BACKGROUND: The consumption of addictive substances is common in adolescence and raises concerns about future addiction. We investigated addictive substance consumption among young people to inform the design of drug intervention programmes.
METHODS: Participants were a population-based sample of 14- to 24-year-olds from Paredes, northern Portugal. A self-report questionnaire measured social and health variables, including tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug consumption. Results Data were analysed for 731 valid responses. Participants who had drunk alcohol did so first at 14.7 years (mean); 15.3% (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 12.9-18.1) drank alcohol regularly (more than 1/week, adjusted for age and sex) (95% CI: 12.9-18.1). Participants who had smoked tobacco did so first at 14.8 years (mean); 16.6% (95% CI: 14.0-19.5) were regular smokers. Illicit drug consumption was reported by 16.7% of participants (95% CI: 14.2-19.6) and 10.4% consumed drugs regularly.
CONCLUSION: We found a high prevalence of addictive substance consumption, particularly alcohol. As cultural attitudes likely influence alcohol consumption, a multigenerational approach is needed to address adolescent consumption. Participants' main sources of drug information were family members. Strategies are needed to promote drug literacy in parents and other relatives to change adolescents' culturally acquired habits of addictive substance consumption.
Low-risk thresholds for alcohol use differ across various national guidelines. To assess the novel WHO risk drinking levels in light of alcohol-sensitive common laboratory tests, we analysed biomarkers of liver status, inflammation and lipid profiles from a population-based survey of individuals classified to abstainers and different WHO risk drinking levels defined in terms of mean alcohol consumption per day. The study included 22,327 participants aged 25-74 years from the National FINRISK Study. Data on alcohol use, health status, diet, body weight and lifestyle (smoking, coffee consumption and physical activity) were recorded from structured interviews. Alcohol data from self-reports covering the past 12 months were used to categorize the participants into subgroups of abstainers and WHO risk drinking categories representing low, moderate, high and very high risk drinkers. Serum liver enzymes (GGT, ALT), C-reactive protein (CRP) and lipid profiles were measured using standard laboratory techniques. Alcohol risk category was roughly linearly related with the occurrence of elevated values for GGT, ALT and CRP. Alcohol drinking also significantly influenced the incidence of abnormalities in serum lipids. Significantly higher odds for abnormal GGT, ALT and altered lipid profiles remained in alcohol drinkers even after adjustment for age, waist circumference, physical inactivity, smoking and coffee consumption. A more systematic use of laboratory tests during treatment of individuals classified to WHO risk drinking categories may improve the assessment of alcohol-related health risks. Follow-ups of biomarker responses may also prove to be useful in health interventions aimed at reducing alcohol consumption.
This study investigated the potential effect of therapeutic doses of acetaminophen (APAP) in combination with light-moderate amounts of alcohol on kidney functions controlling for factors such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity that may predispose the kidney to APAP and/or alcohol toxicity. Secondary analysis of the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data was performed using SAS 9.4. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) comparing the likelihood that individuals who ingested therapeutic doses of APAP and light-moderate amount of alcohol, compared to those who did not, would have kidney dysfunction were generated from multiple logistics regression models by further controlling for potential predisposing factors namely hypertension, diabetes and obesity. Kidney dysfunction was defined based on self-reports and laboratory examination of serum creatinine (SCr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and albumin creatinine ratio (ABCR). Statistically significant increased odds of renal dysfunction were noted among respondents who reported use of therapeutic doses of APAP and light-moderate amount of alcohol [OR(95% CI)=1.64(1.28-2.10) self-report, 2.18(1.81-2.63) SCr, 4.60(3.03-7.00) BUN, 3.14(2.42-4.07) GFR, and 1.71(1.36-2.14) ALBCR)] even after adjusting for hypertension, diabetes and obesity [Adjusted OR (95% CI)=1.78 (1.22-2.58) self-report, 2.05 (1.07-3.92) GFR]. The toxic effects of APAP and alcohol on the kidney were hypothesized. The threshold doses at which these effects begin to occur are unknown. The findings of this study suggest that even therapeutic doses of APAP and light-moderate amount of alcohol could be health problematic if consumed concomitantly.