Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, March, 2005. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-76)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: Richard A. Morrisett. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Psychology, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2005. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 50-56). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:MR11818

Introduction: There is considerable epidemiologic evidence that drinking alcoholic beverages is associated with an increased risk for certain cancers (i.e. cancers of the upper-aero digestive tract) though the evidence of an increased risk for colorectal and breast cancer is controversial. For other cancers (e.g. kidney, bladder, lung, ovarian) the evidence remains inconclusive. Considering the high prevalence of many of these cancers in Scotland, even a small increase in cancer risk is of great importance, therefore from a public health perspective it is important that the evidence linking alcohol to an increased risk of cancer is continuously evaluated. Questions still remain, however, concerning the robustness and consistency of the alcohol information collected across studies. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of drinking levels, drinking patterns, and definitions of standard drinks internationally make it problematic to generalise the findings of these studies. Aim: To further clarify the role of alcohol in the occurrence of cancer in a country marked by high levels of alcohol consumption and rising incidence of many of the cancers linked with alcohol consumption. The aim of this study, therefore, is to (1) investigate the association between alcohol consumption and the risk of fourteen cancers using routine Scottish data sources and (2) to test the hypothesis that alcohol consumption increases the risk of these cancers in a sample of the Scottish population. Methods: A systematic review of the published literature between 1999, the date of the last major review, and 2009 on alcohol related cancers to determine the strength of evidence on the association between alcohol and cancer, and if it varies by amount drunk, by drinking pattern and drink type. Two cohort studies were formed; in the first a population based cohort study, based on a linkage between a representative general population sample and hospital, cancer registry and death records in Scotland, describes risk of cancer by amount of alcohol consumed per week and by drinking frequency and in a second study, based on a linkage between hospital and cancer and death records, the risk of cancer in a population that has been admitted to hospital (between 1981 and 2007) with an alcohol related diagnosis was investigated. Results: The present study provides weak evidence of a relationship, in a sample of the Scottish general population, between alcohol drinking frequency and amount consumed and cancers of the upper aero digestive tract. An increased risk (though non-significant) of colorectal cancer for daily drinkers was observed but no relationship was detected for amount consumed for this cancer. There was no association observed between drinking frequency or amount consumed and risk of breast, lung and prostate cancer. People with an alcohol-related hospital admission, however, are at substantially higher relative risk of head and neck and upper gastrointestinal cancers compared to the general population, and relative risks increase with increasing levels of deprivation. It is likely that tobacco smoking also contributes to this excess risk. Conclusions: The generalisability of findings from the international literature to Scotland is problematic due to different measures of alcohol consumption. Although the present study provides evidence that people in Scotland who require in-hospital care for an alcohol related condition are at substantial subsequent relative risk of head and neck and upper gastrointestinal cancers and that the relative risk increases with increasing levels of deprivation, further prospective studies with longer-follow-up are required to assess the risk between alcohol consumption and cancer in the Scottish general population.

OBJECTIVE: Periodontal disease is a highly prevalent inflammatory disease with a wide range of causes and clinical manifestations. Excessive alcohol consumption is a significant public health problem, and is a risk factor for a variety of diseases; however, the relationship between alcohol intake and overall oral health remains unclear. This study seeks to identify the relationship between heavy alcohol consumption (consuming two or more drinks per day) and specific indicators of periodontal health. METHODS: Cross-sectional analysis utilized data from the Dental Longitudinal Study, a longitudinal study conducted at the Boston Veterans Affairs medical center, in which the initial cohort consisted of healthy male veterans residing in Greater Boston. Using demographic and behavioral information collected from surveys, and oral health data collected from clinical examinations, bivariate data analysis was conducted to compare periodontal health outcomes between those who drank less than two drinks per day (non-drinkers and moderate drinkers, n = 949) and those who drank two or more drinks per day (heavy drinkers, n = 237). Selected oral health outcomes for analysis were indicators of poor periodontal health and included: number of teeth, bleeding on probing, calculus and plaque levels, tooth mobility, alveolar bone loss, periodontal pocket depth measurements, and gingival recession. RESULTS: Results showed that the heavy alcohol consumption group was significantly associated with increased whole mouth mean alveolar bone loss and with periodontal pocket depths exceeding 4mm and 5mm, with a trend in heavy drinkers to have more teeth with increased levels of pocket depth. DISCUSSION: The detected association between heavy drinking and alveolar bone loss and pocket depth measurement is a significant clinical finding, and suggests that alcohol intake should be minimized in the interest of periodontal health. The results of this study point towards the need for future longitudinal studies to investigate the possible role of alcohol as a risk factor for periodontal outcomes.

Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs) have devastating economic, mortality, and public health implications on society. Repeated cycles of alcohol intoxication and abstinence are known to induce neuroplastic alterations in specific brain regions, alterations which in turn trigger and sustain excessive alcohol drinking. The Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis (BNST) has been proposed as a critical brain site for neuroadaptations induced by chronic alcohol. The Pituitary Adenylate-Cyclase Activating Polypeptide (PACAP) system highly expressed in the BNST, has been proposed to be a master regulator of the stress response. These experiments aimed to investigate the role of the PACAP system of the BNST in alcohol drinking. Using a two-bottle choice chronic intermittent ethanol paradigm, we demonstrated that excessive intermittent alcohol consumption causes a marked increase in PACAP immunoreactivity in the BNST of mice. In addition, we observed a significant higher PACAP expression in the BNST of female, compared to male mice. These data lay the foundation for more extensive studies which may lead to the identification of a neuropeptide system with a critical role in heavy alcohol drinking. A deeper understanding of the specific neuroadaptations produced by chronic alcohol will be essential for the discovery of novel therapeutic agents to alleviate alcoholism. / 2019-07-11T00:00:00Z

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