Genita Petralli is a licensed, board certified H.H.P., N.C., and M.H. She is the author of Alcoholism: The Cause & The Cure and the Founder of AAAA (Alternative Approaches to end Alcohol Abuse) and Program Director of the 101 Program and the Ark bio-repair clinic in Santa Cruz, CA. She spent 10 years researching what changes occurred in the brain chemistry of long-term recreational drinkers that led to alcoholism as well as the epigenetic influences that inspired alcohol and other addictions.

Life in alcohol rehab: Petty rules and $15,700 fee aside, addiction centre did what it could

When drinking becomes alcohol abuse

Drinking alcohol is a part of Western culture. It is almost a rite of passage and most people who drink alcohol don't get into any real trouble with it.

But some do. As individuals and as a society we need to recognize when drinking alcohol becomes alcohol abuse, so we can do something about it.

Prenatal alcohol linked to slower cognitive skills

A new study links moderate to heavy prenatal alcohol exposure to slower cognitive processing speeds and lower cognitive processing efficiency in children compared with unexposed children.

Dr. Matthew Burden (PhD), a postdoctoral research fellow at Wayne State University school of medicine here led a study of 337 children from the Detroit Prenatal Alcohol Longitudinal Cohort. Maternal alcohol use data had been collected for this cohort during prenatal visits.

Effects persist

Gamblers, alcoholics can get help on road

""Irving S." is a one-time compulsive gambler who credits a self-help group called Gamblers Anonymous with keeping him away from the gaming tables here and anyplace else that legalized gambling is a way of life.

"I've lost enough money to buy the Empire State Building," he says. When he travels, he makes a point of seeking out a local chapter of Gamblers Anonymous wherever he goes. "I'll tell my wife, 'Tonight's a meeting night,' and that's it."