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Babies are not able to metabolize or excrete caffeine very well, so a breastfeeding mother's consumption of caffeine may lead to caffeine accumulation and symptoms such as wakefulness and irritability, according to an interview with expert Ruth Lawrence, MD, published in Journal of Caffeine Research, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The interview is available on the Journal of Caffeine Research website.*

Caffeine is found in a wide range of products in addition to coffee, tea, and chocolate, including soft drinks, sports drinks, and some over-the-counter medications. In a provocative discussion with Dr. Ruth Lawrence, Department of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Jack E. James, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Caffeine Research, asks a variety of probing questions. Is there a safe level of caffeine intake while breastfeeding? Are there potential long-term effects of caffeine exposure on development and intellect? Can a baby whose mother consumed caffeine during pregnancy experience withdrawal if she then abstains from caffeine while breastfeeding? Dr. Lawrence bases her responses on the scientific and medical evidence related to caffeine exposure in breastfed babies, and distinguishes between what is and what is not well understood in this developing field of study.

"Usually a mother, particularly if she is breastfeeding, is cautioned to limit her caffeine intake," says Dr. Lawrence, who is Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Breastfeeding Medicine. After giving birth, mothers "should consume all things in moderation and try to avoid the excesses that might really add up to a lot of caffeine."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our women's health / gynecology section for the latest news on this subject.

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Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News. "Breastfeeding And Caffeine Consumption."

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24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241990.php>

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Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

?Not sleeping enough can damage your immune system and make you ill,? according to the Daily Mail.

This somewhat sweeping statement is based purely on an animal study looking at how mice body clocks affected their immune systems. The study found that levels of an infection-detecting protein called TLR9 fluctuated throughout the day and that the exact level of this protein influenced how effective a vaccine was in mice. It also influenced the mice?s response to a type of serious infection.

Differences between man and mouse mean more research will be needed to determine if these findings apply to humans. If they do, then it may be possible that certain vaccinations could be administered at specific times of day to make them more effective. However, this approach would need to be tested in humans to be sure that it actually made a meaningful difference to the effectiveness of the vaccines.

The immune system is a complex area, and while this research shed some light on one aspect of the body?s immunity and its ties to the body clock, there?s still much to learn.

Where did the story come from?

The study was carried out by researchers from Yale University School of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US. It was funded by the US National Institutes of Health and published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Immunity.

When reporting this study both BBC News and the Daily Mail stated that this research was in mice, and gave good summaries of the findings. However, the Mail?s headline claimed that ?not sleeping enough can damage your immune system and make you ill?, which the current research does not support. The results of this research in mice should not be interpreted as providing proof that amount of sleep affects illness in humans.

What kind of research was this?

This was animal research looking at exactly how the body clock affects the function of the immune system in mice. The researchers say that previous studies have shown that certain immune system functions and chemicals vary naturally in relation to light and daily rhythms in humans and mice. They say that studies have also suggested that disruptions to normal daily rhythms, such as jet lag or sleep deprivation, may also affect the immune system.

This type of early research will usually use animals such as mice to carry out in-depth investigation of the interaction of basic biological functions, which might be difficult to carry out in humans. Generally, it?s only once researchers have built up a picture of these interactions in mice that they can then carry out further studies to test the findings in humans.

What did the research involve?

The researchers first looked at a group of mice genetically engineered to have defective body clocks and a group of normal mice to identify any differences between the two groups in how their white blood cells (immune cells) responded to invading microorganisms. They found that the differences identified related to a protein called Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). This protein recognises DNA from bacteria and viruses, and plays a role in signalling to the immune system to mount an attack on these invading organisms. The researchers then looked at whether the production and function of TLR9 in normal mice varies throughout the day as a result of the body clock cycle (known as the ?circadian cycle?).

The researchers then gave mice vaccinations containing molecules that would activate TLR9 and looked at whether mice responded differently to the vaccine according the time of the day it was given. They also looked at whether time of day affected how mice responded to being infected with bacteria in a process known to involve TLR9. The method used involves allowing bacteria from the mouse?s intestines to invade its body cavity. This leads to a condition called sepsis, a strong inflammatory immune system response throughout the body that is harmful to the mice.

What were the basic results?

The researchers found that levels of the protein TLR9 in mice did fluctuate naturally through the day, peaking at set times over a 24-hour cycle.

They found that when they gave mice vaccines that would activate TLR9, the vaccination produced a greater immune response if given at a time of day when TLR9 levels were at their highest. The researchers found that if the mice were infected at a time when TLR9 was at its highest, the mice showed worse signs of sepsis and died earlier than mice infected at the time when TLR9 was at its lowest.

How did the researchers interpret the results?

The researchers concluded that their findings showed a direct link between the body clock and one aspect of the immune system in mice. They said that this may have important implications for how vaccination and immune-system-related therapies are administered in humans.

They also noted that some studies have found that people with sepsis are more likely to die between 2am and 6am. They say that further studies are needed to determine if this may be related to levels of TLR9, and if so whether giving certain therapies during this period could reduce this risk.

Conclusion

This study identifies one way in which the body clock and immune system interact in mice, via a protein called TLR9. The researchers found that fluctuations in this protein throughout the day influenced how effective a certain form of vaccination was in mice, and also influenced the mice?s response to one type of serious infection.

Differences between the species mean more research is needed to determine if these findings also apply to humans. If they do, then vaccinations could be given at specific times of day when they would be most effective. However, this theory needs testing in humans to ensure that it makes a meaningful difference to the effectiveness of the vaccine.

There has also been media speculation that researchers could develop infection-fighting drugs based on these findings. However, this suggestion is premature as researchers first need to confirm that the mechanism identified in this study also applies in humans. Even if it is confirmed, it would still take a great deal of research to develop and test a drug that could capitalise on it.

It?s also worth remembering just how complex the immune system is, and although this research improves our understanding of one aspect (how it is affected by the body clock) there is still much to learn.

Analysis by Bazian

Links To The Headlines

Body clock 'alters' immune system. BBC News, February 17 2012

Not sleeping enough can damage your immune system and make you ill, says study. Daily Mail, February 17 2012

Links To Science

Silver AC, Arjona A, Walker WE, Fikrig E. The Circadian Clock Controls Toll-like Receptor 9-Mediated Innate and Adaptive Immunity. Immunity, February 17 2011

Editor's note: CNN and HLN are devoting this week to a series of In Depth stories and discussions about what can be done to fight the scourge of addiction. Tune to HLN's "Dr. Drew" weeknights at 9 ET for an in-depth look at the power of addiction and how people struggle with it.

Boston (CNN) -- In the 14 years he lived as a drug addict, former NBA player Chris Herren had no shortage of moments that could have been his "rock bottom."

The earliest may have come when he was only 18, shortly after Sports Illustrated hyped the local star's matriculation to Boston College. Herren -- then one of the most highly anticipated freshmen basketball players in the country -- left BC after only one game after a positive test for cocaine.

Maybe it could have come a few years later, after he had transferred to Fresno State. Just days after one of the most brilliant games of his college career, he announced to a national audience at a news conference that he had once again failed a drug test.

Opinion: Addiction is not hopeless

Herren said those looks of disgust help him stay on the straight and narrow because he had never before been on the receiving end of such confrontational shows of disapproval. No one had ever looked him in the eye and told him what he already knew: that he was a junkie.

"I used to tell myself that I was no good all of the time," he said. "But it's much harder to look someone else in the eye and say the same thing."

When Herren was finally ready to dedicate himself to getting clean in 2008, he was met with a new challenge, one as daunting as kicking heroin, and one that he says helps perpetuate the cycle of addiction: the cost of effective treatment.

"Unless you have the very best insurance, you'll only get eight or nine days," he said. "You can't expect someone to run the streets for 10 years and come out clean in 10 days."

Herren knew effective treatment for him was going to need to last more than 10 days, and because he squandered all of his earnings to feed his addiction over the years, he also knew there was no way he could afford to overcome it himself.

That's when Chris Mullin, his friend and former NBA mentor, emerged to give Herren the assist of a lifetime. Mullin, a Hall of Famer and a recovering alcoholic, arranged for Herren to spend nine months getting clean in the type of intensive rehabilitation that he knew Herren needed so badly.

Although Herren still doesn't know exactly how Mullin made that happen, he is sure of one thing: "If it weren't for Chris Mullin and his family, I probably wouldn't be here."

It was his inability to access effective treatment, combined with his desire to repay Mullin's kindness, that inspired Herren to launch his own nonprofit in 2011. In one year, the Herren Project has already privately paid for more than 100 addicts to receive the treatment they otherwise could never have afforded on their own.

Read more about addiction

Effective treatment doesn't come cheap. At Gosnold on Cape Cod, a place where Herren spent three of his nine months in recovery, treatment runs $17,500 a month, according to Gosnold CEO Raymond Tamasi.

But that doesn't deter Herren, who says that "for some cases, we've paid for three months if it's needed."

As part of his work with his foundation, Herren crisscrosses the country, visiting high schools, colleges and prisons to tell his raw and jarring tale. In 2011, ESPN Films wove together scenes from those assemblies for a documentary about him called "Unguarded" that chronicled his rise and fall from stardom amid his descent and emergence from the abyss of addiction. That same year, Herren wrote "Basketball Junkie," a memoir in which he refuses to spare readers a single anguishing detail about his harrowing journey.

But if anyone thinks Herren wasted his talent or his life, he doesn't see it that way.

"People come up to me now and pity me, they call me a 'poor thing,' " he said. "I was a 'poor thing' for 14 years. My life is second to none now."

That life is in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, these days, where Herren, 36, spends his days marveling over the routine tasks of waking his children up for school every morning and putting them to bed every night -- a ritual he calls his proudest achievement.

He also spends a lot of his time at a nearby gym, running his eponymous basketball clinics for boys and girls of all skill levels. Here is where Herren's life has come full circle. He spent 14 years using basketball to fuel his addiction. Today, his basketball clinics also have another purpose, this time a positive one: It might look like he is teaching kids the mechanics of a jump shot, or a pick-n-roll, or a full-court press, but what he is really doing is teaching them to discover their self-esteem.

And that's something Herren didn't get around to doing for himself until he got sober.

Grapefruit and oranges ?appear to protect against having a ?brain attack??, the Daily Mail has reported. The Mail says that these and other citrus fruits can protect the brain from stroke due to their antioxidant content.

The research behind this story involved almost 70,000 women taking part in the Nurses? Health Study. They were asked to complete food frequency questionnaires (which asked them to recall how frequently certain foods were consumed during a specified period of time) every four years and over around 14 years of follow-up the researchers documented the numbers of strokes that occurred, overall and by type.

The researchers found that women who had the highest intake of flavanone (a crystalline compound found in citrus fruit) had a reduced risk of ischaemic stroke. However, they found no association between consuming actual citrus fruits and juices and being at risk of ischaemic stroke, and no association between consumption of flavonoids overall and risk of stroke.

This makes these findings far from conclusive. Whether citrus fruits and the chemicals they contain have any association with stroke risk needs more investigation. But on the basis of this study alone, there is no evidence that women who eat citrus fruits will reduce their risk of stroke. However, a balanced diet high in fruit and vegetables is known to be beneficial to health and can reduce the risk of several diseases, including cardiovascular disease.

Where did the story come from?

The study was carried out by researchers from the University of East Anglia and other institutions in the US and Italy, and was funded by the National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services. It was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Stroke.

The Daily Mail does not accurately represented the findings of the study. But its headline, ?How eating oranges and grapefruit can cut the risk of a stroke?, contradicts the finding that there was no significant association between intake of citrus fruits and juices and risk of stroke.

What kind of research was this?

This was an analysis of women enrolled in the ongoing Nurses? Health Study in the US. The researchers aimed to use data from this cohort study to examine associations between subclasses of flavonoids and risk of stroke. Flavonoids are plant chemicals believed to have antioxidant properties, and are found in several food groups, including citrus fruits, berries, onions, certain pulses, tea and wine.

Cohort studies such as this are not great at showing cause and effect. In this study, researchers circulated regular food frequency questionnaires at the same time as looking at clinical outcomes. It is difficult to guarantee that food intake patterns preceded the development of cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, because food frequency questionnaires are self-completed, they are also likely to contain inaccuracies and may not represent the pattern food intake over a lifetime. Finally, it may be difficult to ensure that other things that could be associated with both diet and risk of stroke (confounding factors) have been taken into account.

What did the research involve?

The Nurses? Health Study started in 1976 and enrolled 121,700 female nurses aged 30 to 55. Participants completed follow-up questionnaires on diseases and lifestyle factors every two years, as well as food frequency questionnaires every four years. In this study, researchers looked at food questionnaires completed from 1990 onwards (the time when the questionnaires covered sufficient fruit and vegetables to assess flavonoid intake). This study included the 69,622 women who had sufficient information on food intake and who did not report a stroke before 1990.

The researchers constructed a database to assess intake of the different flavonoid subclasses. Intake of individual subclasses was calculated as the total consumption frequency of each food, multiplied by the content of the specific flavonoid for the specified portion size. The six flavonoid subclasses were reported to be those commonly consumed in the US diet:

• flavanones (eriodictyol, hesperetin, naringenin)
• anthocyanins (cyanidin, delphinidin, malvidin, pelargonidin, petunidin, peonidin)
• flavan-3-ols (catechins, epicatachins)
• flavonols (quercetin, kaempferol, myricetin, isohamnetin)
• flavones (luteolin, apigenin)
• polymers (including proanthocyanidins, theaflavins, and thearubigins)

The outcome of stroke was self-reported, with reports verified by review of medical records.

What were the basic results?

Over 14 years of follow-up there were 1,803 strokes among the 69,622 participants (52% ischaemic strokes ? caused by a blood clot, 14% haemorrhagic - caused by a bleed in the brain, and the rest - of unknown type).

The average intake of total flavonoids was 232mg per day. Tea was reported to be the main contributor to total flavonoid intake, followed by apples and oranges or orange juice. Women who ate more flavonoids tended to:

• exercise more
• have a greater intake of fibre, folate, fruits and vegetables
• have a lower intake of caffeine and alcohol
• be less likely to smoke

The researchers found that women who consumed the highest quantity of the flavanone subclass had reduced risk of ischaemic stroke compared with those who consumed the lowest quantity of flavanone (relative risk 0.81, 95% confidence interval 0.66 to 0.99). The relationship between flavanones and stroke overall was not reported.

As 95% of flavanones are reported to be derived from citrus (in this study, oranges and orange juice were the highest contributors), they looked for a relationship between intake of citrus fruit/juice and risk of ischaemic stroke but found no significant association (relative risk 0.90, 95% confidence interval 0.77 to 1.05).

How did the researchers interpret the results?

The researchers conclude that flavonoid intake was not associated with risk of stroke, but that increased intake of the flavanone subclass reduced the risk of ischaemic stroke. They say that because experimental data suggests that the flavanone content of citrus fruits may protect the heart, there may be an association between citrus fruit consumption and stroke risk.

Conclusion

Despite the news headlines, this study provides no evidence that women who eat citrus will reduce their risk of stroke.

The researchers found a link between higher intake of flavanones and reduced risk of ischaemic stroke, but:

• no association between the actual consumption of citrus fruits and juices and risk of ischaemic stroke
• no association between total flavonoid intake and risk of stroke

The researchers didn?t report on any association between flavanone, flavonoid, or citrus consumption and risk of stroke overall. There was no association with haemorrhagic stroke and presumably there was none found for stroke overall.

Further problems with making the conclusions stated in the headlines include:

• The design of this cohort study and therefore cannot easily imply cause and effect. The researchers excluded women who had experienced a stroke prior to 1990, but assessed both food consumption and stroke outcomes over the following 14 years. This makes it difficult to ensure that food intake patterns preceded the development of cardiovascular disease.
• Food frequency questionnaires are self-completed and often contain inherent inaccuracies, and may not represent a lifelong food intake pattern.
• The researchers used the most recent US Department of Agriculture databases categorise individual foods according to their content of flavonoid chemicals. However, they do not further describe how they did this in their report. As the researchers acknowledge, there is potential for the misclassification of flavonoids using this method as there is wide variation  in flavonoid content of foods. Flavonoid content of fruit depends on their geographical origin, growing season, different cultivars, agricultural methods and processing. It is also difficult to say how flavonoids are processed in the body.
• The researchers did adjust their analyses for multiple potential dietary, lifestyle and medical factors, but it is possible that some confounding factors that could be associated with both diet and risk of stroke have not been taken into account. 

Whether or not citrus fruits and the chemicals they contains have any association with stroke risk may be a topic for further research. However, on the basis of this study alone, there is no evidence that women who eat grapefruit, oranges, or any other citrus fruit will reduce their risk of stroke.

Analysis by Bazian.

Links To The Headlines

How eating oranges and grapefruit can cut the risk of a stroke by their anti-inflammatory properties. Daily Mail, February 24 2012

Links To Science

Cassidy A, Rimm EB, O'Reilly EJ, et al. Dietary Flavonoids and Risk of Stroke in Women. Stroke. Published online February 23 2012

?Not sleeping enough can damage your immune system and make you ill,? according to the Daily Mail.

This somewhat sweeping statement is based purely on an animal study looking at how mice body clocks affected their immune systems. The study found that levels of an infection-detecting protein called TLR9 fluctuated throughout the day and that the exact level of this protein influenced how effective a vaccine was in mice. It also influenced the mice?s response to a type of serious infection.

Differences between man and mouse mean more research will be needed to determine if these findings apply to humans. If they do, then it may be possible that certain vaccinations could be administered at specific times of day to make them more effective. However, this approach would need to be tested in humans to be sure that it actually made a meaningful difference to the effectiveness of the vaccines.

The immune system is a complex area, and while this research shed some light on one aspect of the body?s immunity and its ties to the body clock, there?s still much to learn.

Where did the story come from?

The study was carried out by researchers from Yale University School of Medicine and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the US. It was funded by the US National Institutes of Health and published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal, Immunity.

When reporting this study both BBC News and the Daily Mail stated that this research was in mice, and gave good summaries of the findings. However, the Mail?s headline claimed that ?not sleeping enough can damage your immune system and make you ill?, which the current research does not support. The results of this research in mice should not be interpreted as providing proof that amount of sleep affects illness in humans.

What kind of research was this?

This was animal research looking at exactly how the body clock affects the function of the immune system in mice. The researchers say that previous studies have shown that certain immune system functions and chemicals vary naturally in relation to light and daily rhythms in humans and mice. They say that studies have also suggested that disruptions to normal daily rhythms, such as jet lag or sleep deprivation, may also affect the immune system.

This type of early research will usually use animals such as mice to carry out in-depth investigation of the interaction of basic biological functions, which might be difficult to carry out in humans. Generally, it?s only once researchers have built up a picture of these interactions in mice that they can then carry out further studies to test the findings in humans.

What did the research involve?

The researchers first looked at a group of mice genetically engineered to have defective body clocks and a group of normal mice to identify any differences between the two groups in how their white blood cells (immune cells) responded to invading microorganisms. They found that the differences identified related to a protein called Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9). This protein recognises DNA from bacteria and viruses, and plays a role in signalling to the immune system to mount an attack on these invading organisms. The researchers then looked at whether the production and function of TLR9 in normal mice varies throughout the day as a result of the body clock cycle (known as the ?circadian cycle?).

The researchers then gave mice vaccinations containing molecules that would activate TLR9 and looked at whether mice responded differently to the vaccine according the time of the day it was given. They also looked at whether time of day affected how mice responded to being infected with bacteria in a process known to involve TLR9. The method used involves allowing bacteria from the mouse?s intestines to invade its body cavity. This leads to a condition called sepsis, a strong inflammatory immune system response throughout the body that is harmful to the mice.

What were the basic results?

The researchers found that levels of the protein TLR9 in mice did fluctuate naturally through the day, peaking at set times over a 24-hour cycle.

They found that when they gave mice vaccines that would activate TLR9, the vaccination produced a greater immune response if given at a time of day when TLR9 levels were at their highest. The researchers found that if the mice were infected at a time when TLR9 was at its highest, the mice showed worse signs of sepsis and died earlier than mice infected at the time when TLR9 was at its lowest.

How did the researchers interpret the results?

The researchers concluded that their findings showed a direct link between the body clock and one aspect of the immune system in mice. They said that this may have important implications for how vaccination and immune-system-related therapies are administered in humans.

They also noted that some studies have found that people with sepsis are more likely to die between 2am and 6am. They say that further studies are needed to determine if this may be related to levels of TLR9, and if so whether giving certain therapies during this period could reduce this risk.

Conclusion

This study identifies one way in which the body clock and immune system interact in mice, via a protein called TLR9. The researchers found that fluctuations in this protein throughout the day influenced how effective a certain form of vaccination was in mice, and also influenced the mice?s response to one type of serious infection.

Differences between the species mean more research is needed to determine if these findings also apply to humans. If they do, then vaccinations could be given at specific times of day when they would be most effective. However, this theory needs testing in humans to ensure that it makes a meaningful difference to the effectiveness of the vaccine.

There has also been media speculation that researchers could develop infection-fighting drugs based on these findings. However, this suggestion is premature as researchers first need to confirm that the mechanism identified in this study also applies in humans. Even if it is confirmed, it would still take a great deal of research to develop and test a drug that could capitalise on it.

It?s also worth remembering just how complex the immune system is, and although this research improves our understanding of one aspect (how it is affected by the body clock) there is still much to learn.

Analysis by Bazian

Links To The Headlines

Body clock 'alters' immune system. BBC News, February 17 2012

Not sleeping enough can damage your immune system and make you ill, says study. Daily Mail, February 17 2012

Links To Science

Silver AC, Arjona A, Walker WE, Fikrig E. The Circadian Clock Controls Toll-like Receptor 9-Mediated Innate and Adaptive Immunity. Immunity, February 17 2011

Women concerned about French-made PIP breast implants can find all the latest NHS information about the issue on this page.

Worries about the implants have emerged since news of a major investigation into them in France was widely covered in the media in December 2011.

It is thought that around 40,000 women in the UK have the implants, with about 95% of them having been provided privately for purely cosmetic reasons.

What?s the problem?

The French implants caused global concern after it was revealed they contained industrial silicone rather than medical-grade fillers and that they may be more prone to rupture and leakage.

Initially reports also linked the implants to a rare form of cancer known as ALCL. This cancer link has been now been firmly discounted by medical experts here and in Europe.

What type of implants are involved?

The implants involved are called Poly Implant Prosthèse (PIP) and were made, starting in 2001, by a French company of the same name. Implants made earlier by the firm are not thought to be affected.

In a Medical Device Alert in March 2010, the Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said: " ... most
breast implants manufactured by the company since 2001 have been filled with a silicone gel with a composition different from that approved".

It is reported that the company had started using a cheap type of silicone gel intended for making mattresses. The marketing, distribution and use of the PIP implants was suspended in March 2010.

Do the implants have to be removed early?

Most breast implants need to be removed or replaced after 10-15 years.

An expert committee was set up recently to examine the specific risks associated with PIP implants. It concluded that as yet there was not enough evidence to recommend their early removal. For more details of its findings read the expert review group's report (PDF, 159kb).

Links To The Headlines

No Routine Removal For PIP Breast Implants. Sky News, January 6 2012

NHS will remove implants free of charge for their patients but private clinics must pay for operations themselves, Government says. Daily Mail, January 6 2012

Government will pay for women who had breast implants on NHS to have them removed. The Daily Telegraph, January 6 2012

Clinics 'should remove implants'. BBC News, January 6 2012

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Healthcare Prof:

Alcohol abuse and dependence are common problems in the United States due to a number of factors, two of which may be social drinking by college students and young adults, and risk taking that may lead to heavier drinking later in life. A study of the neural underpinnings of risk-taking in young, non-dependent social drinkers has found that the caudate nucleus and frontal cortex regions of the brain show less activation in people who drink more heavily.

Results will be published in the May 2012 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.

"Most problem drinkers in the U.S. are young adults, with men about three times as likely to be engaged in problem drinking compared to women," said Chiang-shan R. Li, associate professor of psychiatry and neurobiology at Yale University School of Medicine as well as corresponding author for the study.

Li explained that a number of psychological and cognitive processes are known to influence drinking behaviors. "Risk taking is one such process," he said. "Risk taking can be examined in many different ways. In this study, we sought to identify the pattern of brain activations during risk taking and examine whether this pattern of activations is different in people who drink more/more frequently. That is, we explored whether there is a neural marker of risk taking that may be associated with heavier drinking in non-dependent young adult drinkers."

Li and his colleagues examined two groups of college-based social drinkers - 20 young adults (11 women, 9 men) who consumed high levels of alcohol, defined as number of drinks per month, and 21 demographically matched drinkers (15 women, 6 men) with low to moderate alcohol use - during a functional magnetic resonance imaging study of the stop signal task. Comparing the results recorded during risk taking (equivalent to speeding) with those of risk aversion (equivalent to slowing), study authors were able to analyze the neural correlates of risk taking.

"Along with our earlier work, we identified a number of key structures in the brain that respond to risk taking during the behavioral task," said Li. "We found that the caudate nucleus and frontal cortex, which are inter-connected anatomically, show less activation in people who drink more heavily."

These two brain structures typically demonstrate greater activity whenever individuals encounter a significantly risky situation, explained Li. "Yet people who are engaged in heavier drinking show less activation in these structures, presumably because taking a risk is less salient for them," he said. "These results thus confirm the importance of risk taking as a psychological process that is associated with alcohol use. It also shows that the caudate nucleus and frontal cortex are playing an important role in mediating this association."

The study also found this association was stronger in women than in men, and significantly correlated with the women's frequency of drinking. "This result suggests that risk-taking as a psychological factor may be more directly related to how often women drink compared to men," said Li.

Li pointed out that study participants were typical social drinkers. "On average, they drank about five times per month, with two to three drinks per occasion, so these are really average social drinkers," he said. "Our findings may suggest that even people who are engaged in average drinking are probably more risk prone than those who do not drink at all. While risk taking can be important in many endeavors it also comes with some consequences that we want to avoid."

Li plans to continue examining other neural correlates of non-dependent drinking. "We are investigating how expectations of positive alcohol effects might be related to drinking behaviors, and what cerebral structures are mediating this influence," he said. "We will use a number of different imaging techniques to examine this."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our alcohol / addiction / illegal drugs section for the latest news on this subject.

Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

MLA

Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. "In Those Who Drink More, The Brain's Caudate Nucleus And Frontal Cortex Are Less Active."

Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 17 Feb. 2012. Web.
24 Feb. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241736.php>

---

APA

---

Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.

There is no clear explanation for the migraine-depression link.

Health.com: Surprising headache triggers

Kurth and his colleagues drew their data from the Women's Health Study, an ongoing survey of female health professionals that began in 1993. They examined the medical records of more than 36,000 women who had no history of depression at the start of the study. Roughly 18% of the women were experiencing some form of migraine or had suffered from the headaches in the past.

Over the next 14 years, 11% of the study participants received a depression diagnosis. Compared to women with no history of migraine, those who had ever had one were 36% more likely to become depressed. Women who used to get the headaches but were migraine-free in the year leading up to the study were 41% more likely to be diagnosed.

After taking into account the women's age, smoking and drinking habits, and other extenuating factors, the researchers found that the type of migraine did not influence depression risk.

Women whose headaches were preceded by flashing lights and other sensory disturbances -- a condition called migraine with aura, which occurs in 25% of migraine cases -- had the same risk of depression as women with the more common form of migraine.

Health.com: Get headaches? Smart ways to deal

Kurth is scheduled to present his findings at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in April. Neurologists and primary care physicians both should be aware of the relationship between depression and migraine, he says.

"If you know a patient may be more susceptible to symptoms of depression, you might ask questions," Kurth says. "You might follow them not just for their headaches, but be thinking about the link to depression so you can address symptoms early on."

The study's unusually long follow-up period is a strength, says neurologist Jason Rosenberg, M.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Headache Center, in Baltimore.

"It's been well-known that migraine and depression occur together much more commonly than can be explained by chance," says Rosenberg, who was not involved in the study. "This study gets us one step closer to establishing the link that migraine seems to precede depression."

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On the other hand, Rosenberg says, the fact that all of the study participants were over the age of 45 does limit the findings somewhat. "Most women develop migraine when they are well under 40," he says. "An older population could skew the results one way or the other."

There is no clear explanation for the migraine-depression link. Although frequent migraines could usher in depression by reducing a person's quality of life, underlying -- and as yet unknown -- biological factors may play a role as well. In the future, Kurth says, scientists should try to identify brain chemicals that may contribute to both conditions.

"Are there common biomarkers in the neurotransmitters of the brain?" Kurth says. "I hope our research will stimulate targeted research that will look for mechanisms and figure out exactly what is going on."

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Determining whether the frequency and severity of headaches influence the risk of depression will be another important piece of the puzzle, Rosenberg says.

Previous research suggests that depression risk rises along with migraine severity, Kurth says. He and his colleagues have not yet addressed that point, but they expect to in the future.

Copyright Health Magazine 2011