Science News 17/8/09

Shy and dry
In the past research has found a strong association with alcohol problems and socially anxious people. People who suffer from social phobia are 2-3 times more likely to develop problems with alcohol abuse and/or alcohol dependence. Researchers from Macquarie University have developed a new treatment for adults that addresses both problems simultaneously. Dr Lexine Stapinski who is coordinating the new program, says many people believe that alcohol relaxes them but actually excessive drinking increases agitation and anxiety. This is because it can lead to a reliance on alcohol. The program developed by researchers at Macquarie offers participants 10 individual cognitive behavioural therapy sessions at no cost. 10.6 per cent of Australians have problems with social phobia while 18.9 per cent of the population drink alcohol at harmful levels, according to the most recent ABS National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing.

Alcohol weakens muscles
A study from Massey University found that if you use your muscles strenuously and then go for a bit of drink your muscles won’t repair themselves very well. The message to the research is simple: “If you’re there to perform, you shouldn’t be drinking alcohol.” Mr Barnes got recreational sportsmen and tested their muscle performance after a strenuous resistance training session, which was followed by either a moderate amount of alcohol in juice or the same energy content in juice alone. 36-hours and 60 hours later the athletes’ performance was measured. Muscles were nearly twice as weak after the alcohol, shows that if you drink even moderate levels of alcohol after you use your muscles strenuously you are impairing your ability to recover.

Early binging leads to early babies
Research from WA shows that pregnant women who drink more than one to two standard drinks per occasion and more than six standard drinks per week increase their risk of having a premature baby, even if they stop drinking before the second trimester. It’s thought that stopping alcohol consumption before the second trimester may trigger an inflammatory response leading to preterm birth. Not surprisingly the incidence of preterm birth was highest among women who binged (9.5 per cent) or drank heavily. But even if the mother stopped drinking before the second trimester (13.6 per cent) babies were born preterm, compared women who did not drink during pregnancy, here less than 6 per cent had preterm births. A Western Australian study took a random sample of 4719 women who gave birth in WA between 1995 and 1997. Women were asked how often they drank alcohol, and the amount of alcohol they consumed in each occasion and the types of alcohol they drank.

The study was published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in January.