Alcohol and nicotine addiction mostly occur together. Over the last ten years therapeutic aspects and motivational strategies have been considerably improved. Hence, groups and subgroups have been defined and can be treated with specific medication and tailor-made psychotherapies, leading in the long term to considerably better and more effective results than the once broadly applied, rigorous abstinence -based therapies. However, alcohol and nicotine addiction still represent major medical and social problems. In this book, new therapeutic approaches are comprehensively described, outlining the different interactions between personality, environment and the effects of the substance. In addition to prevention-based therapies and diagnosis, essential psychological and sociological strategies, as well as medication-based therapies, are also presented in detail. All of these therapies have realistic aims and are of global validity. In addition, the book provides a broad overview of the American and European epidemiology of alcohol and nicotine addictions. The book is written for all those who care for and offer professional therapy for alcohol and nicotine-addicted patients.

This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.

Every year, the harmful use of alcohol kills 2.5 million people, including 320,000 young people between 15 and 29 years of age. It is the eighth leading risk factor for deaths globally, and harmful use of alcohol was responsible for almost 4% of all deaths in the world, according to the estimates for 2004. In addition to the resolution, a global strategy developed by WHO in close collaboration with Member States provides a portfolio of policy options and interventions for implementation at the national level with the goal to reduce the harmful use of alcohol worldwide. Ten recommended target areas for policy options include health services' responses, community action, pricing policies and reducing the public health impact of illicit alcohol and informally produced alcohol. WHO was also requested to support countries in implementing the strategy and monitor progress at global, regional and national levels.

The health and economic costs of tobacco use in military and veteran populations are high. In 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) requested that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) make recommendations on how to reduce tobacco initiation and encourage cessation in both military and veteran populations. In its 2009 report, Combating Tobacco in Military and Veteran Populations, the authoring committee concludes that to prevent tobacco initiation and encourage cessation, both DoD and VA should implement comprehensive tobacco-control programs.

Alcohol is a killerâ€"1 of every 13 deaths in the United States is alcohol-related. In addition, 5 percent of the population consumes 50 percent of the alcohol. The authors take a close look at the problem in a "classy little study," as The Washington Post called this book. The Library Journal states, "...[T]his is one book that addresses solutions....And it's enjoyably readable....This is an excellent review for anyone in the alcoholism prevention business, and good background reading for the interested layperson." The Washington Post agrees: the book "...likely will wind up on the bookshelves of counselors, politicians, judges, medical professionals, and law enforcement officials throughout the country."

Adolescents undergo rapid physical, psychological and social developmental changes that result in management challenges, communication issues, patterns of disease and symptom presentations that are different from children or adults. This can be challenging for health professionals, who rarely have had specific training in dealing with the young people they meet in their clinical work. This ABC covers topics surrounding adolescent development, sexual behaviour and substance misuse, along with education and preventative strategies. It also features other adolescent health problems such as self-harm, eating disorders and psychosomatic presentations. This book is a valuable resource for all those who deal with adolescent patients in primary care, emergency departments, and hospital and outpatient settings.

Although drinking, smoking and obesity have attracted social and moral condemnation to varying degrees for more than two hundred years, over the past few decades they have come under intense attack from the field of public health as an 'unholy trinity' of lifestyle behaviours with apparently devastating medical, social and economic consequences. Indeed, we appear to be in the midst of an important historical moment in which policies and practices that would have been unthinkable a decade ago (e.g., outdoor smoking bans, incarcerating pregnant women for drinking alcohol, and prohibiting restaurants from serving food to fat people), have become acceptable responses to the 'risks' that alcohol, tobacco and obesity are perceived to pose. Hailing from Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the USA, and drawing on examples from all four countries, contributors interrogate the ways in which alcohol, tobacco and fat have come to be constructed as 'problems' requiring intervention and expose the social, cultural and political roots of the current public health obsession with lifestyle. No prior collection has set out to provide an in-depth examination of alcohol, tobacco and obesity through the comparative approach taken in this volume. This book therefore represents an invaluable and timely contribution to critical studies of public health, health inequities, health policy, and the sociology of risk more broadly.

What drug provides Americans with the greatest pleasure and the greatest pain? The answer, hands down, is alcohol. The pain comes not only from drunk driving and lost lives but also addiction, family strife, crime, violence, poor health, and squandered human potential. Young and old, drinkers and abstainers alike, all are affected. Every American is paying for alcohol abuse. Paying the Tab, the first comprehensive analysis of this complex policy issue, calls for broadening our approach to curbing destructive drinking. Over the last few decades, efforts to reduce the societal costs--curbing youth drinking and cracking down on drunk driving--have been somewhat effective, but woefully incomplete. In fact, American policymakers have ignored the influence of the supply side of the equation. Beer and liquor are far cheaper and more readily available today than in the 1950s and 1960s. Philip Cook's well-researched and engaging account chronicles the history of our attempts to "legislate morality," the overlooked lessons from Prohibition, and the rise of Alcoholics Anonymous. He provides a thorough account of the scientific evidence that has accumulated over the last twenty-five years of economic and public-health research, which demonstrates that higher alcohol excise taxes and other supply restrictions are effective and underutilized policy tools that can cut abuse while preserving the pleasures of moderate consumption. Paying the Tab makes a powerful case for a policy course correction. Alcohol is too cheap, and it's costing all of us.

This booklet for schools, medical personnel, and parents contains highlights from the 2012 Surgeon General's report on tobacco use among youth and teens (ages 12 through 17) and young adults (ages 18 through 25). The report details the causes and the consequences of tobacco use among youth and young adults by focusing on the social, environmental, advertising, and marketing influences that encourage youth and young adults to initiate and sustain tobacco use. This is the first time tobacco data on young adults as a discrete population have been explored in detail. The report also highlights successful strategies to prevent young people from using tobacco.