The Pilot Program of Research to Integration Substance Abuse Issues into Mainstream Medicine (PRISM) (a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) sought to encourage physicians and health care researchers to address the effects of alcohol and drug abuse on serious chronic illnesses.

The researchers at the Treatment Research Institute running the program:

• Commissioned 10 systematic reviews of studies that analyzed the relationship between alcohol or drug use and chronic illnesses and conditions.
• Selected five research projects for funding that analyzed the relationship between alcohol and drug use and sleep disorders, hypertension, breast cancer, type II diabetes and coronary artery risk. See Appendix 1 for details on the grants and contact information.

Key Findings From Funded Research Projects

• Among men, level of alcohol consumption was associated with mild or worse sleep-disordered breathing. There was no significant association between alcohol use and sleep-disordered breathing or other sleep problems among women.
• People who drink three or more drinks per day were more likely to suffer from hypertension than people who do not drink.
• Among people with normal blood pressure at baseline, former drinkers (who had not consumed alcohol for at least one year) were significantly more likely to have hypertension after five years than moderate drinkers.
• Light or moderate drinking is associated with decreased hypertension among European Americans but not among African Americans.
• Among sisters who either had breast cancer themselves or did not have breast cancer but had a sister who did, there was a 30 percent increased risk of breast cancer from drinking about one drink per day. Among unrelated women, there was no apparent overall effect of alcohol drinking on breast cancer.

See Findings for more findings from the funded research projects.

Key Communications

• The systematic reviews yielded 10 papers published in peer-reviewed journals.
• The funded research projects yielded one book chapter, 13 articles and presentations at two national meetings.

Funding
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) provided $758,000 for the program through three grants between December 2003 and June 2006 to the Treatment Research Institute. See Funding for further explanation. RWJF also provided a total of $428,811 in grants to the five funded research projects.