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(Getty Images)By Denise Mann
MONDAY, Nov. 16, 2009 (Health.com) — People with heart disease and similar conditions who don’t have enough vitamin D are more likely to be depressed than their counterparts with adequate levels of the “sunshine vitamin,” according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando. This link seems to be even stronger in the winter.

Vitamin D is called the sunshine vitamin because the human body produces it only when exposed to sunlight — although it takes just 10 to 15 minutes a day to make an adequate amount. Vitamin D, which helps the bones better absorb calcium, is also added to multivitamins and milk, and occurs naturally in fish.

A second study by the same team of researchers found that people age 50 or older who lack vitamin D are at a higher risk for heart disease and stroke, and are more likely to die earlier than people the same age who get adequate amounts of the vitamin.

At the American Heart Association’s annual Scientific Sessions meeting, more than 20,000 cardiologists and other physicians from around the country give presentations on new research and on advances in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and stroke.
These studies add to the mounting evidence about the dangers of vitamin D deficiency and may also shed light on the connection between depression and cardiovascular disease (which includes any disease caused by clogged arteries, including heart disease).

Depression and diseases of the arteries — both have been associated with vitamin D deficiency in the past — tend to occur together, says Heidi May, Ph.D., an epidemiologist with the Intermountain Medical Center at the University of Utah, in Murray, who participated in both studies.

“It is known that during the last century, the prevalence of depression has increased, and, more recently, that vitamin D deficiency has increased,” May says. “It is well-known that depression is associated with cardiovascular disease and events.”

This research, she adds, “is trying to elucidate whether vitamin D deficiency is associated with depression and may be contributing to this increase in cardiovascular disease and events.”

In the first study, May and her colleagues measured blood levels of vitamin D in 8,680 people age 50 or older who had been diagnosed with heart disease, stroke, or another type of cardiovascular disease. Vitamin D levels above 30 nanograms per milliliter of blood (ng/mL) were considered normal, levels between 15 and 30 ng/mL were low, and those 15 ng/mL and below were deemed very low.

Among those with very low levels of vitamin D, 32 percent were depressed, as were 25 percent of the people with low levels, and 21 percent of those with normal levels. This trend was seen even among individuals with no history of depression.

Winter seemed to make the association even more pronounced. Seasonal depression, which typically occurs in winter, may be linked to lack of sunshine.

In the second study, which looked at 27,686 people age 50 or older with no history of cardiovascular disease, May and her colleagues found that, compared to individuals with normal levels of the vitamin, people with very low levels of vitamin D were 77 percent more likely to die, 45 percent more likely to develop heart disease, and 78 percent more likely to have a stroke during the study, which lasted for more than a year. They also had double the risk of heart failure.

These findings didn’t surprise Michael F. Holick, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of medicine, physiology, and biophysics at Boston University School of Medicine who has studied the dangers of low vitamin D levels for years.

“It is estimated that many of the genes that regulate cardiovascular health are directly or indirectly regulated by vitamin D,” says Holick, author of the forthcoming book The Vitamin D Solution. “We know that vitamin D regulates blood pressure, and it is very important for maintaining good heart health.”

Vitamin D is also essential to the brain, which contains receptors for the vitamin, says Holick. “The new research is confirming previous observations that vitamin D deficiency increases the risk of depression,” he explains.
In addition to heart disease and depression, vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a host of chronic diseases, including some types of cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, schizophrenia, and some autoimmune disorders.

Although further research is needed to confirm that a shortage of vitamin D in fact links depression to heart disease and stroke, May says that more aggressive monitoring of vitamin D levels could help improve disease outcomes in the meantime.

“Even a moderate deficiency of vitamin D is associated with cardiovascular disease and death; therefore, screening and treatment is very important,” says May. “Since both are simple and relatively inexpensive, prevention of vitamin D deficiency should be cost-effective and may ultimately be able to save more lives.”

Likewise, she adds, “patients with depression may need to be more aggressively screened and treated for vitamin D deficiency since they are at higher risk for cardiovascular events.”
These studies come as the Institute of Medicine (IOM), an independent organization that advises the U.S. government on health and medical matters is considering new recommendations for vitamin D intake. Currently, the dietary reference intake for vitamin D is 200 international units per day (IU/day) for adults ages 14 to 50, 400 IU/day for adults 50 to 71, and 600 IU/day for those older than 71.

Holick says the IOM should raise the limit on the amount of vitamin D currently deemed safe, or tolerable, which now stands at 2,000 IU/day for adults.

“If we raise it, more food can be fortified with vitamin D and fortified at a higher level,” he says. “We think [2,000 IU/day] is the baseline of what we need to take, not the upper safe limit.”

Holick advocates raising the daily limit to 10,000 IU. Many researchers agree and have suggested that the toxic level of vitamin D is closer to 10,000 IU/day.

Unlike May, however, Holick does not think that screening for vitamin D deficiency is necessary. “We should all be taking supplements of vitamin D,” he says. “There’s no downside to increasing vitamin D intake, and if it does turn out that there is a benefit, you’re ahead of the game.”

The New Pittsburg Courier reports- Too often, those who suffer with mental illness suffer in silence. Close family members may know the full extent of the affected person’s condition but co-workers and friends rarely do. The individual who has been diagnosed would much rather bear the weight of their illness alone that risk being ostracized for something that is out of their control. What about those who are mentally ill and not even aware that they are? In the African-American community, there are far too many such individuals. And it’s time for that to change.

African-Americans are less likely to receive a diagnosis for a mental illness than other racial groups. Because the illnesses aren’t diagnosed, individuals don’t receive treatment. Untreated mental illness can manifest itself in many ways: some patient turn to drugs to self-medicate, others become violent with loved ones and some may prefer living in the streets to living at home with family. The effects of undiagnosed mental illness extend far beyond the individual and their family: the community is affected, too. Increased crime rates and homeless populations result in additional expenses for local governments.

There are a number of reasons African-Americans are not being diagnosed and treated for mental illness in the same way whites are, even though rates of mental illness is the same among both Blacks and Whites. Key among them is the fact that so many of our people are misinformed about the different mental disorders and the ways they are treated. We still use antiquated terms to describe those who are battling a mental illness and we buy in to stereotypes associated with the disease.
Lack of access to quality healthcare is another reason our people aren’t getting the treatment they need. So many communities across the country lack solid clinics that can provide medical and dental care, let alone mental health services.
Mental illness can be treated and many people who suffer, whether it be from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or another disease, can go on to live relatively normal lives by regularly taking their medication and following the directions of their doctors. But first, we must work to make sure our people are getting to step one: a diagnosis.
Local governments should fund more mental health clinics that provide basic screenings in poverty stricken neighborhoods. Schools, hospitals and community centers should pay attention to the behaviors of their students, patients and customers, referring those who stand out to a mental health professional, and following up to see if they made the appointment. Churches can play a big role, opening up the conversation about mental illness so that families are no longer ashamed to approach the topic with a loved one.

By pushing for awareness in African-American communities and increased services in poorer areas, we can begin to erase the stigma associated with the disease and start to create healthier communities.

Our own Lloyd Hale had an opportunity to address this very issue on the WISTV talk show called AWARENESS. Click here to view this airing

FP/File – A diet heavy in processed and fatty foods increases the risk of depression, according to researchers …

Mon Nov 2, 10:54 am ET

Researchers at University College London also found that a diet including plenty of fresh vegetables, fruit and fish could help prevent the onset of depression. The study was carried out on 3,486 people with an average age of 55, who worked for the civil service in London. Each participant completed a questionnaire about their eating habits, and a self-assessment for depression.

They compared participants — all civil servants — who ate a diet largely based on “whole” foods with a second group who mainly ate fried food, processed meat, high-fat dairy products and sweetened desserts.

Taking into account other indicators of a healthy lifestyle such as not smoking and taking physical exercise, those who ate the whole foods had a 26 percent lower risk of depression than those who ate mainly processed foods.

People with a diet heavy in processed food had a 58 percent higher risk of depression.

The researchers put forward several explanations for the findings, which are published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Firstly, the high level of antioxidants in fruits and vegetables could have a protective effect, as previous studies have shown higher antioxidant levels to be associated with a lower risk of depression.

Secondly, eating lots of fish may protect against depression because it contains high levels of the sort of polyunsaturated fatty acids which stimulate brain activity.

And they said it was possible that a “whole food” diet protects against depression because of the combined effect of consuming nutrients from lots of different types of food, rather than the effect of one single nutrient.

The researchers concluded: “Our research suggests that healthy eating policies
will generate additional benefits to health and well-being, and that improving people’s diet should be considered as a potential target for preventing depressive
disorders.”

Need help and some motivation with a healthy lifestyle?
Sissy is a certified personal trainer with SC SHARE who LOVES to help others stay motivated about making healthy
food choices and she will even exercise right with you and encourage you!
There is no charge and she is a phone call away! (803) 739-5712.

For some, exercise is fun and exciting. For others, it is grueling and tedious. We often think that the purpose of exercise is merely to improve one’s physical health. However, recent research shows that exercise has many other benefits, particularly related to mental and emotional health.

According to the Mental Health Foundation, exercise naturally improves one’s mood through the production and release of endorphins — innate chemicals that make you feel happier. Dr. Daniel Landers, a leading researcher on the effects of exercise on the brain, has said that “exercise has an important role to play in promoting sound mental health.” When endorphins are released in the brain, feelings of happiness often begin to emerge, thus improving one’s mental and emotional health.

According to the research of Landers and the Mental Health Foundation, regular exercise produces numerous mental-health benefits:

• Reduced symptoms of anxiety
• Reduced symptoms of depression
• Increased self-esteem and improved sense of purpose
• Improved mood regulation
• Improved coping and stress-management skills
• Improved sleeping patterns
• Decreased feelings of anger
• Natural energy boost

Landers also has conducted research showing that exercise, in conjunction with psychotherapy or medication therapy, produces the most effective results for those who suffer from mild to moderate clinical depression or anxiety.

Although it is important to note that exercise alone usually is not effective treatment for clinical depression or anxiety, Landers’ research has shown that combining medication and psychotherapy with exercise has numerous mental health benefits.

The Mental Health Foundation confirms Landers’ findings, adding that to gain the full benefits from exercise, it is important to make it a part of your weekly schedule. It also is recommended that every individual should engage in moderate exercise for at least 30 minutes, five times per week.

Some ideas for exercise, both at home and work, include: walking on your lunch hour, doing housework, dancing, mowing the lawn, walking the dog, joining an exercise class, gardening, and taking the stairs instead of the elevator.

Making physical activity a part of your daily life is an easy and effective way to improve your current mental health while also ensuring that your mind, body, and soul are being nourished on a daily basis.

NEED HELP STAYING MOTIVATED OR HELP GETTING STARTED? Sissy is a certified personal trainer and she is our Wellness Coordinator here at SC SHARE! Give Sissy a call and get started today! (803) 739-5712

A study found in participants older than 25, the disorder was less common.

Published September 1, 2009

Almost half of young adults suffering from bipolar disorder will recover from the condition when they reach their 30s, a study led by MU graduate student David Cicero found.

Bipolar disorder is a psychological condition in which a person shifts between deep depression and manic episodes of heightened mood, anxiety and on occasion a sense of euphoria.

“Some of the symptoms are people might spend too much money, (or) they might engage in risky sexual behavior,” Cicero said. “They might do things that could potentially get them in trouble and they don’t sleep very much.”

Amee Epler, Cicero’s colleague, said bipolar disorder can make it difficult for those diagnosed with it to live normal lives.

“One thing we did find, no matter how likely the offset, people with bipolar disorder are much more likely to have drug and alcohol problems,” Epler said.

Traditionally, the condition is thought to be chronic throughout a person’s life, but Cicero, Epler and faculty supervisor Kenneth Sher collected data from the National Epidemiological Survey of Alcohol and Related Conditions, noted the trends between its nearly 44,000 participants and found a sharp drop in the disorder around age 25.

“One of the things that we considered is that there are many different reasons why people could have been in the sample at first, but not at the follow-up survey,” Cicero said. “They could be incarcerated, they could be hospitalized and they could die.”

Cicero’s study found a dramatic shift in the number of people with bipolar disorder in the older age groups.

“The rates are just so much higher in early adolescents and into early adulthood, that it’s looking like people are maturing out at that point,” Cicero said.

There could be several reasons for this sudden mental shift, Cicero said.

“As people age, they get involved in roles like jobs and one commonly used treatment of bipolar disorder is having a routine,” Epler said.

She said this could be a different kind of bipolar disorder.

“Many people diagnosed with bipolar disorder are more likely to be of the chronic type, but there may be a subset that are more developmentally limited,” she said.

One hypothesis that Cicero outlined regards the development of the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is highly affected by bipolar disorder and finishes developing sometime in a person’s 20s. Its full development might contribute to the recovery of some people suffering the condition.

Cicero said their discovery is exciting and makes him hopeful that bipolar disorder might not necessarily be a lifelong condition.

Cicero said their research is far from conclusive. Cicero and his colleagues hope to continue their studies with bipolar disorder in the future.

Due to the number of college students affected by bipolar disorder and other depression and stress related conditions, the MU Wellness Resource Center offers services for these students.

“Our role is to help decrease the stigma in seeking help for mental health issues,” Wellness Resource Center Director Kim Dude said. “We have an entire media campaign trying to encourage students to seek help. We also have a new online training opportunity to help people learn how to help students who are depressed and potentially suicidal.”

The program, called Ask Listen Refer, offers guidance to people wanting to reach out to a friend going through mental and emotional hardship.

“Our research indicates that students talk to their friends about their concerns first,” Dude said. “So it is important for us to educate students on how to help their friends.”

If you would like to learn more about mental illness and young adults please give us a call at 1-800-832-8032 or (803) 739-5712.

Psychiatrists in London are a step closer to personalizing treatment and prevention for manic depressive illness - also known as bipolar disorder. Their research has shown why some people are more at risk and why others are more resilient to genetic and environmental factors underlying bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder occurs when the brain cannot regulate mood effectively leading to mood swings. Around 300,000 people in the UK have the disorder. Coping with bipolar disorder can be very testing for patients and their families and may lead to difficulties and setbacks in relationships, work and education. Relatives of people with bipolar disorder are at higher risk for a range of mood disorders but about 60% of remain well.

Speaking at a meeting of the Biochemical Society in London, Dr Sophia Frangou said, “We know a lot about what makes people vulnerable to bipolar disorder, but most people who are at risk remain well,” she said. “We wanted to find out what keeps them well.”

Dr Frangou and her team from the Institute of Psychiatry in London examined how genetic risk factors translate into changes in the brain’s networks using a series of brain imaging studies involving 227 relatives from 53 families where one member had bipolar illness. The participants were in the scanner for one hour and they also took part in cognitive tests designed to engage brain networks involved in emotional processing, decision-making, working memory and attention.

“We found that genetic risk to bipolar disorder was associated with over activity within brain regions that process emotion, such as the *amygdala. However, we also found that it was the function of another brain region, called the prefrontal cortex that seemed to differentiate those who became unwell compared to those who did not. In people who remained well, despite their genetic risk for bipolar disorder, the function of the prefrontal cortex also remained intact while this was compromised in those who developed the illness”.

Further analysis of the complexities of what makes a person at risk or resilient to bipolar disorder is required but this research suggest that it may soon be possible to advise people with a family history of bipolar disorder about their individual risk or resilience .

“Being a risk of bipolar disorder does not mean that developing the illness is inescapable,” said Dr Frangou. “We are closer now to identifying risk so that people can be better informed about life choices. Our research will help us personalize prevention and treatment strategies.”

The amygdaloid region of the brain (i.e. the amygdala) is a complex structure involved in a wide range of normal behavioral functions and psychiatric conditions. Not so long ago it was an obscure region of the brain that attracted relatively little scientific interest. Today it is one of the most heavily studied brain areas.

Source
The Biochemical Society

MONDAY, Aug. 3 (HealthDay News) — Invega Sustenna (paliperidone palmitate) has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat schizophrenia, drug maker Janssen said in a news release.

The longer-acting version of the previously approved drug should help prevent relapses commonly caused when schizophrenia patients fail to take a more frequent dose, the company said. Invega Sustenna is the first once-monthly injectable atypical antipsychotic approved in the United States for this use, said the release from Janssen, a division of New Jersey-based Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Common side effects of the drug include injection site reactions, fatigue and dizziness, Janssen said. The drug should be used with caution by people who have any history of seizure disorder, diabetes or low white cell count.

Schizophrenia, for which there is no cure, is a severe brain disorder that affects about 1.1 percent of the U.S. adult population, the U.S. National Institutes of Health says. People with schizophrenia sometimes hear voices and may become convinced that others plan to hurt them.

By MALCOLM RITTER - AP Science Writer

PORTLAND, Maine — She was sociable and happy in high school. But in college that changed abruptly: Depressed and withdrawn, some days she couldn’t get out of bed.
And that wasn’t all. “I had really odd thoughts,” recalled the woman, now 21, who asked that her name not be used. While walking across campus at the University of Southern Maine, “sometimes I’d feel like people were just right behind me (who might) jump me or something.”

She knew it wasn’t true, but she couldn’t shake the feeling.

Sometimes, while driving, she saw imaginary, shadowy people on the sidewalk. And now and then, out of nowhere, there would be a woman’s voice in her ear during class, or random soft noises like knocking or the fizzy hiss of a newly opened soda can.
When she visited the university health service and talked about feeling depressed, a nurse practitioner saw another problem: a possible case of schizophrenia in the making.
This schizophrenia “prodrome” - the early signs - involves a troubled mental state usually found in teens and young adults. It can lead to psychosis, the loss of touch with reality that marks not only schizophrenia, but also some forms of depression or manic-depression. The prodrome can linger for weeks, or years, before it gives way to psychosis - or mysteriously disappears without a trace.

Researchers have known about this warning phase for decades, but they’re still working on how to treat it. Now they’re calling in tools like brain scans, DNA studies and hormone research to dig into its biology. They hope that will reveal new ways to detect who’s on the road to psychosis and to stop that progression.

In the prodrome, people can see and hear imaginary things or have odd thoughts. But significantly, they understand these experiences are just illusions, or they have a reasonable explanation.

In contrast, people with psychosis firmly cling to unreasonable explanations instead. When someone interprets an odd halo of light over a bedroom doorway as an urgent message from a dead relative, “that’s when they have gone over to the psychotic side,” said Dr. Thomas McGlashan, a Yale University psychiatry professor.

Some early signs of the prodrome are subtle. “Sometimes kids will (say) light seems different,” and windows are too bright, said Ann Lovegren Conley, the family nurse practitioner at USM who spotted apparent prodromal symptoms in the student on her campus.

That can signal “this is not just typical depression or situational stress,” Conley said. “There’s something more here.”

After hearing the student’s story, Conley put her in touch with the Portland Identification and Early Referral program, called PIER, one of about 20 clinics in the United States that focus on treating prodrome cases. PIER has trained her and thousands of other school nurses and counselors, pediatricians and others in greater Portland in how to spot them.
PIER emphasizes non-drug therapies for its patients, ages 12 to 25, although about three-quarters of them take anti-psychotic medication.

The treatment regimen includes group meetings in which patients and families brainstorm about handling the condition’s day-to-day stresses. It also focuses on keeping patients in school and in touch with their families and social networks.

With a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the PIER approach is also being tried in California, Oregon, Michigan and New York.

Even before treatment begins, a patient’s encounter with someone who understands can be dramatic. McGlashan recalled that one young woman at the Yale clinic burst into tears when being asked about symptoms, explaining, “I thought I was the only person in the world who was having these experiences.”

Or, when asked if they’ve felt like the television was speaking to them personally, young clients may reply, “How did you know?” McGlashan said.

Studying the schizophrenia prodrome has been tough for the small but growing group of researchers in the area, because the condition is relatively uncommon. A typical community may get only one new case per 10,000 people each year, and only a fraction of those people would end up in a research study.

A federally funded project kicked into gear this year to uncover biological signals that will help identify people headed toward psychosis. There’s already early evidence, for example, that combining brain scans with a standardized interview can greatly help, said Tyrone Cannon of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Such research should also point the way to better treatments, by exposing the biological roots of psychosis, Cannon said. He’s the principal investigator of the project, which is being carried out at several medical centers.

When it comes to treating the prodrome, scientists say they have some promising approaches but no firmly proven treatments to prevent psychosis from appearing.
Low doses of anti-psychotic drugs dampen symptoms. But it’s not clear whether those drugs can actually prevent psychosis. Side effects like serious weight gain are a problem, especially since many treated patients would never have developed psychosis anyway. What’s more, the weight gain can turn young people away from anti-psychotic drugs, even if they move on to become psychotic and clearly need them.

Researchers are finding promise in psychosocial treatments, like those aimed at helping patients learn to manage stresses in their lives or understand and interpret their symptoms. Efforts to help young people complete their education, hold a job and stay connected to peers will help them avoid unemployment and social isolation later on, whether they progress to psychosis or not, experts say.

In fact, keeping up social contacts may help manage the prodrome. “We’re convinced that if they start closeting themselves, coming home after school and just spending time in their bedroom, that will accelerate any process toward psychosis,” McGlashan said. “If you dim your social life, it makes it easier for your brain to hallucinate and develop strange ideas.”

Still, in Portland, McFarlane said, “we see kids getting better every day.”

Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News

Returning home after months of war can be a jarring transition for many veterans. Some are jobless, lack a support system or face financial turmoil, and others are starting college for the first time. Many have missed anniversaries, the birth of babies and holidays with families. If these reintegration struggles weren’t daunting enough, some are silently grappling with mental side effects of war.

A 2008 RAND Corp. study found that a third of the veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression or a traumatic brain injury. Five percent report symptoms of all three — and that’s not including others who battle substance abuse and sleep disturbances, researchers say.

“Most of these veterans have profound resiliency,” said Dr. John Greden, executive director of the University of Michigan Depression Center. “The reality is they have done well under stressful circumstances. The concern isn’t with all veterans … but some need proper care.”

The biggest hurdle for many veterans is overcoming the stigma that seeking mental health care is a sign of weakness or will affect future career opportunities, said Jane Spinner a social worker for strategic initiatives for the U-M Depression Center.

“People are putting off getting the help they need,” Spinner said. “We know outcomes are better the earlier they seek care.”
To combat those barriers, the Michigan Army National Guard, veteran advocates and health care professionals from U-M and Michigan State University developed a peer support program called Buddy-to-Buddy. It’s part of the Welcome Back Veterans initiative, sponsored by the Major League Baseball Charities and the McCormick Foundation.

The concept behind the program is that soldiers know the issues facing fellow soldiers. Veteran mentors are trained to help other returning vets. A second tier of veterans with advanced mental health training serve as back-up to the first responder mentors, offering additional support.

Derek Blumke, a U-M student veteran and co-founder of Student Veterans of America, supports the buddy-to-buddy approach to counseling. “It helps veterans normalize their experience and (realize) ‘I am not unique. I am not crazy’,” said Blumke, 28, who wants to develop a formal training program for student veteran chapters nationwide.

Veterans can carry experiences, such as seeing a friend die, from the battlefield back to campuses. “You can’t just shake these things,” Blumke said. “It’s a normal (reaction) just like anybody going through any tragedy or traumatic experience.”

MONDAY, June 15 (HealthDay News) — Binge drinking among American college students is on the rise, along with its consequences of drunk driving and drinking-related deaths, U.S. health officials report.

In fact, drinking-related deaths among students aged 18 to 24 years have increased steadily from 1,440 a year in 1998 to 1,825 in 2005, according to a report from the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Binge drinking also increased during this time, with the proportion of students who said they’d binged on alcohol in the past month going up from 42 to 45 percent.

The proportion of students who admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol rose from about 26 to 29 percent, according to the report.
“Unfortunately, what we see is the proportions of college students who engage in binge drinking has increased,” said lead researcher Ralph Hingson, director of the institute’s division of epidemiology and prevention research.

“There’s a whole culture that needs to be changed around drinking and driving under the influence among young people in the United States,” he said. Adding to the problem is that alcohol is cheap and many alcohol beverage makers target high school and college students, Hingson said.

Often the problem begins before college. “The younger people are when they first become intoxicated,” he said, “the greater the likelihood that when they are in college they will meet alcohol-dependence criteria: that they will drive after drinking; that they will ride with drinking drivers; they will be injured under the influence of alcohol; or they will have unplanned and unprotected sex after drinking.”

To reach their conclusions, Hingson’s team used information from government databases and national surveys on alcohol use. Their report appears in a supplement to the July issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Not only are the people who binge drink putting themselves at risk, but their drinking can have serious consequences for others, Hingson said.
“We estimate there are probably 700,000 students who are assaulted each year by a drinking college student and 100,000 sexual assaults that are linked to college drinking,” he said. “Plus half of the drinking-related traffic deaths among college students are people other than the drinking driver.”

Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, said that to reverse the trends, society needs to take drinking among college students more seriously.

“Options for bad judgment available to a college student are determined by society, and ours is decidedly ambivalent about alcohol,” Katz said. “Drinking to excess is often given favorable treatment in the media, and in social groups.”

To change these trends, young people drinking to excess will need to be discouraged by the very people whose opinions matter most to them — friends in their own peer group, Katz said.  “For this to occur, our society must both render and convey a clearer verdict opposing this casual form of alcohol abuse,” he said.
Hingson said that a number of interventions have been shown to work, including counseling high-risk drinkers, raising the price of alcohol, and getting colleges, community health departments and police to work together on the problem.

Yet some college presidents think there should be a debate about lowering the drinking age, Hingson noted. “But, when we look at the data, binge drinking and driving is mostly among 21- to 24-year-olds,” he said. “It’s not among the 18- to 20-year-old group,” he said.

“It appears to me that some colleges are not implementing the interventions, where we’ve got evidence that they work,” Hingson said. “The challenge for us is to make sure colleges understand what things are working. We have to get them to expand screening and interventions to reach wider populations of students and work with communities.”
Dr. Marc Galanter, director of the division of alcoholism and drug abuse in the psychiatry department at the New York University School of Medicine, said that binge drinking among college students has far-reaching effects for the students.

“The heavy drinking during college not only results in severe consequences at that time, [but] it also primes college students for later alcohol addiction,” Galanter said. “Heavier drink at this age is a predictor of later alcoholism and is likely a major causative factor.”

And Hingson said that efforts akin to what has been done to reduce smoking are needed to deal with the drinking problem among young people.  “We as a society have a collective responsibility to try and change this culture of drinking at colleges and among young people,” he said.

More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on alcohol consumption.  SC SHARE is currently working in communities around South Carolina to talking to young people about alcohol and drug use, mental health issues and the impact the choices you make have on the rest of your life! If you would more information about a scheduling a presentation in your town call us today!

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