Neurosteroids and the central actions of alcohol

酗酒现在在英国是一个严重的问题。在20世纪中期，与欧洲其他地区相比，英国的酒精消费量相对较低。然而，在过去的50年里，许多国家的酒精消费量都有所下降，而英国却有所增加。平均而言，我们现在是世界上酒精摄入量最高的国家之一。这导致患有酒精相关疾病的人数显著增加。自20世纪90年代初以来，与酒精有关的死亡人数翻了一番，而每年因酒精相关的精神健康问题接受治疗的人数增加了1万人。2001年，治疗这些问题花费了NHS 160万英镑，而与酒精有关的犯罪花费了730万英镑。随着英国人饮酒过量的人数持续上升，酒精对公众健康的影响也在不断增加。据估计，有800万英国成年人过度饮酒，其中300万人据信对酒精有依赖。长期饮酒会改变大脑功能的许多方面，这使得人们很难减少酒精摄入量。因此，许多人将需要药物来帮助他们戒酒，医学研究的一个重要挑战是为此目的开发安全有效的药物。要做到这一点，我们必须首先确切地了解酒精是如何影响大脑活动的，以及多年饮酒后大脑功能的哪些方面发生了变化。众所周知，有些人对酒精的影响比其他人更敏感。这是有遗传基础的，很明显，有些人？美国人的基因构成意味着他们比其他人更容易对酒精上瘾。理解其中的原因将提高治疗的成功率。这项研究解决了这两个基本问题：(1)酒精是如何影响大脑功能的；(2)与酒精密切相关的基因是如何影响大脑功能的。

Alcohol abuse is now a tremendous problem in the UK. In the mid-20th century, the UK had a relatively low levels of alcohol consumption compared to other parts of Europe. However, alcohol consumption has fallen in many of these countries over the last 50 years, whereas it has increased in Britain. On average, we now have one of the highest levels of alcohol intake in the world. This has lead to marked increases in numbers of people suffering alcohol-related diseases. Alcohol-related deaths have doubled since the early 1990s, while the annual number of people being treated for alcohol-related mental health issues has increased by 10, 000. In 2001, treating these problems cost the NHS #~1.6 million, while alcohol related crime cost #7.3 million. As the numbers of Britons drinking to excess continues to rise, so will the effects of alcohol on public health.It is estimated that 8 million British adults drink excessively, of whom 3 million are believed to be dependent on alcohol. Chronic drinking changes many aspects of brain function which can make it extremely difficult for people to reduce their alcohol intake. Thus, many people will need medication to help wean themselves off drink and an important challenge for medical research is to develop safe, effective pharmaceuticals for this purpose. To do this, we must first understand exactly how alcohol affects the activity of the brain and what aspects of brain function change after years of drinking. It is well known that some people are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol than others. This has a genetic basis and it is clear that some people?s genetic make-up means that they are at much greater risk of becoming addicted to alcohol than others. Understanding why this is will improve the success of treatments. This research addresses these two fundamental questions: (1) how does alcohol influence brain function and (2) how is this influenced by a gene that is strongly linked to alcoholism.