The more alcohol you drink, the more your brain shrinks, a new study has found.
"The take-home message is that, if you drink a lot, you're going to hurt your brain," said Rajesh Miranda, an associate professor of neuroscience and experimental therapeutics at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine. "This is something we knew, but this is a huge study that quantifies that."
"It's not surprising that alcohol would cause shrinkage of the brain. That kind of thing has been observed in animal models and smaller studies," Miranda added. "The surprising thing is that they 1/8the study authors 3/8 showed that even low levels of drinking are not protective, as people had seen in other cases."
The findings are published in the October issue of the Archives of Neurology.
Brain volume decreases naturally as people age, at a rate of about 1.9 per cent per decade. At the same time, the brain acquires white matter lesions as it gets older. Both of these changes also accompany dementia and cognitive decline, according to background information in the study.
Moderate levels of alcohol consumption have been linked with a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease, leading researchers to hypothesize that restrained tippling might also slow declines in brain volume. Previous studies have also found that drinking alcohol in moderation is associated with improved cognitive function and a decreased risk of Alzheimer's disease.
For the new study, led by Carol Ann Paul, of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, researchers conducted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and health exams on 1,839 adults (average age 60) participating in the Framingham Offspring Study between 1999 and 2001. None of the participants had evidence of clinical dementia or had suffered a stroke.
The men and women were asked how much alcohol they drank each week, then were classified as abstainers, former drinkers, or low (one to seven drinks per week), moderate (eight to 14 drinks per week) or high consumers of alcohol (more than 14 drinks a week).
Most participants (almost 38 per cent of men and more than 44 per cent of women) fell into the "low-consumption" category. Men were more likely than women to report being moderate or heavy drinkers.
Alcohol had no protective affect on the normal, age-related shrinkage in brain volume, the researchers found.
To the contrary, the more a person drank, the more their brain volume diminished. This relationship was somewhat more pronounced in women, although women tended to be lighter drinkers.
The gender difference could be explained by biological factors, namely that alcohol is absorbed faster in women and they tend to feel the effects of alcohol more than men, the researchers said.
More information
The http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/dementia.html U.S. National Library of Medicine has more on dementia.
SOURCES: Rajesh Miranda, Ph.D., associate professor, neuroscience and experimental therapeutics, Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine; October 2008 Archives of Neurology
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Showing posts with label alcohol abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alcohol abuse. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Treatment promising for alcohol dependence
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An extended-release version of the anti-addiction medicine naltrexone reduces drinking in alcohol-dependent patients within two days of being injected, according to a new study.
Naltrexone blocks opioid receptors and is approved for use in alcohol-dependent patients. To improve adherence, "an intramuscular, injectable, extended-release formulation of naltrexone has been developed," Dr. Domenic A. Ciraulo, of Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues explain in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
The researchers tested injectable naltrexone XR in some 600 actively drinking, alcohol-dependent men and women who were given one of two doses of the drug or an inactive placebo every 4 weeks for 24 weeks. The participants also received 12 sessions of standardized, low-intensity psychosocial therapy.
Compared with the placebo patients, patients given the higher dose of naltrexone had a significant reduction in the average daily number of drinks consumed by the second day. By the third day, fewer naltrexone patients reported heavy drinking compared with those on placebo (20 percent versus 35 percent, respectively). This reduction was maintained throughout the study.
While patients treated with the lower dose of naltrexone XR experienced reductions in these measures, the differences compared with placebo were not statistically significant.
Ciraulo's team is encouraged by the results. "Potential clinical implications of the rapid, early onset of effect of this medication's delivery system for patients who are dependent on alcohol include facilitation of early engagement in treatment, motivation to continue treatment, and focus on the goals established in counseling," they write.
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, February 2008.
Naltrexone blocks opioid receptors and is approved for use in alcohol-dependent patients. To improve adherence, "an intramuscular, injectable, extended-release formulation of naltrexone has been developed," Dr. Domenic A. Ciraulo, of Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues explain in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
The researchers tested injectable naltrexone XR in some 600 actively drinking, alcohol-dependent men and women who were given one of two doses of the drug or an inactive placebo every 4 weeks for 24 weeks. The participants also received 12 sessions of standardized, low-intensity psychosocial therapy.
Compared with the placebo patients, patients given the higher dose of naltrexone had a significant reduction in the average daily number of drinks consumed by the second day. By the third day, fewer naltrexone patients reported heavy drinking compared with those on placebo (20 percent versus 35 percent, respectively). This reduction was maintained throughout the study.
While patients treated with the lower dose of naltrexone XR experienced reductions in these measures, the differences compared with placebo were not statistically significant.
Ciraulo's team is encouraged by the results. "Potential clinical implications of the rapid, early onset of effect of this medication's delivery system for patients who are dependent on alcohol include facilitation of early engagement in treatment, motivation to continue treatment, and focus on the goals established in counseling," they write.
SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, February 2008.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The price is wrong for our drinking problem
It would be disingenuous to claim that increased taxation represents the "silver bullet" when it comes to Britain's problematic relationship with alcohol.
Indeed, research makes it clear that the drivers of consumption are complex. However, a genuinely effective harm reduction strategy requires both controls on the supply and the demand for alcohol.
For that reason, Alcohol Concern continues to argue for multi-faceted work that incorporates consistent, high quality information for consumers, greater corporate social responsibility on the part of the drinks industry, better treatment and support for chronic drinkers to bring their drinking down to more sustainable levels, and, inevitably, tighter controls on price.
The view that the price of alcohol influences how much a society drinks is one that is shared by virtually the entire international public health community. Alcohol now costs the British drinker less than half what it did in 1980.
At the same time, more than eight million people drink at harmful levels in the UK. We also know that chronic alcohol-related conditions like liver disease have multiplied by nearly 200 per cent in the last 10 years, and that there is now a clear trend towards people dying from alcohol-related causes at younger ages than before. The social and economic cost is also considerable – the Cabinet Office estimates it to be in the region of £20bn.
Developments like these have led us to argue that the Government needs to increase taxes on alcohol in today's Budget to the extent that there is a 10 per cent increase in prices across the board. Analytical work predicts that such a price rise would cut premature, alcohol-related deaths by up to 37 per cent in this country. This work is complemented by a range of other studies that have also found that increasing the price of alcohol can reduce road accidents and fatalities, workplace injuries, deaths from cirrhosis of the liver and various kinds of violent crime.
Cheap alcohol is particularly relevant for under age, and heavy drinkers. The fact that teenagers are now drinking twice as much as they did 20 years ago is very likely to be related to alcohol's growing affordability.
In November last year, Alcohol Concern collected price information from random supermarket branches throughout London. The aim was to discover how far a teenager's allowance could actually go for those who manage to buy alcohol, either in person, or through a proxy.
It found that with the average teenager's weekly pocket money, a person can afford to buy as much as three times the daily recommended limit in premium alcohol brands alone.
Higher alcohol taxes would help to protect young people by curtailing their ability to source alcohol independently.
Raising alcohol taxes has the added advantage of helping to dismantle certain health inequalities. People from professional or "middle class" homes are far more likely to buy alcohol regularly, and to drink above the recommended levels, yet "alcohol-related harm" is borne largely by those from routine or manual backgrounds.
There is ample evidence to suggest that price increases t
hrough taxation would have an effect on consumption levels for those for whom alcohol takes up a large proportion of their income.
Driving down the amount that people from poorer backgrounds drink may therefore reduce the disproportionate health burden that heavy drinkers in those groups bear.
To achieve these aims, prices would need to rise uniformly across the drinks market. At the moment, supermarkets and other major off-licence chains have enough purchasing power to demand that drinks producers absorb any increases in duty rates so that they can continue selling alcohol at deep discounts.
To protect the integrity of alcohol taxes, we propose therefore that the Government needs additionally to introduce legislation to prevent both the on and off trade from selling below a fixed retail price.
source: Yorkshire Post
Indeed, research makes it clear that the drivers of consumption are complex. However, a genuinely effective harm reduction strategy requires both controls on the supply and the demand for alcohol.
For that reason, Alcohol Concern continues to argue for multi-faceted work that incorporates consistent, high quality information for consumers, greater corporate social responsibility on the part of the drinks industry, better treatment and support for chronic drinkers to bring their drinking down to more sustainable levels, and, inevitably, tighter controls on price.
The view that the price of alcohol influences how much a society drinks is one that is shared by virtually the entire international public health community. Alcohol now costs the British drinker less than half what it did in 1980.
At the same time, more than eight million people drink at harmful levels in the UK. We also know that chronic alcohol-related conditions like liver disease have multiplied by nearly 200 per cent in the last 10 years, and that there is now a clear trend towards people dying from alcohol-related causes at younger ages than before. The social and economic cost is also considerable – the Cabinet Office estimates it to be in the region of £20bn.
Developments like these have led us to argue that the Government needs to increase taxes on alcohol in today's Budget to the extent that there is a 10 per cent increase in prices across the board. Analytical work predicts that such a price rise would cut premature, alcohol-related deaths by up to 37 per cent in this country. This work is complemented by a range of other studies that have also found that increasing the price of alcohol can reduce road accidents and fatalities, workplace injuries, deaths from cirrhosis of the liver and various kinds of violent crime.
Cheap alcohol is particularly relevant for under age, and heavy drinkers. The fact that teenagers are now drinking twice as much as they did 20 years ago is very likely to be related to alcohol's growing affordability.
In November last year, Alcohol Concern collected price information from random supermarket branches throughout London. The aim was to discover how far a teenager's allowance could actually go for those who manage to buy alcohol, either in person, or through a proxy.
It found that with the average teenager's weekly pocket money, a person can afford to buy as much as three times the daily recommended limit in premium alcohol brands alone.
Higher alcohol taxes would help to protect young people by curtailing their ability to source alcohol independently.
Raising alcohol taxes has the added advantage of helping to dismantle certain health inequalities. People from professional or "middle class" homes are far more likely to buy alcohol regularly, and to drink above the recommended levels, yet "alcohol-related harm" is borne largely by those from routine or manual backgrounds.
There is ample evidence to suggest that price increases t
hrough taxation would have an effect on consumption levels for those for whom alcohol takes up a large proportion of their income.
Driving down the amount that people from poorer backgrounds drink may therefore reduce the disproportionate health burden that heavy drinkers in those groups bear.
To achieve these aims, prices would need to rise uniformly across the drinks market. At the moment, supermarkets and other major off-licence chains have enough purchasing power to demand that drinks producers absorb any increases in duty rates so that they can continue selling alcohol at deep discounts.
To protect the integrity of alcohol taxes, we propose therefore that the Government needs additionally to introduce legislation to prevent both the on and off trade from selling below a fixed retail price.
source: Yorkshire Post
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Binge drinking could lead to stroke
The Stroke Association is warning the public of the dangers of binge drinking and how it can increase your risk of brain damage from a stroke.
The warning comes at the start of Brain Awareness Week 2008.
Binge drinking can raise blood pressure to dangerously high levels and is a major risk factor for stroke.
A stroke is a brain attack; it happens when the blood supply is cut to the brain causing brain cells to die and results in brain damage.
Stroke is the UK's third biggest killer and if it doesn't kill it could leave you paralysed, unable to talk, walk and/or incontinent.
People who binge drink (consume six or more units at a single sitting) are twice as likely to have a stroke than non-drinkers.
Yet, worryingly an estimated 60 percent of people are not aware that stroke can be a consequence of binge drinking.
Current government statistics indicate that 18 percent of men and eight percent of women drank more than eight units and six units respectively, on at least one day in the previous week.
Despite this only 25 percent of people questioned in a survey said that they would reduce the
ir alcohol intake to help reduce their risk of stroke. The number of people, who already do so, was only slightly higher at 31 percent.
These figures are of some concern, especially given that heavy intermittent drinking is a feature of many people's social lives in the UK and young people are more inclined to consume more than twice the recommended sensible drinking limit.
Joe Korner, Director of Communications at The Stroke Association said:
"Stroke can be a devastating condition and can affect anyone, of any age, at any time.
"By binge drinking you are increasing your risk of stroke and leaving yourself vulnerable to serious consequences such as long term disability or even death.
"Therefore The Stroke Association is urging the public, not just for Brain Awareness Week, but for the whole year round to exercise control over the amount of alcohol they are consuming."
source: Morpeth Today
The warning comes at the start of Brain Awareness Week 2008.
Binge drinking can raise blood pressure to dangerously high levels and is a major risk factor for stroke.
A stroke is a brain attack; it happens when the blood supply is cut to the brain causing brain cells to die and results in brain damage.
Stroke is the UK's third biggest killer and if it doesn't kill it could leave you paralysed, unable to talk, walk and/or incontinent.
People who binge drink (consume six or more units at a single sitting) are twice as likely to have a stroke than non-drinkers.
Yet, worryingly an estimated 60 percent of people are not aware that stroke can be a consequence of binge drinking.
Current government statistics indicate that 18 percent of men and eight percent of women drank more than eight units and six units respectively, on at least one day in the previous week.
Despite this only 25 percent of people questioned in a survey said that they would reduce the
ir alcohol intake to help reduce their risk of stroke. The number of people, who already do so, was only slightly higher at 31 percent.
These figures are of some concern, especially given that heavy intermittent drinking is a feature of many people's social lives in the UK and young people are more inclined to consume more than twice the recommended sensible drinking limit.
Joe Korner, Director of Communications at The Stroke Association said:
"Stroke can be a devastating condition and can affect anyone, of any age, at any time.
"By binge drinking you are increasing your risk of stroke and leaving yourself vulnerable to serious consequences such as long term disability or even death.
"Therefore The Stroke Association is urging the public, not just for Brain Awareness Week, but for the whole year round to exercise control over the amount of alcohol they are consuming."
source: Morpeth Today
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
People addicted to alcohol more impulsive in their decision-making
New research involving brain imaging and genetic studies has for the first time established an association between thinking patterns and liquor addiction.
Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the study was based on a comparison between brain activity of sober alcoholics and non-addicted people, while they made financial decisions.
It showed that sober alcoholics tended to show significantly more "impulsive" neural activity in some areas of the brain, as they made financial decisions. The study also discovered that a specific gene mutation boosted activity in these brain regions when people made impulsive choices.
Lead researcher Dr. Charlotte Boettiger, assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says that this mutation is already known to reduce brain levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
"Our data suggest there may be a cognitive difference in people with addictions. Their brains may not fully process the long-term consequences of their choices. They may compute information less efficiently," said Boettiger, who led the study as a scientist at UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center.
"What's exciting about this study is that it suggests a new approach to therapy. We might prescribe medications, such as those used to treat Parkinson's or early Alzheimer's disease, or tailor cognitive therapy to improve executive function," she added.
Dr. Howard Fields, the senior author of the study, said that the newly found link involving the gene, impulsive behaviour and brain activity suggests that raising dopamine levels may be an effective treatment for addiction.
"I am very excited about these results because of their clinical implications. The genetic findings raise the hopeful possibility that treatments aimed at raising dopamine levels could be effective treatments for some individuals with addictive disorders," Fields said.
During the study, the subjects were asked either to choose less money then and there or to get more money later. Their brain activity was scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), as the participants made their choices.
The researchers revealed that while decisions were being made, the imaging detected activity in the posterior parietal cortex, the dorsal prefrontal cortex, the anterior temporal lobe and the orbital frontal cortex.
They said that sober alcoholics tended to chose the "now" reward almost three times more often than the control group, reflecting more impulsive behaviour.
The authors noted that the imaging detected reduced activity in the orbital frontal cortex in the brains of subjects who preferred "now" over "later", most of whom had a history of alcoholism.
"Think of the orbital frontal cortex as the brakes. With the brakes on, people choose for the future. Without the brakes they choose for the short-term gain," Boettiger said.
The dorsal prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex often form cooperative circuits, and the study found that high activity in both is associated with a bias toward choosing immediate rewards.
The study also showed that people with two copies of the mutation in a gene called COMT, which is associated with lower dopamine levels, had significantly higher frontal and parietal activity, and chose "now" over "later" significantly more often.
"We have a lot to learn. But the data takes a significant step toward being able to identify subtypes of alcoholics, which could help tailor treatments, and may provide earlier intervention for people who are at risk for developing addictions," Boettiger said.
source: Journal of Neuroscience
Published in the Journal of Neuroscience, the study was based on a comparison between brain activity of sober alcoholics and non-addicted people, while they made financial decisions.
It showed that sober alcoholics tended to show significantly more "impulsive" neural activity in some areas of the brain, as they made financial decisions. The study also discovered that a specific gene mutation boosted activity in these brain regions when people made impulsive choices.
Lead researcher Dr. Charlotte Boettiger, assistant professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says that this mutation is already known to reduce brain levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine.
"Our data suggest there may be a cognitive difference in people with addictions. Their brains may not fully process the long-term consequences of their choices. They may compute information less efficiently," said Boettiger, who led the study as a scientist at UCSF's Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center.
"What's exciting about this study is that it suggests a new approach to therapy. We might prescribe medications, such as those used to treat Parkinson's or early Alzheimer's disease, or tailor cognitive therapy to improve executive function," she added.
Dr. Howard Fields, the senior author of the study, said that the newly found link involving the gene, impulsive behaviour and brain activity suggests that raising dopamine levels may be an effective treatment for addiction.
"I am very excited about these results because of their clinical implications. The genetic findings raise the hopeful possibility that treatments aimed at raising dopamine levels could be effective treatments for some individuals with addictive disorders," Fields said.
During the study, the subjects were asked either to choose less money then and there or to get more money later. Their brain activity was scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), as the participants made their choices.
The researchers revealed that while decisions were being made, the imaging detected activity in the posterior parietal cortex, the dorsal prefrontal cortex, the anterior temporal lobe and the orbital frontal cortex.
They said that sober alcoholics tended to chose the "now" reward almost three times more often than the control group, reflecting more impulsive behaviour.
The authors noted that the imaging detected reduced activity in the orbital frontal cortex in the brains of subjects who preferred "now" over "later", most of whom had a history of alcoholism.
"Think of the orbital frontal cortex as the brakes. With the brakes on, people choose for the future. Without the brakes they choose for the short-term gain," Boettiger said.
The dorsal prefrontal cortex and the parietal cortex often form cooperative circuits, and the study found that high activity in both is associated with a bias toward choosing immediate rewards.
The study also showed that people with two copies of the mutation in a gene called COMT, which is associated with lower dopamine levels, had significantly higher frontal and parietal activity, and chose "now" over "later" significantly more often.
"We have a lot to learn. But the data takes a significant step toward being able to identify subtypes of alcoholics, which could help tailor treatments, and may provide earlier intervention for people who are at risk for developing addictions," Boettiger said.
source: Journal of Neuroscience
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Doctors say government needs to implement tougher alcohol laws
Leading doctors feel that measures to curb alcohol drinking through education have failed and that the government must adopt tougher laws to curb binge drinking in the country. Suggested measures include banning alcohol, increasing its price and barring its widespread distribution.
Dr Ian Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Physicians and Dr Nick Sheron, a liver specialist at Southampton University Hospital said that alcohol had become a major public health concern and attempts to change public behavior by encouraging quitting were not working.
"How many more lives will be damaged by alcohol in the UK before our governments decide to tackle the problem with measures that are likely to work?" the doctors asked in the Christmas edition of the British Medical Journal.
They added that the deaths linked to alcohol use were in fact more than those caused by a combination of breast cancer, cervical cancer and MRSA. In 2003 alcohol was lined to over 22,000 deaths and 150,000 hospital admissions.
"Between 780,000 and 1.3 million children are affected by their parents' use of alcohol - 30 to 60 per cent of child protection cases and 23 per cent of calls to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children about child abuse or child neglect involved drunken adults," they argued.
The doctors also said that the UK government would be benefitted by following the actions of erstwhile Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, whose alcohol policies saved an estimated 1.2 million lives.
source: Earth Times
Monday, December 10, 2007
Alcohol Deaths in Women
ALCOHOL-RELATED diseases are killing almost twice as many women as at the beginning of the 1990s, official figures to be published tomorrow will show.
In the 35-54 age group, about 14 women per 100,000 die from conditions such as liver failure and cirrhosis, well above the European average.
The report from the Office for National Statistics on health trends since the 1970s will also reveal just how badly “casual alcoholism” has hit the British population.
Thirty years ago death rates for men and women were about two per 100,000, the lowest in western Europe. The figure for men is now 18, although this is still less than the European average.
Ireland, France and Spain consume more alcohol per head than Britain, but deaths from alcohol-related diseases are far lower, suggesting that Britain’s problem is related to a culture of binge drinking and casual alcoholism.
The sharp upward trend since the early 1990s is attributed by experts to people having more spending money, drinks being cheaper since the introduction of the European single market, and pubs and off-licences staying open longer.
Gordon Brown has signalled that curbing alcohol abuse is one of his top priorities, and has ordered a review of the rules allowing 24-hour opening of pubs and drink shops.
He has also ordered the Home Office to prepare a preChristmas “blitz” on retailers who sell alcohol to drunks and underage drinkers.
Source:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2702913.ece
In the 35-54 age group, about 14 women per 100,000 die from conditions such as liver failure and cirrhosis, well above the European average.
The report from the Office for National Statistics on health trends since the 1970s will also reveal just how badly “casual alcoholism” has hit the British population.
Thirty years ago death rates for men and women were about two per 100,000, the lowest in western Europe. The figure for men is now 18, although this is still less than the European average.
Ireland, France and Spain consume more alcohol per head than Britain, but deaths from alcohol-related diseases are far lower, suggesting that Britain’s problem is related to a culture of binge drinking and casual alcoholism.
The sharp upward trend since the early 1990s is attributed by experts to people having more spending money, drinks being cheaper since the introduction of the European single market, and pubs and off-licences staying open longer.
Gordon Brown has signalled that curbing alcohol abuse is one of his top priorities, and has ordered a review of the rules allowing 24-hour opening of pubs and drink shops.
He has also ordered the Home Office to prepare a preChristmas “blitz” on retailers who sell alcohol to drunks and underage drinkers.
Source:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2702913.ece
Friday, December 7, 2007
Military at Increased Risk for Alcohol Abuse
Military service in a war zone increases service members' chances of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), other anxiety disorders, and depression, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Serving in a war also increases the chances of alcohol abuse, accidental death, and suicide within the first few years after leaving the war zone, and marital and family conflict, including domestic violence, said the committee that wrote the report at the request of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which asked for a comprehensive analysis of the scientific and medical evidence concerning associations between deployment-related stress and long-term, adverse effects on health.
Drug abuse, incarceration, unexplained illnesses, chronic fatigue syndrome, gastrointestinal symptoms, skin diseases, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain may also be associated with the stresses of being in a war, but the evidence to support these links is weaker. For other health problems and adverse effects that the committee reviewed, the data are lacking or contradictory; the committee could not determine whether links between these ailments and deployment-related stress exist.
Although the report cannot offer definitive answers about the connections between many health problems and the stresses of war, it is clear that veterans who were deployed to war zones self-report more medical conditions and poorer health than veterans who were not deployed. Those who were deployed and have PTSD in particular tend to report more symptoms and poorer health, the committee found. PTSD often occurs in conjunction with other anxiety disorders, depression, and substance abuse; its prevalence and severity is associated with increased exposure to combat.
A persistent obstacle to obtaining better evidence that would yield clearer answers is lack of pre- and post-deployment screenings of physical, mental, and emotional status. The U.S. Department of Defense should conduct comprehensive, standardized evaluations of service members' medical conditions, psychiatric symptoms and diagnoses, and psychosocial status and trauma history before and after they deploy to war zones. Such screenings would provide baseline data for comparisons and information to determine the long-term consequences of deployment-related stress. In addition, they would help identify at-risk personnel who might benefit from targeted intervention programs during deployment -- such as marital counseling or therapy for psychiatric or other disorders -- and help DOD and VA choose which intervention programs to implement for veterans adjusting to post-deployment life.
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