<UL>
<LI>Drinking alcohol has both benefits and risks, depending on an array of mitigating circumstances</LI>
<LI>People who drink at light to moderate levels seem to have the lowest levels of mortality</LI>
<LI>Much of this &quot;benefit…

• Most people think of stress as a subjective feeling of pressure or tension
• Scientists think of stress response as a cascade of events our bodies trigger in response to a "stressor" or threat, real or perceived
• Our bodies’ stress response is an attempt to get back into…

<UL>
<LI>A previous study found a possible 10-year &quot;threshold&quot; to brain-damaging drinking</LI>
<LI>A more recent study has found that no such &quot;threshold&quot; exists</LI>
<LI>Short-term alcoholics demonstrated…

<UL>
<LI>The teen years of 15-16 are a time of both sensitive brain development and alcohol experimentation.</LI>
<LI>Heavy drinking during this time can cause damage to thinking abilities.</LI>
<LI>One study has found that information recall…

• Alcohol and tobacco are the two most frequently "co-abused" substances in the general population
• Alcoholics, the heaviest of drinkers, also tend to be the heaviest of smokers
• A recent study has discovered that nicotine (in the form of tobacco) increases alcohol…

• Alcohol availability seems to affect "neighborhood culture"
• A recent study found that where someone lives determines 15-16 percent of their attitudes toward drinking and 11 percent of their individual consumption
• "Wetter" neighborhoods have higher levels of drinking,…

• A tiny protein called metallothionein (MT) may protect against alcohol’s neurotoxic effects
• The brain can make more of these proteins in response to alcohol consumption
• One of an individual’s different responses to alcohol may be related to his or her MT levels
…

• Genetic factors contribute up to 40 percent to the risk of developing alcoholism
• Environmental factors likely contribute the remaining risk
• Those considered most at risk are children of alcoholics (COAs)
• Not all COAs become alcoholics
• Biochemical…

• Alcoholics may drink because they get a "bigger bang" each time they drink
• This phenomenon is known as "behavioral sensitization"
• Behavioral sensitization is the opposite of tolerance; it is even known as "reverse tolerance"
• A neurochemical called MK-801 may…

• An infant is extraordinarily sensitive to its mother’s behavior
• Baby rats nursed by their intoxicated mothers exhibit greater overall distress and aversion to alcohol
• The infants’ distress and aversion seem dependent on maternal reaction to alcohol
• Alcohol’s…