People who don't drink may still suffer harms from alcohol

Much of the research into alcohol-associated harms investigates harm to the drinker, not to other individuals. Researchers at Institute for Therapy Research in Bayern, Germany, estimated the harms caused to others by alcohol during pregnancy, in road traffic accidents, and as a result of interpersonal violence. The authors conclude that the harmful effects of alcohol on people other than the drinker need to be recognized as a public health problem, and effective ways of preventing such harms are required.

Dr Ludwig Kraus, the corresponding author, said: "This study estimates some of the most severe harms that alcohol use may cause to other people than the drinker, namely fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), road traffic fatalities caused by drunk drivers, and deaths resulting from alcohol-attributable interpersonal violence."

The authors found that alcohol was responsible for 1,214 (45.1%) third-party road traffic deaths and 55 (14.9%) interpersonal violence deaths, and was implicated in 2,930 incidents of FAS and 12,650 cases of FASD. The authors note that FAS and FASD are not the only potential consequences of drinking alcohol during pregnancy. Overall, these results indicate that alcohol may not only cause harm to the drinker, but also substantial harm to third parties.

To investigate the potential harm caused by alcohol to third parties, the authors examined survey data on the prevalence of alcohol use during pregnancy to estimate incidents of FAS and FASD in Germany. Cause-of-death statistics provided estimates of third party traffic deaths and interpersonal violence deaths thought to be caused by alcohol.

The authors caution that accurately assessing the prevalence and extent of alcohol use during pregnancy in Germany is challenging as the data are self-reported and so may be vulnerable to bias or misremembering.

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This is a neuron on nicotine

Nicotine works inside cells to reinforce addiction

              In this image, a biosensor is targeted to a cell's endoplasmic reticulum and glows green in the presence of nicotine                                                        Credits: Caltech/Lester laboratory

When a person takes a puff on a cigarette, nicotine floods into the brain, latching onto receptors on the surface of neurons and producing feelings of happiness. But nicotine does not simply stay on the surface of cells -- the drug actually permeates into neural cells and alters them from the inside out. Now, a team of scientists has developed a protein sensor that glows in the presence of nicotine, allowing the researchers to observe nicotine's movements in cells and reveal more about the nature of nicotine addiction. 

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