Drinking Group Research Articles

Long-Term Alcohol Consumption Caused a Significant Decrease in Serum High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL)-Cholesterol and Apolipoprotein A-I with the Atherogenic Changes of HDL in Middle-Aged Korean Women.

Light-to-moderate alcohol drinking is associated with a low incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) via an elevation of high-density lipoproteins-cholesterol (HDL-C), particularly with the short-term supplementation of alcohol. However, there is no information on the change in the HDL qualities and functionalities between non-drinkers and mild drinkers in the long-term consumption of alcohol. This study analyzed the lipid and lipoprotein profiles of middle-aged Korean female non-drinkers, mild-drinkers, and binge-drinkers, who consumed alcohol for at least 10 years. Unexpectedly, the serum levels of HDL-C and apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) were decreased significantly depending on the alcohol amount; the binge-drinker group showed 18% and 13% lower HDL-C (p = 0.011) and apoA-I levels (p = 0.024), respectively, than the non-drinker group. Triglyceride (TG) and oxidized species, malondialdehyde (MDA), and low-density lipoproteins (LDL) levels were significantly elevated in the drinker groups. Interestingly, the binge-drinker group showed 1.4-fold higher (p = 0.020) cholesterol contents in HDL2 and 1.7-fold higher (p < 0.001) TG contents in HDL3 than those of the non-drinker group. The mild-drinker group also showed higher TG contents in HDL3 (p = 0.032) than the non-drinker group, while cholesterol contents were similar in the HDL3 of all groups. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the non-drinker group showed a more distinct and clear particle shape of the LDL and HDL image with a larger particle size than the drinker group. Electrophoresis of LDL showed that the drinker group had faster electromobility with a higher smear band intensity and aggregation in the loading position than the non-drinker group. The HDL level of binge drinkers showed the lowest paraoxonase activity, the highest glycated extent, and the most smear band intensity of HDL and apoA-I, indicating that HDL quality and functionality were impaired by alcohol consumption. In conclusion, long-term alcohol consumption in middle-aged women, even in small amounts, caused a significant decrease in the serum HDL-C and apoA-I with atherogenic changes in LDL and HDL, such as an increase in TG and MDA content with a loss of paraoxonase activity.

‘I Just Don’t Drink’: Examining the Experiences of Young Adult Abstainers in Australia’s Changing Drinking Trends

Increasing numbers of young adults in Australia are choosing to abstain from alcohol. Research demonstrates young adults encounter difficulties when choosing to abstain in settings where alcohol consumption is common or expected. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of abstainers aged 18–24 years to understand if the acceptance of their non-drinking practices is changing and how they managed their non-drinking practice in social contexts where alcohol consumption is common in Queensland, Australia. Drawing on the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism, we show how drinking practices are prevalent and powerful, evident through pressure from significant others to drink. Second, we show how young adults enact agency to deal with this pressure and participate as a non-drinker through (a) having a strong sense of being, (b) using an empowered verbal response to deflect pressure and (c) choosing alternative non-alcohol-related activities. The findings offer insight into how young adults wishing to refrain from alcohol may participate openly as abstainers in heterogenous drinking groups.

UPAYA PEMERINTAH DESA HENDROSARI DALAM MEMPERTAHANKAN DESA WISATA LONTAR SEWU DI ERA PANDEMI COVID-19

This study aims to analyze the formation of the Lontar Sewu Tourism Village before the Covid-19 Pandemic, the efforts of the Hendrosari Village Government in maintaining the Lontar Sewu Tourism Village in the Covid-19 Pandemic era and the factors that influenced the efforts of the Hendrosari Village Government in maintaining the Lontar Sewu Tourism Village. The research method used is descriptive qualitative. The informants in this study were the Head of Hendrosari Village, the Director of the Lontar Sewu BUMDes who doubled as Chair of the Tourism Awareness Group and sellers of food and drinks at tourist attractions. Data collection techniques through observation, interviews and documentation. The data analysis technique used is data collection, data condensation, data presentation, and drawing conclusions. The results showed that: (1) The establishment of the Lontar Sewu Tourism Village was to improve the welfare of the people of Hendrosari Village. The accessibility conditions of Lontar Sewu Tourism Village are good, it has interesting objects, the village government and the community support the tourism village, village security is guaranteed, accommodation in terms of restaurants is available but does not yet have a homestay, the climate is quite cool and it is not related to other tourist objects. (2) The efforts of the Hendrosari Village Government in maintaining a tourist village are digital promotional innovations via Instagram @explore_lontarsewu, adaptation of the implementation of the CHSE health protocol (Cleanliness, Health, Safety, Environment Sustainability) and collaborating with seven stakeholders. (3) Factors that influence it are economic factors (budget funds), social factors (community participation) and environmental factors (conservation of natural potential).

Association of the Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease with Serum Uric Acid-to-Creatinine Ratio.

Background: No study has examined whether serum uric acid/creatinine (sUA/Cr) is associated with the newly defined metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLDs). Furthermore, studies on other factors influencing their relationship have not been conducted. Aim: To investigate the relationship between sUA/Cr and newly defined MAFLD, and to identify any factors that affect this relationship. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the data of patients who underwent abdominal computed tomography (CT) at the Hospital Health Promotion Center. Participants were divided into the healthy (no evidence of liver disease; n = 707), MAFLD+non-heavy drinking (steatosis diagnosed by CT and drinking <140 and 70 grams/week for men and women, respectively; n = 291), and MAFLD+heavy drinking (fatty liver diagnosed by CT and drinking >140 and 70 grams/week for men and women, respectively; n = 61) groups. The relationship between sUA/Cr and MAFLD among the three groups were compared using multivariate logistic regression. Results: After adjusting for age, it was observed that when the sUA/Cr ratio increased by 1, the risk of MAFLD increased by 1.205 times the risk in the normal group. After adjusting for age, an increase by 1 in the sUA/Cr ratio increased the probability of non-heavy drinking+MAFLD and heavy drinking+MAFLD by 1.302 and 1.556 times, respectively, compared with healthy individuals. For those who smoked, the probability of heavy drinking+MAFLD was 9.901 times higher compared with healthy individuals. Conclusion: The newly defined MAFLD is related to sUA/Cr. The amount of alcohol consumption and smoking influenced the association between sUA/Cr and MAFLD.

Low and high postpubertal ethanol use: damage on adulthood reproduction and offspring

Graphical abstract The relationship between adolescent ethanol uses and its impacts throughout life are not conclusive. Thus, we evaluated if the low and high consumption of ethanol at postpuberty interferes with the reproduction and ethanol-naive offspring and if the effects are dose-related. Female and male rats were divided into three groups: low drinker (L), high drinker (H) and control (C). The L and H groups were exposed to ethanol up to 10 % from 65 to 80 days with withdrawal after this period. The ethanol consumed by low drinkers was 1.41 ± 0.21 g/kg/day and by high drinkers 4.59 ± 0.45 g/kg/day. The study was conducted in two phases. The first phase verified the reproductive capacity in adulthood on generations (litter size and sex ratio). Data were collected over 10 years. The second phase analyzed the parent reproductive parameters (body weight, reproductive organ weight, sperm parameters and estrous cycle) and the pup development. We observed a reduced litter size in both drinker groups. Gestational body weight gain and feed consumption were lower in L and H. We observed an alteration in reproductive organs weight in both sexes of H. Females presented a longer estrous cycle duration. Males presented an increase in abnormal sperm, a decrease in sperm count and accelerated transit time. The ethanol-naive offspring development was also impaired. We conclude that low and high postpubertal alcohol use impairs long-term reproductive parameters, even after alcohol withdrawal. There is also impaired ethanol-naive offspring. Besides, the effects are dose-related.Lay summaryThe effects of alcohol use have been reported in several studies. However, better knowledge about early alcohol use and its impact on reproduction in adulthood, after abstinence and on ethanol-naive offspring could help improve preventive measures and mechanisms of action. One of the methods used was retrospective analysis which allows to evaluate the effects of postpubertal ethanol use on the reproductive capacity of rats over generations. Despite our limitations, we verified that the post-adolescent period acts as a susceptibility window, and lifestyle at this age modulates the long-term reproductive parameters. The early ethanol use impairs reproduction function since sperm parameters and the estrous cycle have been altered. The dose of alcohol also contributes to damage on the drinkers’ reproduction and on the physical development of ethanol-naive offspring. Future studies are necessary to identify the mechanism involved in long-term alcohol use effects, even in withdrawal, as well as ethanol-naive offspring outcomes.

Grounded theory of drinking behavior on male adults

This paper starts from the drinking culture of male adults, and then connects to the macro level of male adults' drinking values and their social context. This study applies grounded theory to conduct grounded field interviews with male adult drinking groups, and carries out open coding, axis coding and selective coding to obtain the meaning of the text. This study contributes to the "grounded theory of male adult drinking behavior" saturated with emergence theory, and puts forward insights into the demand value context path, expectation value context path, and environmental value context path. In the research system of drinking culture, it presents the value and integrity of theoretical views.

Prevalence and Correlates of Risky Drinking Among the Oldest-Old in China: A National Community-Based Survey.

AimsTo investigate the prevalence and correlates of risky drinking in Chinese elderly people aged 80 and over.MethodsData were obtained from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) conducted in 2018. A total of 10,141 respondents aged 80 years or older were included in this analysis. Risky drinking was defined as drinking > 2 drinks per day. The participants were divided into no risky drinking, past risky drinking, and current risky drinking groups. The prevalence of risky drinking, daily dosage, and type of alcohol beverages were assessed. The correlates of risky drinking were analyzed using logistic regression.ResultsThe prevalence of past and current risky drinking was 6.2 and 4.4%, respectively. A total of 12.2% of males and 2.1% of females reported past risky drinking, and 8.9% of males and 1.4% of females reported current risky drinking. The median of the daily dosage of the past risky drinking group was 4.5 and 4 drinks in males and females, respectively, and were 4 and 3.3, respectively, of the current risky drinking group. Strong liquor was the most popular alcohol beverage in all groups. Men who were older or had white-collar work were less likely to be past risky drinkers, while those with smoking in past or current or heart disease were more likely to be past risky drinkers. Women who smoked in the past were more likely to be past risky drinkers. Men with older age or living in the urban areas or with heart disease were less likely to be current risky drinkers. Women with higher education or with heart disease were less likely to be current risky drinkers. Women with current smoking were more likely to have current risky drinking.ConclusionsOur findings indicated that risky drinking among the oldest-old was not rare in China. The correlates of past and current risky drinking were different. Men and women had various correlates of risky drinking as well. Those with higher socioeconomic status seemed less likely to be risky drinking. More attention should be given to risky drinking among the oldest old, and sex-specific intervention may be needed.

Different preoperative fluids do not affect the hemodynamic status but gastric volume: results of a randomized crossover pilot study

Background and objectiveInferior vena cava (IVC) examination has been reported as a noninvasive method for evaluating the hemodynamic state. We conducted this crossover pilot study to investigate the effects of the administration of water and high-carbohydrate-containing fluids on the hemodynamic status of volunteers through collapsibility index of IVC (IVCCI) measurement.MethodsTwenty volunteers were randomly assigned to a water or high-carbohydrate group according to computer-generated random numbers in a 1:1 ratio. In the water group, volunteers received water (5 mL/kg), and in the high-carbohydrate group, patients received carbohydrate drinks (5 mL/kg). Respiratory variations in the IVC diameter, gastric volume, and blood pressure and heart rates in erect and supine positions were measured at admission (T1), 1 h (T2), 2 h (T3), 3 h (T4), and 4 h (T5).ResultsWhen considering participants with an IVCCI of more than 42%, there were no significant differences between the water and carbohydrate drink groups at each time point (all p > 0.05). At T2, more participants had an empty stomach in water group than in carbohydrate drink group (p < 0.001). At T3, 30% of the participants could not empty their stomachs in carbohydrate drink group. However, with regard to the number of volunteers with empty stomach at T3, there was no significant difference between water and carbohydrate drink group. Repeated measures data analysis demonstrated that IVCCI showed no significant differences over time (p = 0.063 for T1-T5). There were no differences between water and carbohydrate drinks (p = 0.867).ConclusionOur results suggested that neither water nor carbohydrate drinking affected the hemodynamic status through IVCCI measurement over time, up to 4 h after drinking. Furthermore, carbohydrate drinking might delay gastric emptying at 1 h, but not 2 h after drinking, in comparison with water.

Drinking with Friends: Measuring the Two-week Ecology of Drinking Behaviors.

Objectives: Despite the substantial influence these acute alcohol-related problems cause globally, past research has failed historically to capture the dynamic nature of drinking events, including how multiple factors (ie, individual, group, and environmental) interact to affect event-level intoxication. Fortunately, technology (eg, transdermal alcohol monitors) and smartphone surveys have provided researchers with new avenues to measure the complex nature of alcohol consumption. This paper presents the methods of a pilot study that sought to measure event-level alcohol consumption in a natural drinking group of college students. Methods: Ten groups of friends (N=49) were followed for 2 weeks with daily diary surveys, continuous activity trackers, hourly geographic ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) on 4 separate drinking occasions, and a transdermal alcohol monitor during one group-based social event. Results: On average, participants responded to > 75% of both daily diaries and EMAs and were compliant with activity trackers on 96% of monitoring days. Over 90% of the sample had usable transdermal data and after smoothing, peak transdermal alcohol contents ranged from 0.13 to 0.395 during the observation evening. Conclusion: The lessons learned during this pilot study can provide a building block for future work in this area, especially as data collection in alcohol research rapidly advances.

No More Glass Bottles? Canned Wine and Italian Consumers.

Packaging is an important economic component of the wine industry. However, while glass bottles are the leading wine container globally, their production and handling entail severe problems in increased carbon footprint impact and waste and logistic management. As a result, the wine packaging industry has developed and commercialised several alternatives to glass bottles, including aluminium cans. However, despite producers’ efforts in proposing alternative wine packaging, there are several barriers to their diffusion, especially in countries with a long tradition of wine consumption such as Italy, and it is still uncertain if and to what degree consumers would appreciate a wine in an aluminium can. This research investigates Italian wine consumers’ preferences and willingness to pay for canned wine through a survey and the contingent valuation method. We collected data from 551 consumers regarding attitudes and preferences about their wine consumption, alternative packaging acceptance, and motivations for accepting and refusing to buy it. Only a minority of the respondents declared they would buy canned wine, while the majority would refuse for reasons related to low-quality perception and poor consideration of alternative wine packaging. The lack of knowledge is one of the main obstacles to the diffusion of canned wine. However, canned wines could address different groups of wine drinkers and consumption occasions, increasing the opportunities for winemakers, especially among non-regular consumers.

Comparison study between popular brands of coffee, tea and red wine regarding polyphenols content and antioxidant activity

This study compared the phenolic profile and antioxidant activity, expressed by real serving's concentrations, of most popular plant-based drinks: coffee, tea and wine. Popular brands of coffees, black and green teas and red wines were subjected to LC–MS/MS analysis of 47 phenolic compounds known for their beneficial effect on human health, measurement of total phenolic, tannins and flavonoids contents as well as various in vitro antioxidant assays. Each drink group was characterized by specific compounds and an analogy was drawn between composition and exhibited antioxidant activity. With only phenolic acids and coumarins detected in their composition, coffees showed moderate antioxidant activity in all assays. Teas had the highest antioxidant potential, particularly green tea, with great amounts of gallic and ellagic acids, hyperoside, quercetin 3-O-glucoside, rutin, kaempferol 3-O-glucoside, vitexin, catechin, epicatechin and epigallocatechin gallate present in servings. Red wines showed good antioxidant activity, with great similarity in detected compounds to teas with a few exceptions – myricetin, resveratrol and vanillic acid. By results from this study, it could be concluded that green tea 200 mL serving, when compared with the same of black tea, Turkish and instant coffee, and red wine, has the highest antioxidant activity and content of beneficial polyphenols.

&lt;strong&gt;Comparison between carbonated and fruit-based soft drinks effect on calcium release from enamel surface of extracted permanent teeth&lt;/strong&gt;

Introduction: People widely consume soft drinks due to their easy accessibility and delightful taste, without realising the impact on the tooth surface. Enamel dissolves easily due to acidic products that contact acid, a chemical demineralisation process (dental erosion). This study aimed to analyse the comparison between carbonated and fruit-based soft drinks effect on calcium release from enamel surface of extracted permanent teeth. Methods: In-vitro study with a time-series design was conducted on the population of extracted premolars taken from a private dental clinic and orthodontics clinic of the Faculty of Dentistry Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan. The sample was obtained using the pairwise difference hypothesis test formula. The samples were 24 pieces divided into two treatment groups by immersing in carbonated drinks and fruit-based soft drinks for 5 to 60 minutes. The statistical test used was the independent t-test and generalised linear model-repeated measures (GLM-RM). Results: The calcium level after immersion in the carbonated drink at the fifth minute was 0.476±0.397 mg/L, then increased significantly at the sixtieth minute to 3.058±0.811 mg/L (p=0.001). In the fruit-based soft drinks immersion group, the dissolved calcium at the fifth minute was 0.671±0.208 mg/L, then increased significantly to 2.258±1.351 mg/L (p-value=0.028). Neither carbonated drinks nor fruit-based soft drinks showed a significant effect on the levels of dissolved calcium (p-value=0.135). Conclusion: In the fifth minutes of immersion, fruit-based soft drinks caused higher calcium release level compared to carbonated soft drinks. In contrast, in the sixtieth-minutes of immersion, the calcium release is found to be higher in the carbonated soft drinks group.

Energy Drinks and Their Acute Effects on Arterial Stiffness in Healthy Children and Teenagers: A Randomized Trial.

Adolescents are the main consumer group of energy drinks (ED). Studies suggest that acute ED consumption is associated with increased peripheral blood pressure. Little is known of the ED-induced effects on arterial stiffness. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the acute effects of ED consumption on arterial stiffness in healthy children and teenagers by conducting a prospective, randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical trial. Study participants (n = 27, mean age = 14.53 years) consumed a body-weight-adjusted amount of an ED or a placebo on two consecutive days. Arterial stiffness was evaluated sonographically by two-dimensional speckle tracking of the common carotid artery (CCA) at baseline and up to four hours after beverage consumption. The ED intake led to a significantly decreased peak circumferential strain of the CCA (11.78 ± 2.70% vs. 12.29 ± 2.68%, p = 0.043) compared with the placebo. The results of this study indicate that the acute ED consumption might be associated with increased arterial stiffness in healthy children and teenagers. Minors, particularly those with increased cardiovascular morbidity, should be discouraged from ED consumption.

The impact of heavy alcohol consumption on cognitive impairment in young old and middle old persons

BackgroundDementia indicates a significant disease burden worldwide with increased population aging. This study aimed to investigate the impact of alcohol consumption on the risk of cognitive impairment in older adults.MethodsParticipants ≥ 60 years were administered the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) to evaluate cognitive function in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles from 1999 to 2002 and 2011 to 2014 for enrollment in the present study. Participants were categorized into non-drinker, drinker, and heavy drinker groups. Logistic regression analyses were performed to explore associations between cognitive impairment and alcohol consumption.ResultsMultivariate analysis showed that older adults, men, people from minority races, persons with lower education or income levels, social difficulties, hypertension, or chronic kidney disease were significantly associated with a higher risk of cognitive impairment (all p < 0.05). In the young old (60–69 years), heavy amount of alcohol drinking was significantly associated with lower risk of cognitive impairment compared with drinkers [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.280, 95% Confidence interval (CI) 0.095–0.826]. But in the middle old persons (≥ 70 years), heavy alcohol drinking was associated with higher risk of cognitive impairment (aOR: 2.929, 95% CI 0.624–13.74).ConclusionsOur study demonstrated that light to heavy drinking was associated with lower risk of cognitive impairment in participants aged between 60 and 69 years, but caution is needed in the middle old people with heavy alcohol drinking.

위험음주 진입에 영향을 미치는 사회적 결정요인에 관한 종단연구

Objectives: Alcohol consumption is affected by individual factors as well as social conditions such as income, education, residential environment, and employment status. The purpose of this study is to longitudinally examine social determinants that influence non-risky drinkers to fall into risky drinking group. Methods: A discrete-time hazard analysis was performed using 9 waves of the Korea Welfare Panel Study Using 7<SUP>th</SUP> wave as the baseline, 14,657 people were followed for 9 years until 15<SUP>th</SUP> wave. Major variables included risky drinking, education, income status, subjective health, employment status, social capital, and social deprivation. Results: The low level of education and high level of socioeconomic deprivation were found to predict risk drinking. The lower level of perceived health, being male, being single (divorced, separated, bereaved), regular employment, and non low-income also increased the risk of falling into the risky drinking group. Conclusion: Study findings indicate that it is necessary to evaluate social factors and provide support to improve overall social conditions for prevention and intervention of alcohol related problems.

Joint Effect of Beer, Spirits Intake, and Excess Adiposity on Hyperuricemia Among Chinese Male Adults: Evidence From the China National Health Survey.

Alcohol intake and excess adiposity are associated with serum uric acid (SUA), but their interaction effect on hyperuricemia (HUA) remains unclear. Using data from the China National Health Survey (CNHS) (2012–2017), we analyzed the additive interaction of beer, spirits intake, excess adiposity [measured by body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage (BFP), and visceral fat index (VFI)] with HUA among male participants aged 20–80 from mainland China. The relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI), the attributable proportion due to interaction (AP), and the synergy index (SI) were calculated to assess the interaction effect on the additive scale. Both RERI and AP larger than 0 and SI larger than 1 indicate a positive additive interaction. Among 12,592 male participants, the mean SUA level was 367.1 ± 85.5 μmol/L and 24.1% were HUA. Overweight/obese men who were presently drinking spirits had an odds ratio (OR) of 3.20 (95%CI: 2.71–3.79) than the never drink group, with RERI, AP, and SI of 0.45 (95%CI: 0.08–0.81), 0.14 (95%CI: 0.03–0.25), and 1.25 (95%CI: 1.02–1.54), respectively. However, although combined exposures on beer intake and excess adiposity had the highest OR compared with no beer intake and nonobese participants, there was no additive interaction, with RERI, AP, and SI in the overweight/obesity and the beer intake group of 0.58 (−0.41–1.57), 0.17 (−0.08–0.41), and 1.30 (0.85–1.97), respectively. Other excess adiposity indexes revealed similar estimates. Our findings suggested that the exposures of both excess adiposity and alcohol drink could result in an additive interaction effect on HUA: the combined risk of excess adiposity with spirits intake but not with beer was greater than the sum of the effects among Chinese male adults.

Prognostic Value of Body Mass Index Stratified by Alcohol Drinking Status in Patients With Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

BackgroundThe goal of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of body mass index (BMI) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) when stratified by alcohol drinking status.MethodsA total of 620 patients with ESCC who underwent esophagectomy were analyzed. A receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed to set the appropriate cutoff point for BMI. Alcohol drinking was divided into ever and never. Kaplan-Meier and multivariate Cox regression analyses were conducted to investigate the association between clinicopathological factors and survival.ResultsThe cutoff point was 18.75 kg/m2 for BMI. Two hundred and twenty-nine patients were ever drinkers, while the other 391 patients were never drinkers. The ever drinker group was found to have more males, longer tumor lengths, advanced pT category disease, advanced pN category disease, and lower tumor locations. However, no significant difference in BMI was found between ever drinkers and never drinkers. For ever drinkers, low BMI was significantly correlated with worse overall survival (hazard ratio = 1.690; P=0.035) and cancer-specific survival (hazard ratio = 1.763; P=0.024) than high BMI after adjusting for other factors. However, BMI was not a prognostic factor in univariate and multivariate analyses for never drinkers.ConclusionsBMI is a prognostic factor only in ever drinkers with ESCC but not in never drinkers. Further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanism underlying the effect of the interaction between BMI and alcohol consumption on the prognosis of patients with ESCC.

Effect of different alcohol consumption levels on the left atrial size: A cross-sectional study in rural China.

Previous studies have investigated the relationship between alcohol and ventricular structure; however, few studies have evaluated the relation between alcohol consumption and the atrium size. In this study, we aimed to test the association between alcohol consumption and left atrium (LA) size in the general population. A population-based sample of 10,211 subjects aged ≥35 years and free from hypertension at baseline were followed from January 2012 to August 2013. Left atrial enlargement (LAE) was defined as the ratio of LA diameter to body surface area exceeding 2.4 cm/m2 in both the sexes. Independent factors for LAE were estimated by multiple logistic regression analyses. The study included 10,211 participants (4,751 men and 5,460 women). Left atrial diameter/body surface area (LAD/BSA) was higher in the moderate and heavy alcohol consumption groups than in the non-drinker group (non-drinker, 20.5±0.03 cm/m2; moderate, 20.8±0.09 cm/m2; and heavy, 20.6±0.06 cm/m2; p<0.001). Both the groups of moderate and heavy drinkers had a higher incidence of LAE than the non-drinker group (6.9% of non-drinkers, 9.9% of moderate drinkers, and 8.4% of heavy drinkers; p<0.001). After adjusting for related risk factors, multiple logistic regression analyses showed that moderate drinkers had an approximately 1.4-fold higher risk of LAE [odds ratio (OR): 1.387, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.056-1.822, p=0.019] compared with the non-drinkers, and the heavy drinkers had an approximately 1.2-fold higher risk of LAE (OR: 1.229, 95% CI: 1.002-1.508, p=0.047) compared with that of the non-drinkers. Both heavy and moderate drinkers had increased odds for LAE compared with participants with no alcohol consumption in the general population.

Differences and Similarities in Motives to Decrease Drinking, and to Drink in General Between Former and Current Heavy Drinkers-Implications for Changing Own Drinking Behaviour.

The evidence on why people initiate or cease drinking is vast; however, little is known regarding why people change their frequency and amount of drinking from intense (heavy or dependent drinking) to recreational (with little risk). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate how drinking motives and motives to decrease drinking differ between former heavy drinkers (problematic and dependent), current dependent, and current recreational drinkers. Data were obtained from four groups of individuals (n = 263) using alcohol with different severity. The participants were Polish young adults aged between 18 and 35 years. About 53% of the sample were women. The Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) was used to assess the level of drinking; the Drinking Motive Questionnaire-Revised Short Form (DMQ-R SF) was used to assess drinking motives (social, coping, enhancement, and conformity). The reasons for abstaining and limiting drinking (RALD) instrument was used to assess the RALD. Additionally, a set of questions regarding motives to decrease drinking were analysed. The results show that differences were observed between the investigated groups: the current dependent group scored significantly higher on all the dimensions of drinking motives than the current low-risk group and significantly higher on coping, social, and enhancement motives than former heavy drinkers (both groups). The two groups of former heavy drinkers did not differ from each other on drinking motives. The investigated groups differed on the motives to reduce drinking—low-risk users scored the lowest on all the motives, whereas current dependent—the highest. The differences in motives to decrease drinking between current-depended and former heavy drinkers indicate which motives can be associated with the prevention strategies, programmes, and therapeutic approaches.

How fatigue level is related to sleep disturbances: A large cross-sectional community study

In complementary and integrative medicine (CIM), subjective fatigue and sleep disturbances are the most common complaints of patients who prefer to access CIM. and it is important to understand why this is. This study investigated the association of the fatigue level on sleep disturbances. This was a cross-sectional study of 5793 subjects surveyed in a community cohort conducted as a part of the follow-up survey of “The Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES)_Ansan and Ansung cohort” between June 2012 and December 2014. The subjects provided information on their sleep quality, as assessed by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and fatigue level, as assessed by the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). Logistic regression models were used to examine the association between the fatigue level and sleep disturbances for all the subjects and subgroups. The number of subjects with sleep disturbances was 844 (14.57%), and sleep disturbances were associated with the fatigue level (aOR=1.51, 95% CI =1.43–1.59). This association was also identified by subgroup analysis of an unpaid family worker group (aOR=1.47, 95% CI =1.32–1.64) and a current drinker group (aOR=1.60, 95% CI =1.45–1.76). The level of fatigue is one of the factors associated with sleep disturbances. Therefore, if a patient complains of fatigue, the sleep disturbances that may accompany it should be considered. Evidence should be strengthened by generating relevant data onpatients consulting CIM services for fatigue and their relationship to sleep disturbances explored.