It will come as no surprise that drinking lots of alcohol often goes hand-in-hand with bad decision making. But up until now, scientists had yet to come up with a direct cause and effect relationship regarding alcohol and unprotected sex.

In the January issue of the journal Addiction, a new study reports that researchers in Canada conducted 12 experiments to test the theory. The results–yes, rather obvious–confirmed that drinking alcohol affects decision-making, and the more alcohol one drinks, the more impaired the decision making. As the results show, for every 0.1mg/mL increase in blood alcohol level, study participants were 5 percent more likely to engage in unsafe sex.

While the findings may not seem overly newsworthy, they do confirm the direct connection between alcohol and sexually transmitted diseases. The study’s conclusion states that  ”alcohol use is an independent risk factor for intentions to engage in unprotected sex, and as risky sex intentions have been shown to be linked to actual risk behavior, the role of alcohol consumption in the transmission of HIV and other STIs may be of public health importance.”

“Drinking has a causal effect on the likelihood to engage in unsafe sex, and thus should be included as a major factor in preventive efforts for HIV,” said principal investigator Juergen Rehm of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, in a statement. “This result also helps explain why people at risk often show this behavior despite better knowledge: alcohol is influencing their decision processes.”

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On November 1, the Journal of the American Medical Association (AMA) released a new study, “Alcohol Consumption Over a Woman’s Lifetime Associated with Risk of Breast Cancer.” The study looked at the cumulative effect of low to moderate alcohol consumption among more than 100,000 women, ages 30 to 55, who were followed for 28 years.

In its aftermath, the study results were all over the press with headlines causing a frenzy among women who consume only a couple of glasses of a wine a week. They read:

“Women who drink three to six glasses of alcohol per week have a 15 percent higher risk of getting breast cancer than women who do not drink”

“A Few Drinks a Week Raises Breast Cancer Risk”

“Women: Even a Little Alcohol Ups Breast Cancer Risk, Research Finds”

“Even Small Amount of Alcohol Increases Risk of Breast Cancer”

Although the headlines are not inaccurate, they may be provoking unnecessary alarm. Ten days after the study results were released, the AARP posted an article titled: “Alcohol and Breast Cancer Link: Is Wine Really Bad for Women?” With a subtitle that reads, “The Risk May Not Be As Bad As You Think–or Fear,” the article calls on readers to take a closer look at the study’s statistics before adopting a lifestyle akin to the days of Prohibition.

Taking a different angle than prior research, this new AMA study looked at the cumulative effect of consuming low to moderate amounts of alcohol. Previous studies linking alcohol and breast cancer risk focused mainly on binge or heavy drinking.

The researchers found that those who drank as few as three to six alcoholic drinks a week during those years had a 15 percent increased risk of breast cancer, compared with those who didn’t drink. And women who regularly drank two or more drinks a day had a 51 percent higher risk than women who never drank.

As the AARP piece explains, “Those numbers — 15 percent increase and 51 percent increase — sound high until you do the math. The average woman’s risk of getting breast cancer in her lifetime is one in eight, or 12 percent. A 15 percent increase over that means her lifetime risk rises to 13.8 percent. For a woman age 50 to 59, whose risk of getting breast cancer while in her 50s is one in 42 or 2.4 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute, her risk rises to 2.76 percent,” the article continues.

So in other words, as Steven A. Narod, M.D., director of familial breast cancer research at the Women’s College Research Institute in Toronto, further clarified in an editorial accompanying the study, for women who had one drink per day, “their 10-year risk increased by 0.7 percent (from 2.8 percent to 3.5 percent).”

Although the risk is real and women need to weigh the risks and benefits of drinking, the ensuing panic may be premature. As reported by the AARP, the study’s authors pointed out in their conclusion: “We did find increased risk at low levels of [alcohol consumption], but the risk was quite small.”

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A new study published in the June 24 edition of The Journal of the National Cancer Institute revealed that lifestyle changes, such as drinking less alcohol, weight loss, and increased amounts of exercise, could lead to a considerable reduction in breast cancer cases across an entire population, according to a new model that estimates the influence of these variable risk factors.

Often times, breast cancer risk is based on elements that can’t be modified, such as family history. And until now, there have been no models based on ways women can impact their breast cancer risk through lifestyle adjustments.

The findings provide “extremely important information relevant to counseling women on how much risk reduction they can expect by changing behaviors, and also highlights the basic public health concept that small changes in individual risk can translate into a meaningful reduction in disease in a large population,” wrote Dr. Kathy J. Helzlsouer, of Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, a journal news release.

Using data from an Italian study that included more than 5,000 women, the U.S. National Cancer Institute researchers created the model that included three modifiable risk factors (alcohol consumption, physical activity and body mass index) and five risk factors that are difficult or impossible to modify (family history, education, job activity, reproductive characteristics, and biopsy history).

Benchmarks for some lifestyle factors included getting at least 2 hours of exercise a week (for women 30-39) and having a body mass index (BMI) under 25 (in women 50 and older).

The  authors of the study noted that the predicted changes in lifestyle to achieve significant  changes — such as former and current drinkers becoming non-drinkers — might be overly optimistic.

But the findings, say researchers, may help in designing programs meant to encourage women to make lifestyle changes. For example, a 1.6 percent absolute risk reduction in a general population of one million women amounts to 16,000 fewer cases of cancer.

For information about breast cancer risk, go to the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

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The latest estimates to come out of a survey conducted by the Centers of Disease Control reveal that binge drinking–defined as four or more alcoholic drinks per occasion for women and five or more for men–is highest in wealthier adults (with annual household incomes of $75,000 or more) and among high school students. About 33 million Americans are binge drinkers. Most are not alcoholics.

In an NPR.org piece on these latest findings, Scott Hensley writes, “Now, it’s probably obvious that binge drinking isn’t so good for your health. In the short run drinking like that contributes to accidents and sexual transmission of disease. Keep it up, and there’s liver damage and a higher risk for heart disease and stroke.”

Naturally, these numbers are not to be taken lightly. According to the CDC, binge drinking was the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States and it annually accounted for, on average, approximately 79,000 deaths per year during 2001 and 2005.

The problem, though bad, isn’t much worse than it’s been in recent years. In 1993, the CDC says, about 14 percent of adults had gone on drinking binges. But as Dr. Thomas Frieden, head of the CDC put it, “Because binge drinking is not recognized as a problem, it has not decreased in 15 years.”

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Hot milk? Maybe. Glass of red wine? Don’t think so…

In an effort to study what foods and/or drinks may help induce slumber, Michael Grandner, a sleep researcher at the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Sleep and Respiratory Neurobiology, tracked the diets and sleep habits of 459 women enrolled in the federal government’s 15-year Women’s Health Initiative.

The findings of Grandner’s recent research, recently published in the journal Sleep Medicine, found that fat was the main nutrient (out of dozens tracked) associated with getting less sleep. “The more fat you ate, the less you slept,” he says.

“The bad news for people trying to talk about food and sleep is that . . . generally it’s hard to find foods that help with sleep,” says Grandner. “The easier question is what are the things to avoid?”

Among the things on the don’t-drink (or eat) list—along with caffeine and spicy foods—was alcohol. Although a nightcap might help you fall asleep, Christine Gerbstadt, a medical doctor, registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, explains that “Alcohol does disrupt the sleep cycle. It delays the onset of and shortens REM sleep, which is the restful sleep you need every night.”

Both red and white wine contain melatonin, Gerbstadt says, but that hormone’s sleep-inducing properties are offset by the alcohol’s interference with REM sleep. Still, She says, you might benefit from eating red grapes with the skin on to get a little boost of melatonin.

Milk, herbal tea and other comforting remedies help “not by making you sleepy, but by making you more relaxed,” wrote Grandner. “When it comes to calming foods, there are a number that may have calming effects, but honestly the evidence suggests that it is mostly placebo.”

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Recent research published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that, like red wine, a little bit of champagne or sparkling wine a day could be good for your heart. This research comes just in the nick of time as sales of champagne have been continually declining, particularly in the United States.

Polyphenols found in red wine help the heart by slowing down the removal of nitric oxide from the blood, which lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of heart problems and strokes. Similarly, elevated levels of nitric oxide found in champagne cause blood vessels to dilate, and has the same effect as red wine.

And while we’re on the subject…

Madame Jacques Bollinger, otherwise known as “Aunt Lily,” took over Champagne Bollinger when her husband, Jacques, died in 1941. It was war time and, with no gasoline to fill the trucks and tractors, Lily took to her bicycle to tour and manage the vineyards, personally supervising every aspect of the business.

 Her most lasting legacy, aside from the bubbly we drink today, is her famous quote about champagne, published  in London’s Daily Mail, October 17, 1961:

“I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad.
 Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone.
When I have company I consider it obligatory. 
I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and I drink it when I am.
 Otherwise I never touch it, unless I’m thirsty.”

A la vôtre…

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Here’s a toast to the city that never sleeps and to New Yorkers, who are living longer than before. But wait! Maybe you should fill that glass with sparkling cider instead of wine…

According to a study released this week by New York City’s Department of Health (reported via DNA Info Beta: Manhattan Local News), although New Yorkers are living an average of 5 months longer than in previous years, (Women born in 2007 can expect to live to 82; men to 76.3) the city seems to have a drinking problem. Is it any wonder, with the smorgasbord of open-all-night bars and clubs? Dancing and having fun extend your life, but then there’s the drinking and drugging that go along with all that fun. Hmmm.

The good news? Deaths from heart disease and cancer are dropping.

The bad news? Drug overdoses and alcohol-related diseases, such as liver disease, as well as violence and unintentional injuries, were still among the leading causes of premature deaths for New Yorkers, according to the report.

The Bloomberg administration took some credit for the lowering of heart disease, citing the city’s ban on smoking and transfats. But what are they going to do about the little drinking problem? Close the bars? Raise the price of alcohol or even–gulp–restore Prohibition. Yikes!

According to a study published in a recent issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, women who drink a glass or two of red wine may experience greater sexual desire, lubrication, and overall sexual function.

According to the study’s authors, members of the departments of Urology and Public Health at the University of Florence in Italy, the results help give a clearer picture on the female sexual response cycle.

The study, supposedly the first of its kind, examined red wine intake and the sexual function of 800 women between the ages of 18 and 50, none of whom had ever reported a sexual health problem. The women were divided into three groups–one group drank one or two glasses, another group drank less than one glass and a third group didn’t drink at all. Those drinking more than two glasses of wine were excluded from the study.

The participants answered a questionnaire called the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), a questionnaire used by doctors to assess sexual health in women. The results revealed that the levels of sexual desire were higher in women who were moderate drinkers of red wine than in their counterparts who preferred other alcoholic drinks, or were teetotal.

Typically, medical studies on sexual health focus on men and dysfunction, so this was a welcome change. “Historically, the aspects of wine and sexuality have been well known since the time of Ancient Greece,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Nicola Mondaini, who was quoted in an article in the Wine Spectator and is publishing a book on the subject next month, titled Vino e Eros. “But the field of female sexual dysfunction is still highly unexplored.”

The researchers’ conclusion stated that “While this finding needs to be interpreted with some caution, because of the small sample size, self-reported data, and the lack of support from laboratory exams, it nevertheless suggests a potential relationship between red wine consumption and better sexuality.”

Any chance you’ll be testing this on your own?

Just in time for the holiday season, so full of liquid temptations: a new drug called naltrexone was approved by the FDA for use in the treatment of alcoholism. If taken daily, naltrexone can curb the urge to drink. The drug works by blocking the effect of drugs, known as opioids, on the brain. While it is not meant to take the place of AA, psychotherapy and other treatments for alcoholism, naltrexone–which is generally used for a 3 month period–can lessen cravings for alcohol. In clinical trials, patients using naltrexone to curb cravings were twice as successful as patients taking a placebo.

Time Magazine named Naltrexone as one of the health highlights of 2009. And given the statistics on alcoholism–in the U.S. alone, 14 million residents are battling an alcohol addiction–naltrexone will most likely be welcomed as a powerful weapon in the battle against this tough disease.