Active clinical trials for "Alcohol Drinking"

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of tolcapone on decision making and alcohol intake using a laboratory bar (on-site alcohol self-administration) in alcohol drinkers.

The purpose of this study is to expand understanding of the effects of cannabis on driving performance with and without the presence of low levels of alcohol. This project will involve the development a of a protocol and driving environment that is sensitive to the effects of cannabis on driving performance by building on prior driving situations used previously for testing the effects of alcohol on driving.

Background: - Brain inflammation due to high alcohol intake may affect thinking, memory, and concentration. Researchers want to measure this using positron emission tomography (PET). Objective: - To study how excessive alcohol consumption affects brain function. Eligibility: Adults 30-75 years old who are moderate or severe alcohol drinkers. Healthy volunteers. Design: Participants will be screened with medical history, physical exam, interview, and blood and urine tests. Their breath will be tested for alcohol and recent smoking. Phase 1: Participants will stay in the hospital 3 days. They will have blood and heart tests and daily urine tests. A small plastic tube will be inserted by needle in each arm. One will go in a vein, the other in an artery. Participants will have 2 PET scans with 2 different radioactive compounds. Participants will lie on a bed that slides in and out of the scanner with a cap on their head. Participants will have magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Participants will lie in the scanner either resting with their eyes open or while performing an attention task. Participants will have tests of memory, attention, concentration, and thinking. They may answer questions, take tests, and perform simple actions. Phase 2 of the study will only be done if Phase 1 results show brain inflammation. Phase 2 will repeat Phase 1. For healthy volunteers, Phase 2 will begin 3 weeks after Phase 1. Other volunteers must not have alcohol for at least 3 weeks and stay in a hospital up to 4-6 weeks between Phase 1 and Phase 2. After Phase 2, they will have 5 follow-up calls over 3 months.

This project is designed to compare college drinking interventions on outcomes and cost-effectiveness. We plan to recruit 700 students with residence hall alcohol violations to participate in a randomized study to evaluate 3 brief interventions: in-person brief motivational intervention, Alcohol 101plus (an interactive CD-ROM program), and AlcoholEdu (a Web-based tutorial). Participants will be followed over 12 months to determine changes in alcohol consumption and related problems. We will also explore which participants might respond better to one intervention vs the others.

Moderate alcohol consumption is associated with a decreased risk of type II diabetes mellitus. In a recent study of Greenfield et al. it was observed that moderate alcohol consumption significantly improved postprandial glucose concentrations. Similar observations were made in our previous study. One of the mechanisms by which this may occur is delayed gastric emptying after alcohol consumption.

Objective: To determine the immediate effects of oral alcohol consumption in healthy volunteers on gut wall integrity as measured by I-FABP and LBP. Study design: Randomized, single blinded cross over study. Study population: 15 healthy adult male human volunteers will be included in this study. Intervention: the consumption of alcoholic beverages (1 g/kg ethanol) of wine (12%) compared to the consumption of water. Main study parameters/endpoints: The aim of this study is to determine the immediate effects of oral alcohol consumption in healthy volunteers on gut wall integrity as measured by I-FABP and LBP. Nature and extent of the burden and risks associated with participation, benefit and group relatedness: Subjects consume 1g of alcohol per kg bodyweight. One blood sample of 14 ml followed by 6 samples of 8 ml will be drawn between 16.45 hours and 19:00 hours the day after. The first 6 observations take place in a single visit followed by one observation in short visit the next day. It is unlikely that subjects will experience any physical or psychological discomfort from the withdrawal of a total of 62 ml of blood in 24 hours or the consumption of the amounts alcohol or water mentioned above. The same protocol will be repeated one week after the first visit in which the alcohol group and water group are crossed over.

The primary aims of this study are to test the hypotheses that among alcohol abusing and dependent jailed women returning to the community, adding an Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) linkage intervention will result in less alcohol use at follow-up, increased AA attendance once released, and decreased HIV/STI sexual risk behavior. Additionally, this study seeks to test the hypotheses that increased AA attendance will mediate the effect of the AA linkage intervention on alcohol use and that percent days abstinent will mediate the effect of the intervention on HIV/STI sexual risk-taking outcomes.

Background: - Ghrelin is a hormone in the human body that is mostly produced by the stomach. It makes people feel hungry, and also is connected with the desire to drink alcohol. Researchers want to test ghrelin to see if it can be used to control alcohol cravings and use. They will compare doses of ghrelin with a placebo in people who drink heavily. Objectives: - To study the effects of ghrelin on alcohol craving and use. Eligibility: Individuals between 21 and 60 years of age who are heavy drinkers but are not seeking treatment for alcohol use. Participants must on average have more than 20 drinks per week for men, and more than 15 drinks per week for women. Design: Participants will have a screening visit, four 2-night study visits, and a follow-up visit. Participants will be screened with a physical exam and medical history. They will provide urine and breath samples for drug testing. They will also answer questions about mood and physical symptoms, and about alcohol and other cravings. At the study visits, participants will stay overnight at the National Institutes of Health clinical center. They will spend the night at the center, have tests on the next day, and go home on the following morning. At each visit, participants will receive a ghrelin or placebo infusion, and will complete a series of tasks. For the first and second study visits, participants will have tests of alcohol craving and use. They will be able to receive alcohol infusions through a computer program that tests response time and craving reactions. At the same time, they will have a ghrelin or a placebo infusion. Blood alcohol levels, reaction time, and craving will be studied. For the third and fourth study visits, participants will have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study. They will have an initial MRI to provide a picture of the brain. They will then have a functional MRI during which they will respond to a computer test. The test will allow them to win points for snack food or alcohol. This test will look at the brain s response time and craving reactions. There will be a follow-up visit 1 week after the fourth study visit. Some of the tests from the screening visit will be repeated.

Heavy episodic drinking (HED) among college students remains a concern within the U.S., as rates of HED are still high in this population. Though a variety of brief motivational interventions for alcohol use in college students have demonstrated significant effects, these effects are often small and not consistently maintained over time. Personalized feedback interventions (PFIs) are a particularly promising approach, as these are often acceptable to college students, as well as low-cost, and easy to disseminate. Though presentation of interperson discrepancy via descriptive and injunctive norms has shown consistent effects within PFIs and received much attention in the literature, intraperson, or ideal-actual self discrepancies, has largely been ignored. Drawing from cognitive dissonance theory, self-regulation theory, and motivational interviewing, the current study aims to evaluate the efficacy of an alcohol PFI with a values component to incorporate ideal-self discrepancy into a typical intervention.

Randomized pilot study of a device (smartphone app) that poses non-significant risk to participants and is exempt from Investigational Device Exemption regulations [21 Code of Federal Regulations 812.2(c)