Drug and Alcohol Review 

About: Drug and Alcohol Review is an academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Poison control & Population. It has an ISSN identifier of 0959-5236. Over the lifetime, 3140 publications have been published receiving 73892 citations. The journal is also known as: Drug & alcohol review.

Stigma, social inequality and alcohol and drug use

Abstract: A heavy load of symbolism surrounds psychoactive substance use, for reasons which are discussed. Psychoactive substances can be prestige commodities, but one or another aspect of their use seems to attract near--universal stigma and marginalization. Processes of stigmatization include intimate process of social control among family and friends; decisions by social and health agencies; and governmental policy decisions. What is negatively moralized commonly includes incurring health, casualty or social problems, derogated even by other heavy users; intoxication itself; addiction or dependence, and the loss of control such terms describe; and in some circumstances use per se. Two independent literatures on stigma operate on different premises: studies oriented to mental illness and disability consider the negative effects of stigma on the stigmatized, and how stigma may be neutralized, while studies of crime generally view stigma more benignly, as a form of social control. The alcohol and drug literature overlap both topical areas, and includes examples of both orientations. Whole poverty and heavy substance use are not necessary related, poverty often increases the harm for a given level of use. Marginalization and stigma commonly add to this effect. Those in treatment for alcohol or drug problems are frequently and disproportionately marginalized. Studies of social inequality and substance use problems need to pay attention also to processes of stigmatization and marginalization and their effect on adverse outcomes.

Major physical and psychological harms of methamphetamine use

Abstract: Issues. The major physical and psychological health effects of methamphetamine use, and the factors associated with such harms. Approach. Comprehensive review. Key Findings. Physical harms reviewed...

Alcohol as a risk factor for liver cirrhosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract: Introduction and Aims. Alcohol is an established risk factor for liver cirrhosis. It remains unclear, however, whether this relationship follows a continuous dose-response pattern or has a threshold. Also, the influences of sex and end-point (i.e. mortality vs. morbidity) on the association are not known. To address these questions and to provide a quantitative assessment of the association between alcohol intake and risk of liver cirrhosis, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort and case-control studies. Design and Methods. Studies were identified by a literature search of Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsychINFO, ETOH and Google Scholar from January 1980 to January 2008 and by searching the references of retrieved articles. Studies were included if quantifiable information on risk and related confidence intervals with respect to at least three different levels of average alcohol intake were reported. Both categorical and continuous meta-analytic techniques were used to model the dose-response relationship. Results. Seventeen studies met the inclusion criteria. We found some indications for threshold effects. Alcohol consumption had a significantly larger impact on mortality of liver cirrhosis compared with morbidity. Also, the same amount of average consumption was related to a higher risk of liver cirrhosis in women than in men. Discussion and Conclusions. Overall, end-point was an important source of heterogeneity among study results. This result has important implications not only for studies in which the burden of disease attributable to alcohol consumption is estimated, but also for prevention. [Rehm J, Taylor B, Mohapatra S, Irving H, Baliunas D, Patra J, Roerecke M. Alcohol as a risk factor for liver cirrhosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Drug Alcohol Rev 2010].

Imaging stress- and cue-induced drug and alcohol craving: association with relapse and clinical implications.

Abstract: Stress- and drug-related cues are major factors contributing to high rates of relapse in addictive disorders. Brain imaging studies have begun to identify neural correlates of stress and drug cue-induced craving states. Findings indicate considerable overlap in neural circuits involved in processing stress and drug cues with activity in the corticostriatal limbic circuitry underlying both affective and reward processing. More recent efforts have begun to identify the relationships between neural activity during stress and drug cue exposure and drug relapse outcomes. Findings suggest medial prefrontal, anterior and posterior cingulate, striatal and posterior insula regions to be associated with relapse outcomes. Altered function in these brain regions is associated with stress-induced and drug cue-induced craving states and an increased susceptibility to relapse. Such alterations can serve as markers to identify relapse propensity and a more severe course of addiction. Efficacy of pharmacological and behavioral treatments that specifically target stress and cue-induced craving and arousal responses may also be assessed via alterations in these brain correlates.