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A drug which was developed to reduce cravings for cigarettes may also help people with alcohol addiction, it has emerged.

Recent research at the Yale School of Medicine discovered that varenicline may have dual benefits.

During the study, people who both smoked and drank heavily were much less likely to crave alcohol after taking the drug than those who were given a placebo.

Lead author Sherry McKee, associate professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, said the findings may prompt further research to ascertain whether varenicline may be effective for alcohol addiction.

"A medication such as varenicline, which may target shared biological systems in alcohol and nicotine use, holds promise as a treatment for individuals with both disorders," she added.

The Scottish government recently announced tough new legislation on drinking, despite facing opposition from some members of parliament.

It calls for the purchasing age to be raised to 21 and a minimum price per unit to be implemented.

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The Scottish government is pushing ahead with tough new legislation on drinking, despite facing opposition from some members of parliament.

Health secretary Nicola Sturgeon and justice secretary Kenny MacAskill announced the new policy, which calls for the purchasing age to be raised to 21 and a minimum price per unit.

Currently, more than £225 billion is spent on the health and crime effects of alcohol misuse a year in Scotland.

However, Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker has said the new proposals are a "recipe for disaster".

"Not only does it contain some frankly preposterous proposals but the sheer scale of the bill means it will be virtually impossible to scrutinise effectively," he remarked.

Scottish Retail Consortium director Fiona Moriarty agreed, saying: "There are far too many big issues here."

A recent study conducted over 25 years in New Zealand has suggested that drinking excessive alcohol may increase the risk of depression.

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Dependence on over-the-counter and prescription drugs is becoming a significant problem, according to a new report.

The all party parliamentary drugs misuse group conducted a year-long investigation into legal drug dependency.

It found a number of individuals who have been taking medication such as benzodiazepines, some antidepressants and strong painkillers for more than 30 years.

Dr Brian Iddon, chairman of the APPDMG, said the enquiry has merely "scratched the surface" of the problem.

"We have received evidence from individuals and support groups about the extremely distressing effects of dependency to or withdrawal from a range of over-the-counter or prescription-only drugs," he said.

He added that the issue cannot be overlooked any longer and called for proper diagnosis and support for those affected.

Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope, welcomed the report, saying it could be the "catalyst" for increased awareness about the potential harm of addiction to prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

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The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has warned people that their insurance could be invalidated if they lie to get cheaper premiums.

"People are increasingly putting their insurance cover at risk by cheating to get a better deal," the organisation told its members.

The ABI claimed that there is an increasing trend of people committing front-line fraud in order to reduce their premiums on everything from car insurance to life insurance.

Common deceptions include fronting, which is when people add themselves on to their parents’ motor insurance despite being the main user of their car, and underestimating tobacco and alcohol consumption when applying for life insurance.

Nick Starling, the ABI’s Director of General Insurance and Health, stated: "Honesty is the only policy."

"Cheating to get cheaper insurance puts your cover in jeopardy, with potentially disastrous consequences," he added.

In related news, new rules on alcohol consumption from insurance companies could push up the cost of premiums for even moderate drinkers, claims the ABI.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people living with alcohol and drug addiction.

Alcohol abuse can result in many different conditions and is not just limited to the liver, an expert has warned.

Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to complications such as high blood pressure and an increased risk of stroke or heart attack, according to Alcohol Concern.

On the subject of drinking when stressed, Frank Soodeen, press and parliamentary officer for Alcohol Concern, said: "There are two issues. The first is that alcohol is a psychoactive drug, and it’s particularly risky to rely on it to relieve stress because if one is then drinking particularly heavily, it can, in a sense, compound some of the problems that created stress in the first place."

He added that there are also many long-term effects of alcohol abuse and that it is the second biggest cause of high blood pressure next to obesity.

A recent survey by health charity Developing Patient Partnerships revealed that more than a third of men are self-medicating with alcohol.

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Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can increase an individual’s risk of a stroke, according to a new study.

Tulane University researchers concluded that heavy drinking - more than 21 drinks per week – can induce hypertension (high blood pressure), which is a key risk factor for a stroke.

Focusing their study on a nationally representative sample of Chinese men, the team examined the relationship between alcohol consumption and the condition.

"The relationship between alcohol intake and the development of stroke has not been very clear from observational studies done in the past," noted Dr Lydia Bazzano, assistant professor of epidemiology at the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

She continued: "We wanted to look at this relationship in a really large cohort, which gives us the best power to detect any association."

Alcohol consumption has also been linked to exaggerated insulin secretion, resulting in severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) – potentially life-threatening for people with diabetes.

Health campaigners maintain that education is necessary throughout the world to curb alcohol abuse and the plethora of complications it creates for people with existing medical conditions.

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The mystery behind one of the most well-known clinical problems faced by diabetes sufferers has been disclosed by scientists.

Researchers at leading Swedish medical university the Karolinska Institute concluded that drinking alcohol can lead to exaggerated insulin secretion, resulting in severe hypoglycemia (low blood sugar).

Described in the latest issue of Endocrinology, the mechanism explains how alcohol ingestion may harm the human brain by decreasing blood glucose concentration to inappropriately low levels.

Lead investigator Ake Sjoholm pointed out that the discovery may explain the hypoglycemic properties of alcohol in diabetic patients or in alcoholics with liver failure.

"Alcohol intake might provoke sustained hypoglycemia in type-two diabetes patients being treated with hypoglycemic sulfonylureas because many of these drugs have a long biological half-life," the researcher remarked.

"Furthermore, many alcoholics are malnourished and/or have liver cirrhosis and might therefore be unable to mount a gluconeogenetic response to hypoglycemia," he added.

Hypoglycemia induced by alcohol ingestion is a familiar clinical problem for people with diabetes.

Meanwhile, research into the obesity associated with diabetes has found that a hormone released in response to food may be capable of promoting weight loss and improving insulin resistance.

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Researchers in the US believe they have made significant discoveries in identifying why people become addicted to alcohol.

Scientists from the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Centre undertook a study comparing brain activity of non-addicts and sober alcoholics when making financial decisions.

The results showed that the latter group displayed significantly more "impulsive" neural behaviour.

Findings from the trials revealed that a specific gene mutation boosted brain activity in these regions when impulsive choices were made by people.

As a result, scientists claim that raising dopamine levels may be an effective treatment for addiction.

Lead researcher Dr Charlotte Boettiger said: "Our data suggest there may be a cognitive difference in people with addictions."

"Their brains may not fully process the long-term consequences of their choices. They may compute information less efficiently," she added.

The latest government figures show that an estimated 30 per cent of men and 15 per cent of women drink more than the recommended safe levels.

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Lower-cost obesity insurance could be an option for people who get between eight and nine hours sleep a night.

Scientists have found that such individuals are most likely to achieve an optimal weight.

Research published in today’s Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine also revealed that women with clinical medical problems are more likely to be obese if they have either very long or short sleep times.

The study, conducted by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, singled out smoking, alcohol consumption, hypertension, diabetes and young age as other factors featuring in the obesity lottery.

"Whether or not manipulating sleep time in adults will prevent additional weight gain or facilitate weight loss is unclear," remarked Kenneth Nugent of Texas Tech University.

He added: "This question will require therapeutic trials in which sleep hygiene is addressed during weight loss studies."

Although the study did not clarify the relationship between sleep and weight in men, it put forward obstructive sleep apnea as one potential reason for the link.

The condition refers to overweight people struggling to breathe because fat in their throats blocks their airways, leading scientists to conclude that their obesity affects sleep patterns, rather than vice versa.

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Women with alcohol problems risk passing them on to their unborn children if they drink while pregnant, it has been claimed.

Scientists at the State University of New York attributed an increased risk of alcohol abuse to the development of senses attracted to the taste and smell of the substance.

During one study, they found that infantile rats exposed to alcohol (ethanol) in the womb drank significantly more of it in youth but not in adulthood.

Separate research found the same association with smell; infantile rats whose mothers were exposed to ethanol odour sniffed it significantly more than control rats.

"From a clinical perspective, an enhanced preference for ethanol odour may be an important contributor to the risk for an enhanced postnatal avidity for the drug," the scientists concluded, adding that children should be kept away from alcohol, particularly if they were exposed to it in the womb.

Earlier this year the Department of Health advised that women avoid alcohol completely during pregnancy, marking a change to previous guidelines which maintained one or two alcoholic drinks a week would not risk a baby’s health.

The Insurance Helpline specialises in obtaining cover for people with alcohol problems