13 children a day are hospitalised as a result of alcohol misuse

- Alcoholic liver cirrhosis has increased by 95% since 2000, and by 36% over the last two years to 2006 and is still increasing
- Overall alcohol related deaths have increased by 18% from 2002-2005
- More people die from alcohol related causes than from breast cancer, cervical cancer and MRSA combined
- The 'passive effects' of alcohol misuse are catastrophic - rape, sexual assault, domestic and other violence, drunk driving and street disorder - alcohol affects thousands more innocent victims than passive smoking

alcohol dependent patients show altered responses to alcohol related cues

Several studies demonstrated that alcohol dependent patients show altered responses to alcohol related cues. It is assumed that the regular association of these cues with the ingestion of alcohol leads to conditioned reactions, motivating reward or relief craving and instigating drug intake. A group of German investigators has reported on this phenomenon in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. They used an innovative method for studying this issue: the measurement of startle reflex, which is the eyeblink response to a sudden loud noise, that is normally inhibited by a pleasant foreground and potentiated when unpleasant stimuli are presented. Thus, it is a reliable method to assess the affective valence of emotional stimuli without having to rely on the self-report of patients. Previous investigations with alcohol dependent patients have shown that an attenuation of the affect modulated startle reflex was demonstrated when patients were viewing alcohol associated pictures indicating an appetitive valence of the alcohol associated stimuli.