Sobriety test cards stir controversy
Wine aficionados and party-goers who enjoy a glass or two but worry about driving can now carry their own personal blood-alcohol testing kit.
( BY L.L. BRASIER, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER, 10/18/2002 12:44 PM PDT)

Study: Any drinking hurts pregnancy
Children born to mothers who drink even small amounts of alcohol early in pregnancy are shorter and weigh less at age 14 than children born to mothers who abstain, a study says.
( DAN NEPHIN, Associated Press Writer, 10/17/2002 06:27 AM PDT)

New drug approved for treating addicts
Primary care doctors soon will be able to treat a new patient population: drug addicts. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration announced approval of the drug buprenorphine, which can be prescribed by primary care physicians to treat people addicted to heroin and other opiates.
( By Katherine Spitz, Beacon Journal medical writer, 10/16/2002 07:15 AM PDT)

Beer, Wine May Influence Dementia Risk
They say you are what you eat, and new research suggests that how well your mind works into old age could also be influenced by what you drink. Dr. Thomas Truelsen of the Institute of Preventive Medicine in Copenhagen and his colleagues found that people who drank beer--even as infrequently as once per month--were more than twice as likely as non-beer drinkers to experience a deterioration in mental functioning, known as dementia, after age 65. In contrast, people who drank wine weekly were 70% less...
( BY ALISON MCCOOK, Reuters, 10/15/2002 08:30 AM PDT)

FDA approves heroin drug for addicts
Heroin addicts who are going through withdrawal will be able to use new drugs to curb their cravings. And it's the first time such drugs can be prescribed at a doctor's office instead of at a treatment clinic.
( EMILY GERSEMA, Associated Press Writer, 10/09/2002 06:47 AM PDT)

Youth drug tests now eye tobacco
Breath mints won't cut it anymore for students who have been smoking in the bathroom: Some schools around the country are administering urine tests to teenagers to find out whether they have been using tobacco.
( By Greg Giuffrida, ASSOCIATED PRESS, 10/08/2002 06:53 AM PDT)

Alcohol can hurt legs as well as liver, study shows
Long-term drinking can damage muscles in the legs and elsewhere in the body, as well as hurting the liver, according to a report released Tuesday. "It is a common misconception that the brain and the liver are the two organs most affected by chronic alcohol misuse, which results in psychosocial abnormalities and cirrhosis," said Victor Preedy and Peter Emery of King's College London.
( BY RICHARD WOODMAN, Reuters, 10/02/2002 06:21 AM PDT)

Alcohol dependence may hurt college performance
College freshmen with serious drinking problems may be at risk of quickly failing out, a study at one Belgian university suggests.
( Reuters, 09/27/2002 11:16 AM PDT)

HEALTH: How to help seniors confront alcohol, drug addictions
Talking to Grandma or Grandpa about their alcohol or drug abuse may be the last taboo. A new book lays out reasons to bust through that barrier: Alcoholism and misuse of medications lead down a fast track to old age and dependency.
( BY KAY HARVEY, Pioneer Press, 09/25/2002 06:47 AM PDT)