A new paradigm for addictions.

Aim: To suggest a new paradigm for addictions.

Methods: Consideration of relevant research findings and thought experiments.

Results: Common mental motors leading to addictions are pleasure-seeking and hyperbolic discounting.

Population Alcohol Consumption as a Predictor of Alcohol-Specific Deaths: A Time-Series Analysis of Aggregate Data.

Aims: The study examines whether the number of alcohol-specific deaths can be predicted by population total and/or beverage-specific alcohol consumption and if, how precisely. The data are annual series of spirits, wine, beer and total consumption and alcohol-specific deaths in Finland in the years 1969-2015.

Methods: We specify a Auto Regressive Distributed Lags model with cointegrated variables, to be used in prediction.

Does the Tail Wag the Dog? Abstainers, Alcohol Dependence, Heavy Episodic Drinkers and Total Alcohol Consumption.

Aims: To study total alcohol consumption and its correlates, with an emphasis on the direction of causality.

Methods: The associations among total alcohol consumption, abstaining, alcohol dependence (AD) and heavy episodic drinking were compared in 29 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in 2010.

Results: Either total alcohol consumption is determined by the number of abstainers and that of alcohol dependents, or the number of alcohol dependents is determined by total alcohol consumption.

The Weakness of Stern Alcohol Control Policies.

Aims: To test the total consumption model claiming that alcohol-related ill health can best be diminished by a policy of severe restrictions and high price.

Methods: The associations between an index measuring the severity of the alcohol policy, total alcohol consumption and number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost due to alcohol were compared in 30 OECD countries in 2005.

Results: No significant correlations were found between alcohol policy index, alcohol consumption and the number of DALYs due to alcohol use.

Cause and manner of death and phase of the blood alcohol curve.

In a large number of forensic autopsies (N = 28,184) the concentrations of ethanol in femoral blood and bladder urine were determined and the urine-to-blood concentration ratios of ethanol were calculated. Based on the differences in ethanol concentration between urine and blood, the deaths were classified as having occurred during the absorptive, the peak or the post-absorptive phase of the blood–alcohol curve. Most people died in the post-absorptive phase, N = 24,223 (86%), whereas 1538 individuals (5.

Subjective measures of binge drinking and alcohol-specific adverse health outcomes: a prospective cohort study.

Aim: To determine the performance of subjectively defined intoxications, hangovers and alcohol-induced pass-outs in identifying drinkers at risk for adverse health outcomes.

Design: Prospective population-based cohort study.

Setting: Working-aged Finnish general population.

Under-recording of ethanol intoxication and poisoning in cause-of-death data: causes and consequences.

In the present study we examined how consistently and completely the role of acute alcohol (ethanol) intake as a cause of death is reported on death certificates, how complete and specific the statistical recording of cause-of-death data on acute alcohol-induced deaths is, and how the information ultimately appears in the national mortality statistics. Data on all alcohol-positive deaths with blood alcohol concentration of ≥ 0.5‰ (g/kg) in Finland in 2005 (N = 2348) were reviewed.

Risk factors for alcohol-specific hospitalizations and deaths: prospective cohort study.

Aims: To study the risk factors for hospitalizations and deaths due to alcohol-specific diagnoses.

Methods: Representative samples of men (n = 4431) aged 15-69 at the baseline interviews in September 1969, 1976 and 1984 were pooled. Follow-up was 16.

Alcohol consumption and all-cause mortality among elderly in Finland.

Aims: To estimate the gender-specific prevalences of alcohol consumption levels and to investigate the association between heavy drinking and all-cause mortality among elderly males.

Design: A cohort derived from a nationally representative sample of Finns aged >65 years was followed for six years. Number of subjects was 1569 (72.

Binge drinking and depressive symptoms: a 5-year population-based cohort study.

Background: Only few prospective population studies have been able so far to investigate depression and drinking patterns in detail. Therefore, little is known about what aspect of alcohol consumption best predicts symptoms of depression in the general population.

Participants And Design: In this prospective population-based two-wave cohort study, a cohort of alcohol-drinking men and women (n = 15 926) were followed-up after 5 years.

Increased stroke risk is related to a binge-drinking habit.

Background And Purpose: Heavy alcohol consumption increases the risk for all strokes, whereas moderate regular alcohol consumption is associated with a lower risk for ischemic stroke. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different drinking patterns on stroke risk, independent of average alcohol intake.

Methods: A prospective cohort study of 15 965 Finnish men and women age 25 to 64 years who participated in a national risk factor survey and had no history of stroke at baseline were followed up for a 10-year period.

Hazardous drinking: prevalence and associations in the Finnish general population.

Background: Hazardous drinking, defined as consuming alcohol on a risky level and not meeting the diagnostic criteria of alcohol use disorders (AUDs), has been suggested for a new complementary nondependence diagnosis. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associations of hazardous drinking in comparison to AUDs, moderate drinking, and abstinence.

Methods: A national representative sample of Finns was examined in the Health 2000 Survey.

What predicts illicit drug use versus police-registered drug offending? Findings from the Finnish "From a Boy to a Man" birth cohort study.

Aims: To study whether drug offenders differ in childhood and in early adulthood from those who only report using illicit drugs.

Design: Prospective nationwide birth cohort study. Baseline survey in 1989, follow-up data collection from self-reports, police and military registers in late adolescence and early adulthood.

Childhood and current determinants of heavy drinking in early adulthood.

Aims: To explore the association of parental education, childhood living conditions and several adversities with heavy drinking in early adulthood, and to analyze the effect of the respondent's current circumstances on these associations.

Method: The analyses were conducted in a sample of 1234 adults aged 18-29 years participating in the Finnish Health 2000 Survey (65% of the original representative two-stage cluster sample, N = 1894). The outcome measure was heavy drinking measured by g/week for pure alcohol (for men >or=280 g/week and for women >or=140 g/week).

Alcohol consumption, abstaining, health utility, and quality of life--a general population survey in Finland.

Aims: To examine the associations between alcohol consumption and utility-based health-related quality of life (HRQoL), subjective quality of life (QoL), self-rated health (SRH), and mental distress.

Methods: Representative general population survey in Finland, with 5871 persons aged 30-64 years. HRQoL was measured with two health utility instruments (15D and EQ-5D), QoL and SRH were measured with RATING scales, and mental distress with a General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12).

Magnesium treatment in alcoholics: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: Magnesium (Mg) deficiency is common among alcoholics. Earlier research suggests that Mg treatment may help to normalize elevated enzyme activities and some other clinically relevant parameters among alcoholics but the evidence is weak.

Methods: The effect of Mg was studied in a randomized, parallel group, double-blind trial.