Drinking culture

Increased drinking during the pandemic has had a real effect on our collective mortality, new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. The study found that between 2020 to 2021, nearly 500 deaths a day could be attributed to excessive alcohol use—significantly higher than the death toll seen five years earlier.Prepping the Sandworm Scenes in Dune: Part TwoAlcohol-related deaths in the U.S. have been rising for a while, even before covid-19 arrived in early 2020. But the pandemic certainly made…

In case you need it, here’s another reason to go all-in on Dry January: Scientists with the World Health Organization found that reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption can lower your risk of oral and related cancers. The findings are the latest to indicate that even modest drinking isn’t harmless.Let’s Eat a Chocolate Xbox ControllerScientists at the WHO’s International Agency for Research on Cancer produced a special report, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, in which they reviewed data from dozens of…

A study out this week suggests that semaglutide—the active ingredient in popular obesity drug Wegovy—might be able to help people struggling with alcohol use disorder, too. In a small sample of cases, researchers found evidence that people who took semaglutide for weight loss also experienced a significant reduction in alcohol dependence symptoms. The team and other scientists have begun to conduct clinical trials to further explore this link.Like It or Not, Your Doctor Will Use AI | AI UnlockedSemaglutide is a synthetic…

New research may eventually help solve a mystery relevant to holiday drinkers. Scientists at the University of California Davis and elsewhere believe they’ve figured out why some people quickly develop headaches after drinking red wine but not other alcoholic beverages: too much of a particular flavonoid that mixes badly with alcohol. The team is already set to conduct a small clinical trial to further test their theory.How to Know If the Heat Is Making You SickAlcohol can be a specific headache trigger for some people,…

The first year of the covid-19 pandemic helped fuel a spike of boozy liver injuries in the U.S., recent research suggests. The study found a jump in reported hospitalizations from alcohol-related hepatitis across the U.S. in 2020—even above the steady increases seen in past years. Deaths from these injuries substantially increased in 2020 as well.Teyonah Parris and John Boyega on Working With Jamie Foxx | io9 InterviewThe pandemic caused plenty of upheaval in our lives, especially early on. One of the more apparent…

The hangover cure of the future just might be a chuggable probiotic. In research out this week, scientists in China detail the creation of bacteria that can produce an enzyme meant to help the body break down alcohol faster. Alcohol-fed mice that were given the probiotic beforehand experienced less drunkenness and recovered more quickly, the study found.La Borinqueña’s Connection to Puerto Rico | io9 InterviewFun as the acute effects of ingesting alcohol can be, too much can be dangerous, even deadly. To protect us, the…

A new study is the latest to suggest that modest alcohol consumption isn’t likely to provide any health benefits. The research, a review of existing studies, found no strong evidence that light to moderate drinking can reduce people’s risk of dying early. Past studies that did find a positive effect might have failed to account for the poorer health of former drinkers and other factors, the scientists say.Mental Health Apps Are a Privacy NightmareChronic,heavy drinking has long been tied to health problems, from early…

Sadly, this stock image is probably not how the actual study was performed. Image: Indigo Fish (Shutterstock)A team of scientists appears to be on track toward developing an effective treatment for drunkenness. In research out this week, they were able to quickly sober up drunk mice by boosting their levels of a naturally produced hormone called FGF21. More research will need to be done, but the team believes that FGF21 could someday be used to treat acute episodes of alcohol poisoning.The study was led by scientists from…

Image: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)America’s alcohol habit comes with a hefty annual death toll, new research shows. The study estimates that excess drinking is responsible for one of every eight deaths in Americans between the ages of 20 to 64 every year. And though younger people are less likely to die in general, alcohol might help cause one in every five deaths among adults below the age of 50.It’s long been clear that drinking alcohol can be deadly, especially chronically heavy or binge drinking. But scientists from…

Image: Shutterstock (Shutterstock)A common heart and blood pressure drug could see a second act as a treatment for alcohol use disorder, new government-led research this week suggests. The study has found evidence in both rodents and humans that the medication spironolactone can reduce people’s craving for and consumption of alcohol.Spironolactone has been in the medicine cabinet for decades, having first been discovered in the late 1950s. It’s a type of steroid primarily used for its diuretic effect, meaning that it…