Brings together scientific knowledge and public health policy in order to address the increasing important issues of alcohol use and abuse.
Written and edited by distinguished experts in alcohol policy from around the world, providing a global perspective on the public health issue.
All major areas in alcohol use and addiction are covered including: historical/sociocultural issues, biological aspects related to alcohol consumption, the global epidemiology of addiction, and socio-demographic determinants.
Alcohol has always been an issue in public health but it is currently assuming increasing importance as a cause of disease and premature death worldwide. Alcohol: Science, Policy, and Public Health provides an interdisciplinary source of information that links together, the usually separate fields of, science, policy, and public health. This comprehensive volume highlights the importance of bringing scientific knowledge to bear in order to strengthen and develop alcohol public policy.

The book looks at the historical evolution of alcohol consumption in society, key early studies of alcohol and disease, and the cultural and social aspects of alcohol consumption. It then goes on to cover the chemistry and biology of alcohol, patterns of consumption, gender and age-related issues, alcohol and injury, alcohol and cancer and non-malignant disease, and various current therapeutic aspects. The book concludes with a section on alcohol policy, looking at issues of poverty, the availability of alcohol and alcohol control measures.

This major reference, written by international leaders in the fields of alcoholism and alcohol policy, provides a comprehensive study of one of the foremost health problems in the world, and represents the highest standards of research within the field.

It will be valuable to physicians and health professionals involved with patients with alcohol-related problems, scientists, public health specialists, health policy specialists, researchers and legislators as well as students of public health

Contributors
I. Framing the issues
1: David J. Hanson: Historical evolution of alcohol consumption in society
2: Jürgen Rehm and Kevin Shield: Key studies of alcohol and disease
3: James C. Harris: Cultural aspects: Representations of alcohol use in visual art
4: Anya Taylor: Cultural aspects: Illustrations of alcohol use in literature
5: Judy Cornes: Cultural aspects: Alcohol use in film
6: Robin Room: Sociocultural aspects of alcohol consumption
II. Alcohol: chemistry and biology
7: Laurence I. Peterson: Chemistry of alcoholic beverages
8: Philip J. Brooks and Samir Zakhari: Alcohol metabolism and genetic control
9: David Goldman: Implications of the genetics of alcoholism and addictions for public policy
10: Wolfgang H. Sommer: Pathophysiology of alcohol addiction
11: Wade Berrettini and Karl E. Rickels: Opioid pharmacogenetics of alcohol addiction
III. Patterns of consumption
12: Gerhard Gmel, Kevin Shield, and Jürgen Rehm: Tools for estimating alcohol consumption
13: Gerhard Gmel, Florian Labhart, Kevin Shield, Marg Rylett, Dirk Lachenmeier, and Jürgen Rehm: A global overview of alcohol consumption patterns
14: David Zaridze: Impact of extreme drinking on mortality
15: Dirk W. Lachenmeier, Gerhard Gmel, and Jürgen Rehm: Unrecorded alcohol consumption
IV. Alcohol: gender and age-related issues
16: Ralph W. Hingson and Aaron M. White: Adolescent and teenage drinking
17: Richard W. Wilsnack and Sharon C. Wilsnack: Gender and alcohol: consumption and consequences
18: Jennifer G. Plebani, David W. Oslin, and Adam B. Lipson: Alcohol use in the elderly
V. Alcohol, injury, and violence
19: Scott Macdonald, Alissa Greer, Jeff Brubacher, Cheryl Cherpitel, Tim Stockwell, and Corneilia Zeisser: Alcohol consumption and injury
20: James C. Fell and Robert B. Voas: Alcohol and road traffic injury
21: Alex E. Crosby, Victoria Espitia-Hardeman, LaVonne Ortega, and Briana Lozano: Alcohol and suicide
22: Megan R. Gerber: Alcohol and intimate partner violence
23: Stephen K. Talpins, Robyn Robertson, Erin Holmes, and Matthew Dunagan: Violence and crime
VI. Alcohol and cancer
24: CJ Peter Eriksson: Alcohol and carcinogenesis: mechanisms and biomarkers
25: Mia Hashibe, Binh Y. Goldstein, Lin Cai, and Zuo-Feng Zhang: Upper aerodigestive tumours: mouth, pharynx, larynx, and oesophagus
26: David Zaridze: Gastrointestinal tumours
27: Patrick Maisonneuve: Liver and pancreatic tumours
28: Peter Boyle: Alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk
29: Claudio Pelucchi and Carlotta Galeone: Bladder and genitourinary tumours
VII. Alcohol and non-malignant disease
30: William H. Frishman: Cardiac disease
31: Kenneth J. Mukamal: Vascular disease
32: Julia B. Greer and Dhiraj Yadav: Benign diseases of the gastrointestinal tract
33: Michael H. Miller, Frank Sullivan, and John F. Dillon: Liver disease
34: Dhiraj Yadav: Pancreatitis
35: Dolly Baliunas: Diabetes
36: Tarakad S. Ramachandran: Neurological and mental disorders
37: Andriy V.Samokhvalov, Paul A. Shuper, and Jürgen Rehm: Infectious disease
38: Kenneth R. Warren and Margaret M. Murray: Alcohol and pregnancy: fetal alcohol spectrum disorders and the fetal alcohol syndrome
VIII. Therapeutic aspects: current approaches
39: Amy O'Donnell and Eileen Kaner: Screening of high-risk drinkers
40: Eileen Kaner and Amy O'Donnell: Brief intervention: does it work?
41: Michael Soyka: Drug therapy: reviewing the evidence
IX. Alcohol policy
42: Paul Miller and Marjana Martinic: 1. The private sector and public policy: can they be reconciled?
43: Aneel Karnani: Impact of alcohol on poverty and the need for appropriate policy
44: Esa Österberg: Control of alcohol availability: historical and current policies and their effects
45: Michael Livingston: Taxation and price control
46: Christine M. Wickens, Robert E. Mann, Gina Stoduto, Rosely Flam-Zalcman, and Jennifer Butters: Alcohol control measures and traffic safety
47: Claire Wilkinson: Public information and education campaigns
48: Harry Burns: Public information and education campaigns