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Alcohol's Effects on Health

Research-based information on drinking and its impact.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Research Monographs

The majority of the research monographs are based on papers presented at NIAAA-sponsored conferences on a topic. Each monograph reviews and analyzes studies conducted by alcohol researchers as well as investigators conducting research germane to the area on which the monograph focuses. The NIAAA Research Monographs are available through The SALIS Collection.


Research Monograph No. 37: Alcohol Use Among American Indians and Alaska Natives: Multiple Perspectives on a Complex Problem. 486 pp, NIH Pub. No. 02-4231. 2002. Brings together information on the etiology and consequences of alcohol abuse and alcoholism among these special populations. Examines the historical context of health policies for indigenous people, and the epidemiology of current alcohol use and alcohol-related problems among American Indians. Also discusses the following topics in relation to American Indians and Alaska Natives: genetic susceptibility to alcoholism, community alcohol control programs, treatment and prevention programs, alcohol and HIV/AIDS, fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol in the lives of women, alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities, and alcohol-related violence.

Research Monograph No. 36: Epidemiology of Alcohol Problems in Small Geographic Areas. 270 pp. NIH Pub No. 00-4357. 2000. Presents the latest methodologies used in measuring alcohol consumption and problems in small geographic areas. Social indicator methodologies and geographic information systems that analyze prevalence of alcohol problems and spatial data are examined. Goals of the monograph are to show how traditional techniques of epidemiological monitoring can be adapted to the local needs of AOD program planning, evaluate treatment programs within small areas, and illustrate how researchers are developing new techniques for measuring alcohol problems, relating them to local demographics, service utilization, and environmental risk factors.

Research Monograph No. 35: Ethanol and Intracellular Signaling: From Molecules to Behavior. 210 pp. NIH. Pub. No. 00-4579. 2000.Presents the latest advances towards understanding the mechanisms underlying alcohol's actions in the brain and how they influence the development of alcohol-related behaviors. Researchers are beginning to piece together the puzzle of the intricate, detailed pathways or circuits of communication, known as intracellular signaling, involved in the development of alcoholism, which aids our understanding of craving, tolerance, withdrawal, and impaired control. Investigations into the function of calcium as a second messenger, the regulatory actions of protein kinases, and the role of gene expression in mediating long-term neuronal changes induced by alcohol are explored in great detail. Understanding intracellular signaling provides unique perspectives on the importance of looking at the whole individual as well as its biological parts.

Research Monograph No. 33: Alcohol Problems and Aging. 475 pp. NIH Publication No. 98-4163. 1998.Presents the lat est research and clinical findings on alcohol and aging. It addresses issues that are integral to the study of alcohol problems in the elderly, examines the biological and developmental mechanisms that are affected by the interaction of alcoholism and agedness, discusses the medical and psychosocial consequences of the effects of alcohol on the elderly, reviews age-specific topics in alcohol treatment and prevention, and presents a review of research issues and priorities.

Research Monograph No. 31: Alcohol and the Cardiovascular System. 712 pp. NIH Publication No. 96-4133. 1996. Examines research pertaining to the consequences of both moderate and heavy alcohol consumption on the heart, blood, and blood vessels. Organized around several fundamental questions that have risen in response to epidemiological findings on alcohol consumption, the monograph is divided into four major sections: Epidemiological Studies, Clinical Studies, Biochemical and Molecular Studies, and Alcohol Interactions with Medications.

Research Monograph No. 26: The Development of Alcohol Problems: Exploring the Biopsychosocial Matrix of Risk. 435 pp. NIH Publication No. 94-3495. 1994.Intended to provide a stimulus of cross-discipline inquiry into the etiology and prevention of alcohol-related problems in youth, this volume integrates current knowledge about the development of risk for alcohol problems among this population. Summarizes major findings and research techniques from a variety of research fields, including basic methodological approaches to study genetic contributions to risk for alcohol dependence; physiological mechanisms that underlie alcoholism vulnerability; individual risk factors; family and peer effects on adolescent alcohol abuse; sociodemographic, environmental, and cultural influences on youth drinking behavior; impact of legal and social sanctions that formally control access to alcohol; and various models and methods to study adolescent alcohol use.

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