36th International Medical Advisory Group Conference
Frascati, Italy—October 17-20, 2010
The 36th IMAG, organized by the Foundation’s sister organization, the ERAB: The European Foundation for Alcohol Research, was held October 17 through 20 in Frascati, Italy. Over 100 participants attended the conference from 17 countries, representing top universities, medical centers and brewing trade associations. Six research sessions were presented on topics including binge drinking, heavy alcohol intake episodes, pharmacological treatments, alcoholic liver disease, cardiology and alcohol, and cancer and alcohol.
The importance of the social contexts of drinking was argued in the keynote address, “Overview of research on contexts of drinking” by Dr. Karen Trocki of the Alcohol Research Group in Emeryville, CA. Beliefs and expectancies are linked to the situations in which people drink. These environmental contexts affect drinking behaviors, such as amount and speed of consumption, so are important predictive factors for drinking.
Introducing the session on binge drinking, Patricia Conrod, Ph.D., former ABMRF grantee and senior lecturer of clinical psychology at King’s College London, presented “An investigation of the universal effects of brief-personalized interventions for adolescents.” She shared the results of personality-targeted interventions on high-risk adolescents. In these adolescents, there was a significant delay in the onset of drinking and binge drinking and a reduction in the risk for drug use over a two-year period. However, a contrasting presentation followed, concluding that social norms marketing campaigns intended to correct misperceptions of peer drinking behaviors may be ineffective. Concluding the session, researchers suggested that binge drinking is associated with brain damage resulting from an inflammatory response. However, when given with alcohol, the taurine pro-drug ethane-β-sultam may reduce the activation of the innate immune system.
Heavy alcohol intake episodes are defined through the amount consumed, subjective effects and blood alcohol levels. Men consuming six or more drinks daily have an increased risk of stroke, fatal coronary heart disease and mortality. To predict such alcohol abuse, a Finnish study suggests that teachers reporting problem behaviors of boys had the best predictive power. Researchers recommend early interventions targeted to boys with externalizing problems. In other populations of hazardous drinkers, brief behavioral interventions conducted in primary care are effective in reducing alcohol consumption.
Current ABMRF grantee and assistant professor of community health at Brown University, Lorenzo Leggio, M.D., presented “New developments in the pharmacotherapy of alcohol dependence,” sharing recent developments using baclofen in the treatment of alcohol dependence. Baclofen reduces alcohol consumption, promotes abstinence in alcohol-dependent patients and lessens withdrawal symptoms. Of particular importance is that baclofen is the only medication currently tested in alcoholics with severe liver disease.
Data links acetaldehyde as a causal agent for cancers of the head, neck and throat. The association of alcohol consumption patterns and cancers was evaluated in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). EPIC concluded that lifetime “always light” or “never heavy” alcohol consumption may exhibit the lowest risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Heavy alcohol use at any point in life appears to add further risk for cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
Investigators confirmed the protective mechanisms of alcohol in cardiovascular disease. Along with benefits to the lipid profile, moderate alcohol consumption has favorable anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects on the immune system. Moderate drinking may also inhibit smooth muscle cell proliferation and white blood cell migration to limit atherosclerotic plaque.
Following the IMAG, Professor De Witte and ABMRF President, Mack C. Mitchell, Jr., M.D., co-presented a lay synopsis of the proceedings to the Worldwide Brewing Alliance, providing the most recent science on the effects of alcohol to the brewing industry.