National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

What Is Binge Drinking? The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08%—or 0.08 grams of alcohol per deciliter—or more. This typically happens if a woman has four or more drinks, or a man has five or more drinks, within about 2 hours...

Many people are surprised to learn what counts as a drink. The amount of liquid in your glass, can, or bottle does not necessarily match up to how much alcohol is actually in your drink. Different types of beer, wine, or malt liquor can have very different amounts of alcohol content. For example, many light beers have almost as much...

NIH-funded findings also point to possible treatments for harmful effects of adolescent alcohol exposure Adolescent binge drinking can disrupt gene regulation and brain development in ways that promote anxiety and excessive drinking behaviors that can persist into adulthood, according to a new study supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of...

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 12:00

Tue, 03/29/2011 - 12:00

Episodes of heavy alcohol consumption leading to intoxication are associated with many health and safety problems, including unintentional injuries, sexual assault, domestic violence and alcohol poisoning. Previous studies have shown that brain molecules called GABAA receptors appear to play a role in excessive drinking. In a new study, researchers used an established rat model of binge drinking to investigate how...

Are you a risky drinker? Nearly 70% of American adults drink alcohol and nearly 1/3 of them engage in problem drinking at some point in their lives. Produced by HBO Documentary Films and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the National Institutes of Health, Risky Drinking is a no-holds-barred look at a national epidemic through the...

New research supported by the National Institutes of Health shows how elements of the brain’s stress and reward pathways can interact to suppress binge alcohol drinking. The finding, now online in the journal Nature Neuroscience, suggests potential strategies for treating and preventing alcohol use problems. “This study is an important contribution to our knowledge of the neurobiology of alcohol use...

Harmful and underage college drinking are significant public health problems, and they exact an enormous toll on the intellectual and social lives of students on campuses across the United States. Drinking at college has become a ritual that students often see as an integral part of their higher education experience. Many students come to college with established drinking habits, and the college environment can exacerbate the problem.

A single alcohol binge can cause bacteria to leak from the gut and increase levels of bacterial toxins in the blood, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Increased levels of these bacterial toxins, called endotoxins, were shown to affect the immune system, with the body producing more immune cells involved in fever, inflammation, and...

Wednesday, October 10, 2018, 9:00 am EDT

NIAAA Working Group on High-Intensity Drinking -- Working Group Meeting Panelists: Nancy Barnett, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Brown University School of Public Health; Professor, Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, Brown University Lee Boot, M.F.A., Research Associate Professor and Director of the Imaging Research Center, UMBC Ian Colrain, Ph.D., President, SRI Biosciences Elizabeth D'Amico, Ph.D., Senior Behavioral Scientist...

The holidays are here! And since drinking alcohol is a part of holiday festivities for many people, it is a good time to be mindful of how it can affect our celebrations and our health.

As we move from January to February, some people’s motivation to keep their New Year’s resolutions starts to wane. But it’s a good idea to be mindful of how alcohol can adversely affect our health all year long.

Underage drinking is a serious public health problem in the United States. Alcohol is the most widely used substance of abuse among America’s youth, and drinking by young people poses enormous health and safety risks.

February 20, 2019

NIAAA Spectrum is the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism's (NIAAA) triannual webzine. With engaging feature articles, short news updates, and colorful graphics, NIAAA Spectrum offers accessible and relevant information on NIAAA and the alcohol research field. The latest issue is now available . In This Issue Advances in Understanding and Addressing Underage Drinking Combating underage drinking is a...

Drinking in Moderation: According to the "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Agriculture , adults of legal drinking age can choose not to drink or to drink in moderation by limiting intake to 2 drinks or less in a day for men and 1 drink or less in a day...

Harmful and underage college drinking are significant public health problems, and they exact an enormous toll on the intellectual and social lives of students on campuses across the United States. Learn more... Visit NIAAA's site CollegeDrinkingPrevention.gov -- your one-stop resource for comprehensive research-based information on issues related to alcohol abuse and binge drinking among college students Read NIAAA's fact sheet...

In the United States, and throughout the world, men drink more alcohol than women. But a recent analysis by scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, indicates that longstanding differences between men and women in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related harms might be narrowing in the United States. Researchers led...

Mon, 03/19/2018 - 12:00

Thu, 02/15/2018 - 12:00

An NIAAA study shows that people who drink socially and have certain risk factors for alcohol use disorder (AUD) self-administer more alcohol and at a faster rate during a single laboratory session of alcohol consumption than people at low risk for developing AUD. Participants with all three risk factors evaluated in this study—being male, having a family history of AUD...