HEALTH
SATURDAY, JUNE 23, 2012
Drunk drivers show risky lifetime drinking habits ALBUQUERQUE: Many people convicted of drunk driving appear to have a lifelong struggle with risky drinking habits, and using their conviction as a way of getting them into treatment could have long-lasting benefits, according to a US study. In interviews with 700 adults with a drunk-driving conviction, researchers found that nearly half had either been drinking heavily for the long haul, or had fallen back into heavy drinking after trying to cut down for a time, according to their report in the journal Addiction. What’s more, between one-fifth and one-third of those chronically risky drinkers met the definitions for alcohol or drug dependence, or for mental health conditions like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. “A DWI (driving while intoxicated) conviction identifies people at risk,” said study leader Sandra Lapham, at
the Behavioral health Research Center of the Southwest in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “It’s a red flag, and an opportunity to intervene.” Some DWI offenders with drinking problems may not believe anything is wrong. Others may want help, but can’t pay for it, she added. Lapham’s team interviewed 696 New Mexico adults who’d been convicted of DWI about 15 years earlier, asking them about their lifetime drinking patterns. Women were considered “risky” drinkers if they habitually had more than seven drinks per week or four or more on any given day. For men, the limits were more than 14 drinks per week or five or more drinks a day. Overall, 13 percent of the participants had varying drinking patterns throughout their lives. Another 14 percent said they had managed to cut down from
heavy drinking to more moderate levels and keep it that way. And 21 percent said they’d become abstinent, after some period of risky drinking. But nearly half the group had ongoing struggles. Nineteen percent reported a “Lifetime” of risky drinking and one-quarter said they’d gone back to risky drinking after trying to quit or cut back. Those people, the study found, had high rates of alcohol or drug dependence as well as other mental health disorders, like depression. These are people who need “intensive treatment,” Lapham said and getting them into treatment at the time of a DWI conviction could have the bonus of protecting other drivers and pedestrians, since DWI offenders have a high risk of repeat offenses. “It’s a difficult problem with no easy answer,” Lapham added. — Reuters
Suicide rate ‘very high’ among well-educated young Indians
ALLAHABAD: An Indian village woman carries potted water as she walks with her child in Allahabad, India. Parts of North India continue to reel under intense heat wave conditions with maximum temperature of 45 degree Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit). —AP
No link seen between contraceptives and higher HIV risk ATLANTA: There is no clear link between the use of contraceptives such as the birth control pill or injections such as DepoProvera and an increased risk that a woman will contract HIV, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday. But the CDC also said it was “strongly” encouraging the use of condoms as a precaution against the virus that causes AIDS. Recent studies have suggested that the use of hormonal contraceptives could increase the risk of women contracting HIV. But after reviewing the studies, the Atlanta-based CDC said, “the evidence does not suggest” a link between oral contraceptives such as the birth control pill and increased HIV risk. For injectable forms of birth control the evidence is inconclusive, but in the absence of more definitive research it too is considered safe, CDC officials said. Women at risk for HIV infection or who already have the virus “can continue to use all hormonal contraceptive methods without restriction,” the CDC said. The World Health Organization reached a similar conclusion last February. “It’s hard to conclusively say whether or not there is an increased risk,” from hormonal contraceptives, Dr. Naomi Tepper, a CDC medical officer, said. — Reuters
PARIS: Young people in India, the engine of its rapidly expanding economy, are committing suicide at a much higher rate than in the West, researchers said yesterday, calling for urgent intervention. Suicide is the second-most common cause of death among young people in India, they wrote in the Lancet, and was set to overtake complications from pregnancy and childbirth as the lead cause among women aged 15 to 29. For men in the same age group, suicide claimed just slightly fewer lives than transport accidents in 2010. Urging further research into the causes behind the trend, the report said the suicide rate was highest among well-educated young people from India’s richer, southern states. “Young educated Indians from the richer states of India are killing themselves in numbers that are almost the highest in the world,” the report’s lead author Vikram Patel, a psychiatrist with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said. In the Western world, suicide is more common among older, poorer and lesser
educated people. While the study did not identify the causes, Patel said: “There can’t be any other explanation-it has to do something with social change, the rapidity of social change and its potential impact on educated young people.” Some 900,000 people around the world kill themselves every year, according to the World Health Organisation-about 13 out of every 100,000. Of the global total, nearly 190,000 suicides were believed to have occurred in India in 2010 — second only to China with an estimated 200,000 cases per year. India has a population of about 1.2 billion and China some 1.3 billion-together they account for more than a third of the world population of seven billion. Patel said the rate of suicide among women in India was three times higher than in high-income countries, but tapered off among women who were either divorced, widowed or separated from their husbands. “This is consistent with other research from India that marriage is also a risk factor for depression, which is of course the commonest mental illness associated with sui-
cide,” he said. “One can speculate, but obviously the most plausible explanation is that for many women marriage is not out of choice and they find themselves trapped in very difficult and stressful social circumstance and of course there is the huge issue of domestic violence.” Self-poisoning by pesticide is the method most often used, followed by hanging. “Public health interventions such as restrictions in access to pesticides might prevent many suicide deaths in India,” said the report, adding that most Indians did not have access to suicide prevention programmes or mental health care. The authors based their figures on India’s first national survey of causes of death conducted from 2001 and 2003, and United Nations projections. Suicide is a crime in India, complicating efforts to gather accurate statistics. Globally, suicide is the most common cause of death in female adolescents and the third in young men after road traffic accidents and violence, said the Lancet, in a special series on the topic. — AFP
Hot water, not urine, eases jellyfish stings SAN DIEGO: There’s a lot of folk remedies for treating a jellyfish sting, but science suggests that hot water and topical painkillers actually work the best - at least in North American waters. Popularly promoted remedies range from vinegar to meat tenderizer to baking soda mixed with water. In a pinch, the victim - or a very good friend - might try urinating on the sting. “Current research demonstrates variable response to treatment, often with conflicting results according to species studied, which contributes to considerable confusion about what treatment is warranted,” wrote Nicholas Ward, at the University of California, San Diego, in the Annals of Emergency Medicine. Though the American Heart Association and American Red Cross currently recommend using vinegar or a baking soda “slurry,” followed by heat or ice, those remedies are based mainly on studies done in Australia and Indonesia, he added in an email to Reuters Health. — Reuters
HYDERABAD: An Indian man stands in a cloud of dust as he operates a water borewell rig in Hyderabad yesterday. Digging of commercial borewells in residential areas is increasing rapidly to provide sufficient water supply to the residents of apartments. As per the Water Air Land and Trees Act, commercialization of borewell water is not allowed in residential areas or city limits. —- AFP