Alcohol, nicotine: Trouble for teen brains
NEW YORK, Sept. 23 ( UPI)
-- Theadolescent brain is far more sensitive to the effects of
alcohol and nicotine than the adult brain. The reason, researchers
have found in separate experiments, is a part of the brain crucial
to learning is more easily damaged by these substances in adolescents
than in adults.
The research was conducted with rats and presented at a conference
sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences. In one study,
the investigators found alcohol exposure causes "a more
powerful decrease in neural activity" in the hippocampus
of adolescent rats compared with adult rodents, said H. Scott
Swartzwelder, a neuropsychologist at Duke University and the
VA Medical Centers in Durham, N.C.
Swartzwelder and colleagues also found adolescent rats given
alcohol injections took far longer than adults to swim to a platform
in a small pool of water. The task is a standard one used by
researchers to measure learning in laboratory animals.
The impact of alcohol actually appears to extend beyond what
we customarily think of as adolescence. Looking at humans, Swartzwelder
found when young adults between ages 21 and 24 drank enough alcohol
to accumulate a blood alcohol content of just below 0.08 percent
-- the legal standard for intoxication in many states -- they
performed far worse on a task requiring recall of designs than
did 25 to 29 year-olds who consumed the same amount.
Looking at a brain chemical called GABA, Swartzwelder found adolescent
rats show greater resistance to the sedative effects of alcohol
than adults. GABA is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that carries
messages between nerve cells. Its release is triggered by alcohol
and is a marker for sedation.
Normally alcohol enhances GABA function in adults, but "adolescent
rats injected with alcohol showed a decreased responsiveness
to GABA," Swartzwelder told United Press International.
Though he has not yet examined this effect in humans, he said
he expects the results to be similar, meaning adolescents could
drink more than adults before passing out.
"It would be easier to drink to an impaired state without
realizing it," he explained The results seem to parallel
MRI studies in teenagers with serious alcohol problems conducted
by Sandra Brown, a psychologist at the University of California,
San Diego, and the VA Healthcare System. Her scans found impaired
brain function on a variety of spatial and visual tasks compared
to teenagers with no alcohol problems.
"Adolescent drinkers also retained less verbal and non-verbal
information," Brown told UPI.
The threats to teen brains are not confined to alcohol, however.
Nicotine also exerts a powerful effect, said Frances Leslie,
a neuropharmacologist at the University of California, Irvine.
In a study of adolescent rats, Leslie reported after only one
injection of nicotine the animals learned to prefer the side
of a cage where they received the injection.
Study Finds Millions of
New Drug Abusers
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters)
- A redesigned survey of who uses and abuses drugs in the United
States has found millions of "missed" users and addicts,
with an estimated 22 million Americans suffering from alcohol
or drug abuse.
The study, released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration on Friday, finds that 19.5 million Americans
used illicit drugs in 2002. This works out to 8.3 percent of
the population age 12 or older.
Last year's survey found that 15.9 million Americans used an
illegal drug in 2001 -- but SAMHSA stressed that the latest survey
used new methods and turned up many hidden drug users.
"The 2002 data are simply not comparable with data from
previous surveys," the report reads.
"We know that for a number of years we've undercounted,"
John Walters, director of the White House Office on National
Drug Control Policy, told a news conference.
The new survey of more than 68,000 people was taken using stricter
questioning methods and included a $30 incentive payment, which
SAMHSA said resulted in more people agreeing to be surveyed while
not affecting the truth of their answers. The payment may have
made it more likely that people "on the edge" -- younger
people and potential drug users -- would agree to be interviewed
in the first place, a spokesman for Walters' office said.
The survey found that marijuana remains the most widely used
illegal drug, with an estimated 14.6 million users in the past
month.
"In 2002, an estimated 2 million persons were current cocaine
users," the report adds. Of these, 567,000 used crack. Hallucinogens
such as Ecstasy were used by 1.2 million.
BINGE DRINKING
The report found that 54 million people, based on survey projections,
would have been binge drinkers in the previous month -- defined
as five or more drinks on the same occasion.
Nearly 16 million were heavy drinkers, downing five or more drinks
a day for at least five days in the past month.
"The report highlights that 7.7 million people, 3.3 percent
of the total population ages 12 and older, needed treatment for
a diagnosable drug problem and 18.6 million, 7.9 percent of the
population, needed treatment for a serious alcohol problem,"
the agency said in a statement.
But drug and alcohol abusers are not getting the help they need,
the report added.
"Only 1.4 million received specialized substance abuse treatment
for an illicit drug problem and 1.5 million received treatment
for alcohol problems," it reads.
Part of this is because drug and alcohol addicts often do not
recognize that they have a problem, the report said. "Over
94 percent of people with substance use disorders who did not
receive treatment did not believe they needed treatment,"
the report reads.
The report also measures tobacco use and found that 71.5 million
Americans used tobacco in 2002 -- about 30 percent of the population.
Of these, 26 percent or 61 million smoked cigarettes -- much
higher than the current CDC estimate of 46 million.
On Thursday the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
reported that 8.6 million Americans have smoking-related illnesses
such as bronchitis or emphysema.
The report also for the
first time includes information on mental illness linked with
substance abuse.
"Among adults with substance dependence or abuse, 20.4 percent
had serious mental illness," SAMHSA Administrator Charles
Curie told the news conference.
Study Says 11 Million Americans Drive Under Influence of Drugs
A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
says that 11 million Americans have driven their vehicles while
under the influence of illegal drugs last year, the Associated
Press reported Sept. 17.
The report also concluded that one in five 21-year-olds have
driven while impaired by drugs.
The findings prompted the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy (ONDCP) to launch an awareness campaign to show
drivers that drugs can impair driving as much as alcohol. Part
of the campaign is be geared towards educating teens about the
dangers of driving while smoking marijuana.
The report's findings were based on the 2002 data collected from
a survey of 68,000 people for the National Survey on Drug Use
and Health.
Quick Facts on Teen Drug
Use
According to the benchmark annual study on teen drug use (Monitoring
the Future Survey- http://monitoringthefuture.org/index.html)
25.4% of 12th graders report using illicit drugs in the past 30 days. For 10th graders it is 20.8%.
48% of 12th graders report using alcohol in the past 30 days. For 10th graders it is 35.4%
30.3% of 12th graders report "being drunk" in the past 30 days. For 10th graders it is 18.3%
26.7% of 12th graders report using nicotine in the past 30 days. For 10th graders it is 17.7%
1.4% of 12th graders report using steroids in the past 30 days. For 10th graders it is 1.0 %.
2.3% of 12th graders report using cocaine in the past 30 days. For 10th graders it is 1.6%
2.4% of 12th graders report using ecstasy in the past 30 days. For 10th graders it is 1.8.
These are national statistics. Clinicians suggest augmenting the numbers for the west coast population as there is more substance use occurring. We continue to see a decrease in the use of Ecstasy and an increase in cocaine, DXM and pain killers