Ten million people in the US can attest to the fact that the waning hours of sunlight in winter can provoke a dip in mood that may progress to full-fledged depression. Now a research team at Baker Heart Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, has provided experimental evidence to support the long-suspected [...]
1. Alcohol withdrawal is a complex syndrome that ranges from anxiety, insomnia to delirium tremens. Common treatment is the application of sedative medication. Exposure to bright light in the daytime should advance the normal sleep/wake cycle and moreover it should improve the availability of man's adaptive behavior during alcohol withdrawal. 2. [...]
Sunlight is an essential nutrient of life on this planet. Unfortunately there are myriad ways in which we separate ourselves from natural light – buildings, tinted windows, sunglasses, and sunscreen, to name a few. We have only a fraction of the exposure to natural light that our ancestors had. In recent [...]
Worldwide substance abuse consequences are a major problem challenging health planners and providers. To mediate these problems effectively, further information on the variability of substance abuse prevalence and associated causes is needed. There is some evidence suggesting that latitude may present unique etiology for substance abuse because of northerly conditions such [...]
BACKGROUND: The purpose of the study was to examine whether some individuals who report alcohol dependence consistently deteriorate during the fall and winter months. We also explored whether this deterioration could be attributed to seasonal affective disorder. METHOD: Veterans Administration inpatients were administered a screening questionnaire concerning seasonal patterns in alcohol [...]
The Department of Experimental Pharmacology at the Southwest Foundation for Research and Education in San Antonio, Texas, subjected laboratory rats to various types of stress in an attempt to induce them to drink alcohol. “The rats clearly preferred plain water except on weekends when they went on real alcoholic binges. This [...]