health
Screening helps doctors identify youth alcohol risks
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 31, 2011
A new two-question screening tool enables health care professionals to identify children and teenagers at risk of developing alcohol-related problems, according to a report issued by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The report, released Oct. 13, recommends that physicians ask patients younger than 21 how many times they had a sip of alcohol in the past year and whether their friends drank alcohol during that time (link).
People who start drinking before age 15 are more likely to have alcohol-related problems later in life than those who begin drinking at the legal age, experts say. Such problems include alcohol dependence and functional and structural changes in the brain.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/10/31/hlbf1031.htm.












