alcoholism

Women aren't just upping their drinking, researchers say. Increasingly they are "drinking to cope," instead of for pleasure — which accelerates the risk of alcohol use disorder and its health damage.

Some doctors are seeing a disturbing spike in lethal alcoholic liver disease, especially among young women. The recent trend has been supercharged, they say, by the pandemic's isolation and pressures.

The study compared drinking habits of adults age 30-80 with their habits a year earlier. The study found the increase is most pronounced among women, for whom days with heavy drinking spiked by 41%.

Americans are drinking far more during the COVID-19 pandemic. A beer in the evening can feel like a taste of normal life, but health experts worry about alcohol's deadly side effects.

Experts say a bit of extra drinking isn't a problem for many people, but they recommend watching out for specific behaviors that signal addiction.

Treatment for alcohol problems isn't a one-size-fits-all approach. The NIH has launched a navigator site that can help figure out the scope of the problem and find evidence-based treatment options.

Researchers tested more than 3,000 people at Munich's Oktoberfest beer festival. They found getting drunk was associated with abnormal heart rhythms.

Naltrexone was approved to treat alcohol disorders more than 20 years ago. But many doctors still don't know that when combined with counseling it can help people resist the urge to drink too much.