AA membership 'cuts alcohol-related murders'
Alcohol has been described as a "leading [contributor to the] global burden of disease"
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Monday, 25, Sep 2006 08:39
There is a "strong relationship" between membership in the drink support group Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and a reduction in alcohol-related murders, scientists have claimed.
The Canadian-based team's research, published in the October edition of journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, also found that there are significant links between alcohol and violence, especially among male beer and spirit drinkers.
Today's study explains that AA sessions have a particularly strong effect on reducing the number of murders involving men who primarily drink beer and spirits.
The impetus to the research was provided by the World Health Organisation, which has described alcohol as a "leading [contributor to the] global burden of disease", with related murders "just one of a number of negative consequences of its consumption".
And the study's lead author, Professor Robert Mann, senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, today said: "It is important to try to understand the factors that could reduce alcohol's adverse effects.
"We know that economic and legal measures such as taxation policies, increased drinking ages, and lowered legal limits for driving can exert powerful effects on alcohol problem rates. We also know that individual participation in AA and alcohol treatment can have very beneficial effects," he added.
In the investigation, researchers analysed data collated in Ontario relating to beer, spirit and wine consumption, as well as deaths involving people aged over 15 related to alcohol between 1968 and 1991.
"Our study showed that total and male homicide rates in Ontario were strongly related to average levels of alcohol consumption. These observations confirm previous research showing that alcohol is a leading contributor to violence, as well as violence-related mortality," revealed Professor Mann.
But the scientists explained they were not surprised to find that the violent effects of alcohol consumption were significantly more pronounced in male than female drinkers.
"Intuitively, the nature of both male drinking patterns and homicide is different than that of females. Males drink more often, more heavily, and consume more beer and spirits than females. Moreover, the nature of the link between alcohol consumption and violence is more readily a male experience, for example, drinking heavily in bar settings leads to aggression and violence," the authors write.