Youth Anticipate Early Death
As Atlanta officials aim to tackle the city's safety problems this year, some of their toughest criminals to stop maybe young offenders whose desires to commit crimes are being fueled by an anticipation of dying early. Georgia State University Criminal Justice experts Timothy Brezina, Volkan Topalli and economist Erdal Tekin, have released a unique study that indicates that although young criminals are aware of the risks of violent injury, death or punishment, the possibility of a shorter life span encourages them to focus more on the "here and now." "It turns out that if you boil it all down the more you think you are going to die young the more likely it is that you are going to engage in criminality and violence, " Topalli said.
Parkinson's Patients Who Are Pathological Gamblers Also Display Abnormal Social Behaviour
People with Parkinson's Disease are more likely to display abnormal social behaviour and make poor decisions in ambiguous circumstances if they are pathological gamblers, according to research in the January issue of the European Journal of Neurology. A number of studies have already associated pathological gambling with Parkinson's, suggesting that it is a frequent impulse control disorder associated mainly with dopamine replacement therapy. Researchers from the Raul Carrea Institute for Neurological Research (FLENI) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, interviewed the immediate relatives of seven Parkinson's patients who were pathological gamblers. They also interviewed the families of 13 patients matched by age, sex, education and disease severity who did not gamble.
Todd Krass To Lead AHA's Section For Psychiatric And Substance Abuse Services
Todd Krass, CEO of Research Belton Hospital in Belton, Mo., is the 2010 chair of the American Hospital Association's (AHA) Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services, a constituency section representing 1, 300 behavioral health providers across the country that provides guidance in AHA's policy development and governance. During his one-year term as chair, Krass and a 16-person governing council will work with the AHA to identify ways to define and focus AHA policy, advocacy, public policy issues and member service strategies regarding health care systems. Krass has served as CEO of Research Belton Hospital, a 71-bed community hospital, since 2005.
Industry Documents Reveal The Truth About Alcohol Advertising, UK
Although the content of alcohol advertisements in the UK is restricted, an analysis of previously unseen industry documents published on bmj.com today, finds that advertisers are still managing to appeal to young people and promote drinking. Professor Gerard Hastings and colleagues show that companies are "pushing the boundaries" of the advertising code of practice and warn that the UK system of self regulatory controls for alcohol advertising is failing. Hastings and his team analysed a sample of internal marketing documents from four alcohol producers and their communications agencies. The documents were made available as part of the House of Commons Health Committee alcohol inquiry and included client briefs, media schedules, advertising budgets, and market research reports.
Nurses: Mandatory Alcohol Code Must Be Stronger, UK
Responding to the news that the government is to introduce a mandatory code on alcohol, which would ban promotions such as "all you can drink for В 10" offers, Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said: "Nurses have been calling for a mandatory code for a long time, and this move to ban binge drinking promotions is a step in the right direction. However, the government should be taking bolder action to protect the health of the nation. "Minimum pricing and tighter regulations on labelling, sales and advertising should also be introduced within the mandatory code. In addition there should be widespread public-facing campaigns to educate people about the dangers of excessive drinking.
TruTouch Technologies Announces Successful Clinical Testing Of Next-Generation Finger-Touch Intoxication Detection System
TruTouch Technologies, a pioneer in non-invasive biometric intoxication detection systems, today announced that it has successfully carried out human clinical trials of its newest finger-touch detection system for alcohol intoxication, in collaboration with Lovelace Scientific Resources. The trial is intended to support continued product commercialization and new technology development for the device, called TruTouch 2000. TruTouch and Lovelace Scientific Resources carried out a comparison alcohol level detection study in 55 patients, comparing effectiveness and sensitivity of the newly developed TruTouch 2000 finger touch device with the TruTouch Guardian forearm device, breathalyzer and the current gold standard for intoxication detection, venous blood.
Alcohol Metabolism Enzyme Repaired By Molecule
An experimental compound repaired a defective alcohol metabolism enzyme that affects an estimated 1 billion people worldwide, according to research supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The findings, published Jan. 10, 2010 in the advance online edition of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, suggest the possibility of a treatment to reduce the health problems associated with the enzyme defect. "This intriguing finding could have broad public health implications, " said NIAAA Acting Director Kenneth R. Warren, Ph.D. "We look forward to further research aimed at translating these laboratory discoveries into possible treatments for people.
Rice Responsible For Asians' Alcohol Flush Reaction
The mutation responsible for the alcohol flush reaction, an unpleasant response to alcohol that is relatively common in people of Asian descent, may have occurred following the domestication of rice. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology traced the history of the version of the gene responsible, finding that the ADH1B*47His allele appeared around the same time that rice was first cultivated in southern China. Bing Su, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, worked with a team of researchers to study 38 populations (2, 275 individuals) including Han Chinese, Tibetan and other ethnic populations across China. He said, "Our molecular dating suggests that the emergence of the ADH1B*47His allele occurred about 10, 000-7, 000 years ago.
In Chronic Pain Patients, Higher Opioid Dose Linked To Overdose Risk
More and more Americans with chronic pain not caused by cancer are taking medically prescribed opioids like Oxycontin ( oxycodone ) and Vicodin (hydrocodone). The January 19 Annals of Internal Medicine features the first study to explore the risk of overdose in patients prescribed opioids for chronic noncancer pain in general health care. The study links risk of fatal and nonfatal opioid overdose to prescription use - strongly associating the risk with the prescribed dose. A team led by Michael Von Korff, ScD, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute, studied nearly 10, 000 patients who received multiple opioid prescriptions for common chronic pain conditions like back pain and osteoarthritis.
Improving Family-Strengthening Intervention Program
Preliminary testing of modifications to a program aimed at strengthening families showed that parents improved their ability to control anger, exhibited less negativity and acted more positively toward their children. The study, funded by a $3.3-million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and carried out by Penn State researchers, will test changes to an intervention program called "Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14" (SFP 10-14) which educates parents and children on ways to enhance their relationships. Researchers led by Dr. Douglas Coatsworth, associate professor of human development and family studies, are adapting SFP 10-14, which was established to prevent the onset of teen drug use and shows good results.