Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/440819
ByLaureenNeergaard The Associated Press WASHINGTON Thetequila sure looks real, so do the beer taps. Inside the hospi- tal at the National Institutes of Health, researchers are testing a possible new treat- ment to help heavy drinkers cut back — using a replica of a fully stocked bar. The idea: Sitting in the dimly lit bar-laboratory should cue the volunteers' brains to crave a drink, and help determine if the experimental pill counters that urge. True, there's no skunky bar odor; these bottles are filled with colored water. The real alcohol is locked in the hospital pharmacy,ready to send over for the extra temptation of smell — and to test how safe the drug is if people drink anyway. "The goal is to create almost a real-world envi- ronment, but to control it very strictly," said lead re- searcher Dr. Lorenzo Leg- gio, who is testing how a hormone named ghrelin that sparks people's appe- tite for food also affects their desire for alcohol, and if blocking it helps. Amid all the yearly res- olutions to quit, alcohol use disorders affect about 17 million Americans, and only a small fraction re- ceives treatment. There's no one-size-fits-all therapy, and the NIH is spurring a hunt for new medications that target the brain's ad- diction cycle in different ways — and to find out which options work best in which drinkers. "Alcoholics come in many forms," explained Dr. George Koob, director of NIH's Na- tional Institute of Alco- hol Abuse and Alcoholism, which has published new online guides, at www.niaaa. nih.gov, explaining who's at risk and what can help. What's the limit? NIAAA says "low-risk" drinking means no more than four drinks in any single day and no more than 14 in a week for men, and no more than three drinks a day and seven a week for women. Genes play a role in who's vulnerable to cross- ing the line into alcohol abuse. So do environmen- tal factors, such as getting used to drinking a certain amount, not to mention how your own brain's cir- cuitry adapts. Treatment can range from inpatient rehab and 12- step programs to behavioral therapy and the few medica- tions available today. Koob, who specializes in the neu- robiology of alcohol, says it usually takes a combination and ultimately, "you have to change your life." Yet a recent review for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality esti- mated that less than a third of people who need treat- ment get it, and of those, less than 10 percent receive medications. Three drugs are approved by the Food and Drug Ad- ministration to treat alco- hol abuse. One, naltrexone, blocks alcohol's feel-good sensation by targeting re- ceptors in the brain's re- ward system — if people harbor a particular gene. The anti-craving pill acam- prosate appears to calm stress-related brain chemi- cals in certain people. The older Antabuse works differ- ently, triggering nausea and other aversive symptoms if people drink while taking it. HEALTH Te st in g an ti -d ri nk in g dr ug w it h he lp o f a fa ke b ar CLIFFOWEN—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS Dr. George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, le , and NIAAA scientist Dr. Lorenzo Leggio pose in a lab designed as a bar inside the National Institutes of Health's hospital in Bethesda, Md. The Associated Press CREVE COEUR, MO. Fifty- one years ago, Arthur Lampitt of Granite City, Il- linois, smashed his 1963 Thunderbird into a truck. This week during surgery in St. Louis, a 7-inch turn signal lever from that T- Bird was removed from his left arm. The accident broke Lampitt's hip, drawing at- tention away from the arm, which healed. A decade or so ago, his arm set off a courthouse metal detector. An X-ray showed a pencil- sized object, but since it caused no pain, Lampitt let it be. He was moving concrete blocks a few weeks ago when the arm began to hurt for the first time, prompting surgery. TURN SIGNAL 51 y ea rs a er w re ck , car p art f ou nd i n ar m The Associated Press LAKESHORE More than 40 people were stranded on a ski lift at a Central Califor- nia resort after winds blew a cable off its line. The Fresno Bee reports that some skiers were stuck on the lift at China Peak Mountain Resort for more than two hours Wednesday afternoon. The National Weather Service reported that tem- peratures near the resort dipped into the mid 20s Wednesday afternoon with winds blowing at speeds of more than 45 mph. People were brought down one-by-one. No inju- ries were reported. Skiers were given replacement lift tickets and gift cards. CENTRAL CALIFORNIA 40 s ki er s st uc k on ch ai r li at r es or t Washington 48/35 New York 40/30 Miami 83/73 Atlanta 52/48 Detroit 33/21 Houston 53/52 Chicago 30/23 Minneapolis 24/16 Kansas City 36/27 El Paso 46/28 Denver 35/ 13 Billings 38/13 Los Angeles 61/43 San Francisco 56/42 Seattle 43/36 AIRQUALITYFORECAST Whatitmeans:0-50:Good; 51-100:Moderate; 101-150:Unhealthyforsensitivepeople; 151+:Unhealthyforall. Source: Airnow.gov City Today'sairquality City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W CALIFORNIA CITIES National and world forecast s-sunny,pc-partly cloudy,c-cloudy,sh-showers,t-thunderstorms,r-rain,sf-snow flurries,sn-snow,i-ice City Hi/Lo/W Hi/Lo/W Summary National Extremes World Extremes North and South America Asia, Australia Africa CarsonCity Hawthorne Reno Herlong Lovelock Sacramento Yuba City Napa Ukiah Chico Corning Lakeview Alturas Susanville Redding Red Bluff Laytonville Fort Bragg Point Arena Eureka Redway Mount Shasta Yreka Crescent City Ashland Shown is today's weather. Temperatures are today's highs and tonight's lows. Shown are today's noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day. ALMANAC Precipitation Temperatures ALLERGY REPORT Pollenlevels Source: National Allergy Bureau TODAY'S UV INDEX (The higher the number, the faster skin damage will occur.) Extreme Very high High Moderate Low SUN SETTINGS, MOON PHASES Sunrise Sunset Moonrise Moonset Hoursofsunlight River Levels SacramentoRiver Flood 7a.m. 24-hr Stage yest. chg. Lake Levels Elevation Yesterday Storage (acre-feet) Percent Capacity Q: A: SATURDAY 56° 34° SUNDAY 58° 39° Sun fo llo we d by c louds Sunshine MONDAY 64° 40° A blend of sun and clouds TUESDAY 65° 42° Pa rtly sunn y TODAY 55° 34° Abundant sunshine. Clear and chilly tonight. High ....................................................................... 53° Low ........................................................................ 35° Normal high ......................................................... 53° Normal low ........................................................... 37° Record high ............................................. 71° in 1996 Record low .............................................. 24° in 1991 Humidity noon today ........................................ 50% 24 hours through 2 p.m. yesterday ................. 0.00" Month to date ................................................... 0.00" Normal month to date ..................................... 0.17" Season to date ................................................ 16.35" Normal season to date .................................... 9.15" Red Bluff through 2 p.m. yesterday Chico .......................................................... Moderate Napa .......................................................... Unhealthy Red Bluff .............................................. Not available Redding ..................................................... Moderate Yuba City ................................................... Moderate Allergy, dust and dander today: High Risk Grass .................. Absent Mold ............... Moderate Trees .................. Absent Weeds ................ Absent 2 Highest at 11 a.m. Today 7:31 a.m. 4:55 p.m. 3:18 p.m. 5:04 a.m. Saturday 7:32 a.m. 4:55 p.m. 4:08 p.m. 5:58 a.m. 9 hr., 24 min. Jan4 Full Jan13 Last New Jan20 First Jan26 aboveBendBridge......................27 ...........1.60 ....... -0.10 atHamiltonCity.........................148 ......129.80 ....... -0.10 atOrdFerry................................114 ........97.49 ....... -0.11 atRedBluffDiversionDam.......253 ......238.10 ....... -0.10 atTehamaBridge ......................213 ......201.00 .......none atVinaWoodsonBridge............183 ......166.98 ....... -0.12 BlackButte ....................444.76..............41,224 .....28.7% LakeOroville..................711.81.........1,346,988 .....36.0% LakeShasta ...................949.41.........1,867,305 .....41.0% LakeTrinity..................2232.83............815,052 .....30.8% Whiskeytown...............1198.46............205,564 .....85.3% Weather Trivia ™ On average, which is the snowiest month in the U.S.? February Today Saturday Anaheim 62/39/s 64/41/s Bakersfield 55/32/s 56/34/s Chula Vista 62/39/s 63/42/s Crescent City 53/41/s 54/44/s Death Valley 57/31/s 62/36/s Eureka 52/37/s 54/39/s Fremont 56/36/s 59/38/s Fresno 53/30/s 54/33/s Glendale 61/39/s 63/43/s Huntington Beach 60/46/s 63/47/s Irvine 60/39/s 60/42/s Lake Tahoe 42/20/s 48/22/s Long Beach 61/40/s 62/43/s Los Angeles 61/43/s 62/46/s Mammoth Mountain 44/17/s 49/20/s Modesto 53/31/s 56/33/s Monterey 58/37/s 59/41/s Moreno Valley 57/30/s 60/36/s Napa 53/34/s 56/35/s Needles 52/31/s 55/35/s Oakland 55/37/s 57/39/s Oxnard 60/43/s 62/45/s Redding 56/34/s 57/34/s Riverside 55/27/s 58/33/s Sacramento 54/32/s 56/34/s San Bernardino 57/30/s 60/37/s San Diego 61/43/s 62/45/s San Francisco 56/42/s 58/44/s San Jose 56/34/s 59/37/s San Luis Obispo 59/32/s 63/35/s Santa Ana 62/43/s 63/46/s Santa Barbara 61/36/s 61/39/s Santa Clarita 59/33/s 61/38/s Stockton 54/31/s 56/33/s Ventura 60/42/s 61/45/s Yosemite Valley 47/21/s 52/25/s Today Saturday Albuquerque 35/17/sn 37/14/pc Atlanta 52/48/r 58/56/c Baltimore 45/28/pc 41/38/r Boston 39/22/s 33/31/c Buffalo 31/21/sf 39/35/sn Chicago 30/23/pc 35/28/i Cincinnati 37/30/pc 56/46/r Dallas 39/36/r 50/30/c Denver 35/13/s 31/3/sn Detroit 33/21/pc 37/35/sn El Paso 46/28/sn 49/27/s Fargo 28/15/c 16/-17/sn Honolulu 77/62/c 75/62/pc Houston 53/52/r 59/40/r Indianapolis 34/27/pc 49/36/r Kansas City 36/27/pc 36/6/i Las Vegas 45/29/s 50/31/s Louisville 38/35/pc 60/46/r Miami 83/73/pc 83/73/pc Minneapolis 24/16/s 28/-1/c New Orleans 73/64/r 75/57/t New York City 40/30/s 40/39/c Oklahoma City 34/31/i 37/17/c Mild air hold over Florida and will build over the South today. Meanwhile, a fresh push of cold air will expand from the Great Lakes to the Northeast with areas of snow near the eastern Great Lakes to the northern Plains. As a storm moves out of the Southwest, rain will expand from central and southeastern Texas to the lower Mississippi and Tennessee valleys. Locally heavy thunderstorms can occur along the central Gulf Coast. A swath of snow and ice will develop on the northwestern flank of the storm from eastern New Mexico to northwestern Texas to the southern Plains. High ............................. 82° in Tamiami, FL Low ................................. -24° in Craig, CO High ........... 111° in Marble Bar, Australia Low .......................... -65° in Agata, Russia Bogota 70/41/s 70/41/s Buenos Aires 79/57/s 85/60/s Caracas 85/73/s 85/72/s Ensenada 61/38/s 64/43/s Mexico City 71/42/s 71/42/pc Montreal 19/1/s 18/14/c Rio de Janeiro 95/79/s 89/77/t Tijuana 61/39/s 62/42/s Toronto 31/17/sf 36/34/c Vancouver 40/30/sh 42/33/c Orlando 82/68/pc 83/68/c Philadelphia 43/29/s 43/42/r Phoenix 53/34/pc 54/36/s Pittsburgh 35/24/s 42/39/r Portland, ME 35/13/pc 27/23/pc Portland, OR 40/32/pc 45/36/pc St. Louis 39/34/c 45/31/r Salt Lake City 29/20/pc 34/22/c Seattle 43/36/c 45/39/c Tucson 46/27/s 51/29/s Washington, DC 48/35/pc 44/43/r Cairo 62/46/pc 61/47/pc Casablanca 65/39/s 65/41/s Johannesburg 79/60/t 81/60/t Kinshasa 85/73/t 86/71/t Lagos 90/72/s 91/71/pc Nairobi 83/54/s 84/55/pc Tripoli 55/45/sh 58/44/pc Baghdad 68/45/s 65/45/pc Beijing 41/17/s 42/23/s Hong Kong 65/58/s 67/61/s Jerusalem 53/41/pc 52/41/c Kabul 50/22/pc 46/20/s Manila 82/72/pc 84/74/pc Melbourne 100/79/pc 103/61/t New Delhi 65/52/c 64/51/c Seoul 28/13/s 34/23/pc Singapore 86/76/c 86/76/pc Sydney 82/72/t 85/70/s Tehran 59/41/s 56/39/s Tokyo 44/35/pc 47/35/pc Amsterdam 49/38/pc 41/38/r Athens 45/36/pc 54/41/s Belgrade 33/23/pc 39/27/pc Berlin 44/34/r 39/33/pc Budapest 36/28/pc 40/29/pc Dublin 45/36/pc 43/33/r London 50/37/pc 51/32/r Madrid 55/27/pc 55/30/pc Moscow 36/32/c 36/29/sn Paris 49/33/r 54/38/r Rome 51/37/s 57/43/pc Stockholm 46/31/r 36/26/pc Vienna 43/34/pc 40/35/pc Zurich 41/30/r 45/35/r 44/20 43/21 40/19 39/18 35/8 54/32 53/32 53/34 56/33 53/33 55/34 37/18 40/20 42/19 56/34 55/34 52/31 53/41 54/43 52/37 56/34 47/27 43/23 53/41 47/28 Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2015 StromerRealty 590 Antelope Blvd RedBluff (530) 527-3100 Specializingin Residential to Ranches Get thesteak you'veb eam gab t GAMING•DINING•LODGING GOLF•EVENTCENTER•EQUESTRIAN LicensedCNA Wanted RedBluff ExcellentpayandBenefits Join our friendly team. Apply in person at Brentwood 1795 Walnut St. in Red Bluff or call Dan at 530-527-2046 Smog Check (MOST CARS & PICK-UPS) 527-9841 • 195 S. Main St. starting at $ 29 95 + $ 8 25 certificate SERVICESATLOWERPRICES All makes and models. We perform dealer recommened 30K, 60K, 90K MembersWelcome | WEATHER | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2015 8 A