Alcoholism

Of the many things that long-term alcohol addiction can steal -- careers, lives, health, memory -- one of its most heartbreaking tolls is on relationships. Alcoholics, researchers have long known, have a tendency to misread emotional cues, sometimes taking offense when none was intended or failing to pick up on a loved one's sadness, joy, anger or disappointment. The misunderstandings can result in more drinking, and more deterioration of relationships and lives. How does alcohol do all that?

Doctors who abuse alcohol or drugs should no longer be allowed to enroll in a confidential, state-monitored rehabilitation program, the president of the Medical Board of California said at a summit Thursday. In remarks to a group of 100 people, Dr. Richard Fantozzi signaled that he was in no mood to compromise with the California Medical Assn. and other physicians' groups, which have urged that substance-abusing doctors continue to be allowed to enroll in such a program.

People who start drinking alcohol at a young age are more likely to drink a lot when they get older, and to get into trouble with it. That's been known for a while and is not a surprise. A new study, however, sheds light on one reason that early drinkers often become heavy -- or dependent -- older drinkers. It's because they are more likely to use alcohol as a "stress reducer" than do people who began drinking at an older age.

At least two people have become intoxicated by drinking hand-sanitizing gels, a potentially deadly habit, doctors reported Wednesday. A prison inmate and a hospitalized alcoholic were treated for poisoning from the gels, which contain alcohol -- but not the kind found in beverages. Evidently people misunderstand the labels that show the gels, foams and liquids contain alcohol, the doctors said in separate letters to the New England Journal of Medicine.

EVEN five minutes of straight talk from a physician can reduce alcohol-related injuries and accidents among problem drinking patients, a new study reports. In the review of 21 separate clinical trials, researchers at Newcastle University in England and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine found that brief interventions by a physician reduced alcohol consumption by an average of four drinks a week.

The vast majority of adult Americans who abuse alcohol never seek treatment, according to a new government public health survey. The survey, the first of its kind by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in 10 years, presents a full picture of alcohol disorders in the country. The survey, which breaks down rates of alcohol abuse by age, race, socioeconomic group and other factors, also found that 30.

Pfizer Inc.'s anti-smoking pill may help alcoholics stop drinking, UC San Francisco researchers reported Tuesday in the Archives of General Psychiatry. Chantix, or varenicline, regulates the body's levels of dopamine, a brain chemical associated with addiction. Rats that were trained to drink alcohol received the drug in doses similar to those used for smoking cessation in humans. The rats given the medicine drank less while under treatment and afterward.

VIENNA, Austria -- Stripping away opera's glamour, singers are increasingly speaking out about a more sordid side of their world: increased drug and alcohol use sparked by relentless pressure to perform often and well. Most performers continue to avoid the pitfalls of substance abuse and no figures exist documenting the extent of such behavior.

The Episcopal Church's first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson, is being treated for alcoholism, a step that surprised friends and colleagues but seemed unlikely to threaten his position in the church. Robinson, whose 2003 election as bishop of New Hampshire caused a furor in worldwide Anglicanism, wrote in an e-mail to clergy that he had checked himself in for treatment Feb. 1.

This is a big night for John Fante, and for his son, Dan, who is proud of the old man, even if he doesn't often say so. Dan needs to be in the right mood to speak well of John, and tonight you can see in his smile, he's in the right mood. Tonight Dan is setting aside the bad memories, the sorrow and rage and resentment over John, for a few hours. For as long as any son can set aside such things. Many consider Dan's father the best novelist Los Angeles has ever produced.