Trials of Ventilation Assisted Substance Elimination Via the Lung - Ethanol (VASEL - Ethanol)
Alcohol IntoxicationThis prospective, randomized control trial will use passive, isocapnic hyperventilation, applied via the ClearMateTM device (Thornhill Medical, Inc) versus controls receiving standard of care supportive management for severe alcohol intoxication to assess for enhanced ethanol elimination kinetics.
Manipulation of Breath Alcohol Tests: Can Specific Techniques Alter Blood Alcohol Concentration...
Alcohol Concentration ValuesAlcohol IntoxicationThis is a prospective cohort study. The investigators will enroll 50 healthy volunteers. In a safe environment and after signing informed consent, each participant will consume a standardized alcoholic beverage. Using a Breathalyzer, the subjects BAT will be measured. If the subject's BAT is less than 0.10 +/- 0.005, the subject will drink another alcoholic beverage. This process will continue until the subject's BAT is 0.10 +/- 0.005. The number of alcoholic beverages the subject consumes will be monitored by the observers. When the target BAT is reached, the subjects will manipulate the breathalyzer in various ways and measure their BAT again after each manipulation. In a set order, the subjects will manipulate the breathalyzer by using less than the subject's maximal exhalation effort, placing the breathalyzer at the side of the subject's mouth, hyperventilating (10 rapidly (less than 1 second) and successive breaths prior to using the device), repeating breathalyzer 5 minutes and 10 minutes after hyperventilation and then drinking cold water after the breathalyzer at 10 minutes and repeating the breathalyzer after drinking some cold water. Descriptive statistical analyses as well as Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient will be employed to determine if any statistically significant correlation exists for any of the manipulations.
Evaluating Perceived Fitness to Drive While Intoxicated
Alcohol DrinkingAlcohol Intoxication6 moreThe goal of this study is to conduct a laboratory-based pilot randomized control trial of smartphone-enabled breath alcohol monitoring on perceived fitness to drive a vehicle among intoxicated adults. The study team will enroll up to 30 adults aged > 21-44 who are frequent drinkers without dependence who drive more than four times per week to complete a standardized alcohol drinking protocol in a monitored setting collecting breathalyzer measurements. The protocol involves consuming three weight-based doses of alcohol with a target BAC of 0.10 and completing breathalyzer measurements every 20 minutes until a BAC of 0.03 is reached. The control group will complete a visual analog scale on their perceived fitness to drive and be blinded to their breath alcohol readings with the BACtrack Mobile Pro breathalyzer device, while the intervention group would do the same, but be shown their breath alcohol readings on the paired BACtrack smartphone application. The research team's previous research has validated the accuracy of the BACtrack Mobile Pro device to measure BAC within +/- 0.001 of police-grade breathalyzer and estimate BAC within +/- 0.01 of a blood test.
Accuracy of Self-estimation of Blood Alcohol Concentration Compared to Object Values
Alcohol IntoxicationThis will be a prospective survey study. The participants will all be volunteers of legal drinking age. Each participant will consume one alcoholic beverage (beer) at a time and then will be asked to verbally estimate their current blood alcohol concentration and if the subject feels they are able to drive. At that time, their BAC level will be measured objectively using a breath alcohol test (BAT) device. The participant will not be told their objective value. This will continue with a verbal estimate and actual BAT reading after every drink until the participant reaches a minimum BAC of 0.10. At this time, participants will continue to be monitored until their BAC falls to 0.08 and they are clinically sober. As their blood alcohol level decreases, the investigators will ask the participant to estimate their level every hour along with an actual reading until reaching 0.08. Statistical analyses will be used to determine how accurate self estimation is in regards to blood alcohol content.
Risk and Protective Factors of Children and Adolescents Who Were Hospitalized Due to Alcohol Intoxication...
Alcohol Use DisordersThe aim of the study is to improve the prognosis of the development of alcohol consumption by considering a variety of biological, psychological and social risk and protective factors. Therefore, young people who have been hospitalized due to acute alcohol intoxication within the past 5 to 12 years will be interviewed in order to assess aspects of healthy or impaired psychosocial development. The study will also include a control group of young adults who were in hospital due to other medical conditions. The identification of relevant cases will be based on medical records of several children's hospitals. These records will be analysed with regard to potential predictors of developmental hazards and protective factors.
Breathalyzer Validation Study
Alcohol DrinkingAlcohol IntoxicationThe proposed project will test three commercial cellphone breathalyzers against a police grade breathalyzer device.The study will test the accuracy of these smartphone breathalyzers at assessing Breath Alcohol Content (BrAC) against a standard police grade breathalyzer. This study aims to fill the knowledge gap by determining the validity of smartphone paired breathalyzer devices to accurately assess BrAC. Data collection includes collection of BrAC measurements, as well as survey data.
Alcohol Myopia, Objectification, and Sexual Assault
Alcoholic IntoxicationThe present project integrates previous research on factors associated with alcohol-involved sexual assault, with research on how intoxication alters attention and social perceptions in ways that increase the risk of sexual aggression and victimization. Specifically, this project examines whether alcohol intoxication on the part of a male perpetrator impairs attentional capacity and leads to a narrowing of the perceptual field causing a dehumanizing perspective of women as sexual objects for men's pleasure rather than individuals with thoughts and feelings, thereby increasing the propensity for sexual aggression. The present research also examines whether women's responses to this sexual objectification from men interfere with risk perception in sexual situations, particularly when women are drinking, increasing the likelihood of sexual victimization.
Evaluating the Efficacy of a Brief Online Intervention Among Current Heavy Drinkers
Alcohol ConsumptionUnhealthy alcohol consumption is common in the UK and causes tremendous harm to the individual, as well as harm to others. A significant gap in providing alcohol support is that most people with unhealthy alcohol consumption will never receive advice to cut down on their drinking. However, many are interested in self-directed interventions to help them evaluate their drinking and to motivate reductions in alcohol use. One such promising intervention uses online personalised normative feedback (PNF) which compares a person's drinking with others in the general population of the same age and sex. PNF interventions are thought to work because many people with unhealthy alcohol consumption overestimate how much others drink. Multiple trials have demonstrated that providing PNF to people with unhealthy consumption reduces their alcohol use . While several UK websites do provide feedback on assessment of risk (e.g., Down Your Drink introductory section, Alcohol Change UK), there appears to be no online intervention that provides PNF for unhealthy alcohol consumption. The major objective of this pilot project is to conduct a two-arm, parallel group randomised controlled trial (RCT) in which 1,318 participants recruited from the Prolific website who have identified themselves as drinking 14 or more units per week are randomly assigned to one of two groups - a) those who are offered a PNF report, and b) those in a no intervention comparator group. Participants in the comparator group will not be provided any intervention materials but will instead be given a list of the different components of the PNF feedback and will be asked to think about how useful they would find each of them. Follow-up assessment will occur at 1 and 6 months post-randomisation. The project is described as a pilot because it is a preliminary evaluation of the PNF intervention in a UK context.
Development of LabPatch-alcohol as a Noninvasive Skin Patch to Detect Blood Alcohol Concentrations...
Alcohol IntoxicationThis study is designed to test LabPatch-alcohol, a wearable, non-invasive biosensor Band-Aid like patch that is designed to detect real-time changes in interstitial alcohol concentrations in human subjects. The changes in interstitial alcohol concentrations will be compared to blood alcohol concentrations to determine the patch's validity against the gold standard.
Neurosteroids and Acute Alcohol Intoxication in Humans
Alcohol Intoxication1. The major aims are to assess: (1) the relationship of basal and alcohol-induced neurosteroid and GABA levels to the degree of acute alcohol intoxication in healthy male and female volunteers; and (2) the effect of acute pregnenolone administration on the degree of acute alcohol intoxication in these same volunteers. Specific hypotheses are: Baseline serum levels of pregnenolone, pregnenolone sulfate (PS), dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and DHEA sulfate (DHEA-S) will be inversely correlated with the magnitude of acute behavioral responses to alcohol (sedation, anxiolysis, amnesia, psychomotor impairment and intoxication). That is, higher baseline levels of these neurosteroids will be associated with lessened behavioral responses to alcohol. Baseline serum levels of allopregnanolone, tetrahydrodeoxycorticosterone (THDOC), androstanediol, androsterone and GABA will be directly correlated with the magnitude of acute behavioral responses to alcohol. That is, higher baseline levels of these substances will be associated with heightened behavioral responses to alcohol. Acute alcohol ingestion, compared to placebo ingestion, will increase serum levels of allopregnanolone and THDOC and plasma levels of GABA and will decrease plasma levels of PS. (Effects on levels of other neurosteroids are not specifically predicted based on animal data but will be examined in an exploratory manner.) Acute alcohol-induced increases in serum levels of allopregnanolone and THDOC and in plasma levels of GABA will be directly correlated with the magnitude of acute behavioral responses to alcohol. Acute alcohol-induced decreases in serum levels of PS will be directly correlated with the magnitude of acute behavioral responses to alcohol. Correlations between alcohol-induced changes in other neurosteroids and changes in behavior are not specifically predicted but will be examined in an exploratory manner. Pregnenolone, compared to placebo, pre-treatment will antagonize the acute effects of alcohol on the behavioral measures.