We don’t have accurate statistics on the numbers of children living with alcohol misusing parents. It’s estimated that 79,000 babies in England are living with a parent who is classified as a ‘problematic’ drinker (‘hazardous’ or ‘harmful’). The Office of the Children’s Commissioner has published a Rapid Evidence Assessment about the impact that alcohol misuse [read the full story…]
All postgraduate doctors across all specialties should be aware of this new consensus paper produced by a special working group of 13 medical Colleges and Faculties. The report presents the core competencies that all postgraduate specialist trainees should have in relation to managing drug and alcohol misuse. It’s well reported that substance misuse is a [read the full story…]
This well conducted prospective cohort study looks at the impact that cannabis use can have on the development of the brain over a 20 year period, from the teenage years to middle-age. The research studied 1,037 people from New Zealand who are part of the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development study, which followed participants from [read the full story…]
The NHS Information Centre have published their annual survey of secondary school pupils in England in years 7 to 11 (mostly aged 11 to 15). 6,519 pupils in 219 schools completed questionnaires in the autumn term of 2011. The survey report presents information on the percentage of pupils who have ever smoked, tried alcohol or [read the full story…]
Another week, another new type of publication from NICE. The local government public health briefings are aimed at local authorities and their partner organisations in the health and voluntary sectors, in particular those involved with health and wellbeing boards. Three briefings have been launched today on: Tobacco Physical activity Workplace health These briefings will be relevant [read the full story…]
Here’s one final substance misuse blog before the weekend, this time highlighting a new standard that’s been put together by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in partnership with DrugScope, Alcohol Concern and the Royal College of General Practitioners. Drug and alcohol misuse among young people is a major problem, although overall use is starting to decline. [read the full story…]
Substance misuse has been a bit of a theme on the Mental Elf this week and I’m continuing with that today, firstly with this piece from the Lifestyle Elf. Don’t forget, if you’re interested in healthy lifestyle issues (exercise, obesity, quitting smoking, alcohol, substance misuse), you should be following the excellent Lifestyle Elf blog. Earlier [read the full story…]
Prevention is better than cure, right? When it comes to preventing drug- and alcohol-misuse, children of substance-abusing parents are a really important group to work with, as they are at higher risk of developing their own subtance-related problems, or other mental health problems, than their peers from non-substance-using families. My cousin the Lifestyle Elf has highlighted a [read the full story…]
Psychiatrists, GPs and other professionals working in the substance misuse field will benefit from reading these new guidelines from the British Association for Psychopharmacology. The guidelines cover the pharmacological management of alcohol, nicotine, opioids, benzodiazepines, stimulants and associated comorbidity with mental health problems and substance use or abuse in pregnancy. They look specifically at comorbidity, [read the full story…]
The NHS Information Centre have published their annual series of reports about alcohol use and misuse. The reports cover a range of issues including drinking habits and behaviours among adults (aged 16 and over) and school children (aged 11 to 15), drinking-related ill health and mortality, affordability of alcohol, alcohol related admissions to hospital and alcohol-related [read the full story…]
