlight/Spotlight034AdultsAlcohol.pdf.

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has a very useful website Rethinking Drinking at http://rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov/ that has online tools that can help people better gauge whether they or someone they care about may have an alcohol problem.

Visit SAMHSA's blog to read Alcohol Use Problems: Who's at Risk?

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SAMHSA is a public health agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. Its mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America's communities.

Drug Abuse Linked to Inability to Recognize Basic Emotions

05/02/2011

University of Granada scientists have been the first to analyze the relationship between drug abuse and recognition of basic emotions (happiness, surprise, wrath, fear, sadness and disgust) by drug-abusers. Thus, the study revealed that drug-abusers have difficulty in identifying negative emotions by their facial expression: wrath, disgust, fear and sadness.

Further, regular abuse of alcohol, cannabis and cocaine usually affects abusers' fluency and decision-making. Consuming cannabis and cocaine negatively affects work memory and reasoning. Similarly, cocaine abuse is associated to alterations in inhibition.

For the purpose of this study, researchers carried out a neuropsychological evaluation (with neurocognitive evaluation and emotional processing tests) out of a total of 123 polysubstance abusers and 67 no-drug users with similar social and demographical variables (age and schooling).

A Sample Including Polysubstance-Abusers

The target population were individuals who consumed drugs as cocaine, cannabis, heroin, alcohol, MDMA and methamphetamine, and who were enrolled in two rehabilitation projects Proyecto Hombre and Cortijo Buenos Aires in the province of Granada.

The main author of this research was María José Fernández Serrano ¬¬- supervised by professors Miguel Pérez García and Antonio Javier Verdejo García - of the Department of Personality and Psychological Treatment and Evaluation, University of Granada.

The study revealed that 70% of drug abusers presented some type of neuropsychological deterioration, regardless the type of substance consumed. Deterioration was registered in major degree in the working memory, and in fluency, flexibility, planning, multitask ability and interference.

Fernández Serrano thinks that the results obtained "should be employed to develop political and social policies aimed at promoting adequate rehab programs adapted to the neuropsychological profile of drug-abusers".

The research conducted at the University of Granada has been the first to study the prevalence of psychological deterioration in drug-abusers enrolled in therapeutic communities. Further, although other studies have been conducted on emotional recognition by drug users, they were focused on recognition as a unit process. However, the scientists from Granada have analysed for the first time the relation between drug abuse and recognition of basic emotions (happiness, surprise, wrath, fear, sadness and disgust).

References:

Fernández-Serrano, M.J., Pérez-García, M., Verdejo-García, A. (2010) What are the specific vs. generalized effects of drugs of abuse on neuropsychological performance? Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews (in press)

Fernández-Serrano, M.J., Pérez-García, M., Schmidt, J., Verdejo-García, A. (2010) Neuropsychological consequences of alcohol and drug abuse on different components of executive functions. Journal of Psychopharmacology (in press).

Fernández-Serrano, M.J., Lozano Rojas, O., Pérez-García, M., Verdejo-García, A. (2010) Impact of severity of drug use on discrete emotions recognition in polysubstance abusers. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 109, 57-64.

Fernández-Serrano, M.J., Pérez-García, M., Perales, J.C., Verdejo-García, A. (2010) Prevalence of executive dysfunction in cocaine, heroin and alcohol users enrolled in therapeutic communities. European Journal of Pharmacology, 626, 104-112.

Source: University of Granada

www.medicalnewstoday.com

Poor Eating Habits Can Cause Depression

28/01/2011

Researchers from the universities of Navarra and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria have demonstrated that the ingestion of trans-fats and saturated fats increase the risk of suffering depression, and that olive oil, on the other hand, protects against this mental illness.

They have confirmed this after studying 12,059 SUN Project volunteers over the course of six years; the volunteers had their diet, lifestyle and ailments analyzed at the beginning of the project, over its course and at the end of the project. In this way the researchers confirmed that despite the fact that at the beginning of the study none of the volunteers suffered from depression, at the end of the study 657 new cases had been detected.

Of all these cases, the participants with an elevated consumption of trans-fats (fats present in artificial form in industrially-produced pastries and fast food, and naturally present in certain whole milk products) "presented up to a 48% increase in the risk of depression when they were compared to participants who did not consume these fats," affirmed Almudena Sánchez-Villegas, Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, first author of the article.

In addition, the study demonstrated a dose-response relationship, "whereby the more trans-fats were consumed, the greater the harmful effect they produced in the volunteers," the expert stated.

Furthermore, the team, directed by Miguel Angel Martínez-González, Professor of Preventive Medicine at the University of Navarra, also analyzed the influence of polyunsaturated fats (abundant in fish and vegetable oils) and of olive oil on the occurrence of depression. "In fact, we discovered that this type of healthier fats, together with olive oil, are associated with a lower risk of suffering depression," emphasized the researcher and director of the SUN Project.

150 million persons depressed worldwide

Thus, the results of the study corroborate the hypothesis of a greater incidence of the disease in countries of the north of Europe compared to the countries of the south, where a Mediterranean dietary pattern prevails. Nevertheless, experts have noted that the incidence of the disease has increased in recent years, so that today some 150 million persons are affected worldwide, where it is the principal cause of loss of years of life in those countries with a medium-to-high per capita income.

This due, according to Almudena Sánchez Villegas, "to radical changes in the sources of fats consumed in Western diets, where we have substituted certain types of beneficial fats - polyunsaturated and monounsaturated in nuts, vegetable oils and fish - for the saturated and trans-fats found in meats, butter and other products such as mass-produced pastries and fast food".

In addition, the research - published in the online peer reviewed journal PLoS ONE has been performed on a population with a low average intake of trans-fats, given that it made up only 0.4% of the total energy ingested by the volunteers. "Despite this, we observed an increase in the risk of suffering depression of nearly 50%. On this basis," concluded Miguel A. Martínez, "we derive the importance of taking this effect into account in countries like the U.S., where the percentage of energy derived from these foots is around 2.5%".

Finally, the analysis, headed by the University of Navarra and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, suggests that both depression as well as cardiovascular disease are influenced in a similar manner by diet, and might share similar mechanisms in their origin. This hypothesis is further suggested by numerous studies that indicate the harmful effect of trans-fats and saturated fats on the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Notes:

Citation: Sanchez-Villegas A, Verberne L, De Irala J, Ruı´z-Canela M, Toledo E, et al. (2011) Dietary Fat Intake and the Risk of Depression: The SUN Project. PLoS ONE 6(1): e16268. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0016268

Source: Public Library of Science

www.medicalnewstoday.com

Trauma in Childhood Could Contribute to Obesity in Adults

18/01/2011

Scientific studies often attribute obesity to poor nutrition and lack of activity, but recent research has identified childhood traumatic stress as a potential risk factor for obesity in adulthood.

The research, published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, included 148 adult women. Eric A. Dedert, Ph.D., lead author for the study and research psychologist at the North Carolina Veterans Affairs Medical Center, says that nearly half of the women studied reported exposure to childhood physical and/or sexual abuse. Almost 80 percent of the women had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression or both.

The women who reported abuse were more likely to experience PTSD and depression, and were also more likely to be overweight in adulthood.

Although the study suggests an association between childhood trauma and obesity, the study also suggests that that how a person reacts to trauma can influence adult weight. The research indicates that PTSD and depression may account for the relationship between childhood trauma and weight problems in adulthood.

The study concludes that children who experience trauma could benefit from intervention to prevent obesity. Screening and early treatment of psychiatric disorders could help curb weight problems and improve physical and mental health in adulthood.

This study is published in the December 2010 issue of the Journal of Traumatic Stress.

Source: Journal of Traumatic Stress

www.newswise.com

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Eric A. Dedert, Ph.D., is a research psychologist at North Carolina Veterans Affairs Medical Center and research associate at the Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Dedert has received a career development award from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to investigate the combination of Cognitive Processing Therapy with Integrated Care for smoking cessation in PTSD. His research interests include smoking cessation interventions, genetic predictors of smoking cessation, physical activity and weight problems in PTSD and stress-related disruption of circadian cortisol rhythms.

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The Journal of Traumatic Stress (JTS), the official publication for the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, is an interdisciplinary forum for the publication of peer-reviewed original papers on biopsychosocial aspects of trauma. Papers focus on theoretical formulations, research, treatment, prevention education/training, and legal and policy concerns. Journal of Traumatic Stress serves as a primary reference for professionals who study and treat people exposed to highly stressful and traumatic events (directly or through their occupational roles), such as war, disaster, accident, violence or abuse (criminal or familial), hostage-taking, or life-threatening illness.

New research on Social Media Addiction from the University of Maryland

21/04/2010

This fascinating piece of research from the International Center for Media and the Public Agenda (ICMPA) at the University of Maryland can be viewed at http://theworldunplugged.wordpress.com/