Well, almost nothing except that alcohol and impulsivity are a dangerous mix and people with current drinking problems and poor impulse control are more likely to die in the next 15 years, according to researchers at the Center for Health Care Evaluation of the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The study, which appears online and in the November 2011 issue of the journal Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, indicates that alcohol abusers with poor impulse control could get by with a little help from their friends and a strong social support network may buffer the toxic effects of impulsivity.

While alcohol misuse has long been associated with increased risk of premature death, impulsivity – excessive risk-taking, disregard of consequences and poor self-control – has been shown to affect life expectancy regardless of drinking habits.

Lead author Daniel Blonigen, PhD. And his team tested 515 people when they first sought help for drinking problems and again one year later, and then followed them for another 15 years. During this period, 93 individuals died and those who scored high on a measure of impulsivity a year after seeking help for their drinking problems were more likely to die in the following years. These results also held true even after researchers took factors like drinking severity and existing physical health problems into account.

Although the research did not explain why impulsivity compounds the risk of alcohol misuse, “Based on past research, impulsivity is related to a wide range of health risk behaviors [besides heavy alcohol consumption], like smoking, drug use, dangerous driving and risky sexual activities,” Blonigen reported. Impulsive behavior can also increase exposure to stressful situations, with a negative physiological impart.

However, the study found that individuals who reported strong supportive relationships with peers and friends may be somewhat protected from the consequences of their impulsivity – and less likely to die than those who lacked those social resources.

“One of the great lessons to be drawn from this research is that individuals with histories of risk taking and alcohol or drug abuse really benefit from support groups like Alcoholics and Narcotics Anonymous,” observed Francis J. (Skip) Flynn, Psy.D., founder of the Brain Training Centers of Florida. “This new research indicates that when clients take active participation in a Twelve Step program as a serious and critical adjunct to any other form of substance abuse therapy, it may have the additional benefit of adding years to their lives in recovery,” said Flynn.

The Canadian researchers – Jaideep Bains, Quentin Pittman, Kareen M. Crosby, and Watauru Inoue – studied neurons (nerve calls) in the hypothalamus, a region of the brain known to play an important role in the control of appetite and metabolism, which has also been identified as the primary region responsible for the brain’s response to stress.

Their findings, explained Bains, “could help explain how the cellular communication in our brains may be overridden in the absence of food. Increasingly, these changes are driven not necessarily by the lack of nutrients, but rather by the stress induced by the lack of food.”

Pittman noted that “If we elect to pass over a meal, the brain appears to simply increase the drive in pathways leading to appetite. Furthermore, the fact that the lack of food causes activation of the stress response might help explain the relationship between stress and obesity.

“One thing we can say for sure, is that this research highlights the importance of food availability to our nervous system. The absence of food clearly brings about dramatic changes in the way our neurons communicate with each other,” said Pittman.

“While this study employed rats, it is possible that it will also lead to insights into the relationship between stress and food cravings in humans,” noted Francis J. (Skip) Flynn, Psy.D., founder and director of clinical services of the Brain Training Centers of Florida.

“By using a combination of individualized neurobiofeedback and Cognitive Behavioral counseling, we’ve assisted more than a dozen clients achieve quiet and balanced brains and, in turn, reverse histories of repeated failures at weight loss or weight control,” said Flynn. “It would, however, be foolish to expect a kind of shortcuts to weight loss and long-term health. In addition to addressing neural – brain – issues, we must assist clients in accomplishing healthy eating and exercise programs, as well as appropriate life style changes.”

It’s the male hormone that, from conception to old age, controls the lives of men and boys; and, now there’s evidence that it may be causing an “accident hump” – associated with an increased probability of dying among teenage boys.

The age of sexual maturity has been on a decline – about 2.5months each decade or more than two years per century – at least since the mid-18^th Century but, the research has focused primarily on girls and used data analysis documented by medical records.

“The reason for earlier maturity for boys, as with girls, is probably because nutrition and disease environments are getting favorable for it,” reports demographer Joshua Goldstein, director of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock (Germany). Goldstein uncovered the male statistics by studying demographic data related to mortality. When male hormone production during puberty reaches a maximum level, the probability of dying increases – an “accident hump.” And the hump, which is statistically well-documented, is consistent in almost all societies.

Reviewing data for Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Great Britain and Italy since 1950, Goldstein discovered that the “accident hump” is getting earlier and earlier. It occurs in the late phase of puberty, after males reach reproductive capability and their voices change. It is attributed to the fact that young men participate in particularly risky behaviors when the release of testosterone reaches its maximum .  (However, it should be noted, that since 1950 the data is not clear but indicates stagnation.)

It is well-known that dangerous and reckless shows of strength, negligence, and a high propensity to violence lead to an increased number of fatal accidents. While the probability of a fatality remains low, the rate jumps considerably.

“Being 18 today is like being 22 in 1800,” reports Goldstein, who attributes the changes to better nutrition and an improved resilience against diseases. Moreover, it appears that the shift in age of maturity is biological and not related to technological advancements or social activities. “Researchers see for the first time how females and males have been equally responsive to changes in the environment,” notes Goldstein.

“The biological and social phases in the lives of young people are drifting apart ever stronger. While adolescents become adults earlier in a biological sense, they reach adulthood later regarding their social and economic roles.”

Sociological and life-cycle research show that for more than half a century the age at which people marry, have children, start their careers and become financially independent from their parents continue to rise.

Goldstein points out that this doesn’t only extend the period of physical adulthood during which young people do not yet have children. “Important decisions in life are being made with an increasing distance from the recklessness of youth.”  He points out that it remains unclear whether the “high-risk phase” of adolescence becomes more dangerous because it starts earlier. Although young men are less mentally and socially mature, their parents tend to supervise their children more closely when they are younger.

Goldstein points out that this doesn’t only extend the period of physical adulthood during which young people do not yet have children. “Important decisions in life are being made with an increasing distance from the recklessness of youth.”  He points out that it remains unclear whether the “high-risk phase” of adolescence becomes more dangerous because it starts earlier. Although young men are less mentally and socially mature, their parents tend to supervise their children more closely when they are younger.

The acronym stands for Hungry-angry-Lonely-Tired. They’re four mental/emotional/leading to relapse.

Now, a study that will be published in the November 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research adds to what physicians and mental health professionals have known for generations: “Drinking alcohol may reduce maintaining a healthy diet, leading to adverse metabolic effects which in turn add to those directly produced by alcohol.” In short, excessive drinking and an unbalanced diet are two preventable contributors to health problems.

“On average, people who drink excessive alcohol are more likely to be careless in their dietary habits,” noted Miguel A. Martinez-Gonzalez, chair of the department of preventive medicine and public health at the University of Navarra (Spain) and co-author of the report. “A high alcohol intake is especially unhealthy with respect to liver disease. A high-energy food pattern rich in trans fats – such as ‘fast-foods’ or items from a commercial bakery — is also likely to be related to liver disease. In this sense, if both unhealthy lifestyles cluster together, they can act synergistically to produce very adverse effects.”

“The specific influence of alcohol on diet may depend upon the overall quantity of alcohol ingested, frequency of consumption, beverage preference, and whether alcohol intake takes place during meals,” said Jose Lorenzo Valencia-Martin, a doctor at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and corresponding author for the study. “Alcohol may indirectly contribute to several chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, or cancer.”

The researchers found “drinking at mealtimes is associated with insufficient intake of healthy foods, such as fruits and vegetables, and with excessive intake of animal protein,” according to Valencia-Martin.

The researchers conducted 12,037 telephone surveys between 2000 and 2005, among other issues, looked at binge drinking. In the end, “Excessive drinkers, either with or without binge drinking, showed a poor adherence to dietary recommendations,” said Valencia-Martin. “Although drinking at mealtimes has traditionally been considered a safe or even a healthy behavior, our results point to some unintended consequences that the general population should be aware of. In particular, drinking at mealtimes is associated with poor adherence to most of the food consumption guidelines.”

“’What do I have to change?’ is a standard question from men and women new to recovery from alcoholism and substance abuse. Most of the time, the answer is ‘Everything,’” noted Francis J. (Skip) Flynn, Psy.D., CAP  director of clinical services of the Brain Training Centers of Florida and an addictions counselor. “And we always caution them about HALT. If you’re hungry, alcohol is quick and easy calories. Angry? Have a drink or two and you won’t be angry – until you are again. Lonely? Substance abusers have a relationship with their drugs of choice; alcohol or drugs are often their closest friends. And tired? The extra calories can be a quick picker-upper until it slams you,” said Flynn. “This new research takes the conventional wisdom about recovery one step further and applies it to many men and women who are not yet in trouble because of their alcohol use.”

It’s one of the great self-deluding myths of marital conflict: “We don’t argue in front of the children; we protect the kids from everything that is happening; the kids don’t know that we’re having trouble.”

Parental conflict may find its expression in infants’ sleep difficulties, according to a new report in the July/August 2011 edition of the journal Child Development.

Poor sleep patterns in children from nine to eighteen months are likely influenced by conflict in their parents’ marriage, notes Penn State professor of psychology Jenae M. Neiderhiser. While past research has shown a connection between marital distress and child sleeping habits, this study looked specifically at adopted infants and their parents. Studying adopted parents and their infants allowed researchers to focus on environmental issues and eliminate genetic factors that might affect children’s sleep problems.

“It is important to understand how parenting comes in to play here,” said Neiderhiser. “Looking at the marital relationship is not direct parent-child interaction, but it is an index of stress in the family.”

The research team interviewed 357 sets of adoptive parents – together and separately and assessed their habits and emotions as well as their children’s behaviors. Parents where interviewed twice – when children were nine and 18 months old.

Parents were asked a series of questions, including “Have you or your partner suggested the idea of a divorce?” They were also asked to describe their children’s bedtime behavior by rating several behaviors including “Child needs parents in room to fall asleep” or “child struggles at bedtime.”

The researchers found that marital conflict in the first survey at nine months predicted that the child would be more likely to have sleep problems at the time of the second survey. However, if the child had sleep problems at nine months, the parents were not more likely to have marital stress at eighteen months.

According to Neiderhiser, “Research indicates that stress can negatively impact sleep. We also know that infancy is an important time for the development of sleep patterns. Our study suggests that marital instability is impacting change in the child’s sleep patterns over time, and it could be that this is setting the child up for a pattern of problematic sleep.”

“The implications of the Penn State study is especially important for many contemporary adults with sleep patterns,” notes Francis J. (Skip) Flynmn, Psy.D., clinical director of the Brain Training Centers of Florida. “Too often we see clients who have never – almost since infancy – experienced a good night’s sleep and awakened refreshed.

“Our experience indicates that clients frequently have brain wave patterns that were adversely affected by early-life experience and have never allowed them to experience healthy, refreshing sleep. By allowing them to achieve a new appropriate balance of their brain wave activity, we allow them to experience refreshing and restorative sleep – often for the first times in their lives,” reported Flynn.