Alcohol Studies and Science: Trapped in the Velvet Cage of Medical Research? An Editorial

Abstract

Objective: This article offers the author’s assessment of the progress in research on alcohol related to alcohol misuse and alcohol use disorders. Method: The historical background of alcohol-problem research is reviewed in the context of defining problems for study and the pattern by which research is funded. Results: Progress in terms of cumulative research has been affected by the lack of central authority and the National Institutes of Health structure within which almost all funding for alcohol research in the United States has occurred. Problems are traced to the particular history and nature of alcohol-problem research, the continuing prominence of moral elements, and particular features of the treatment of alcohol use disorders. Conclusions: Although the scope of activity and production of publications in alcohol research has expanded greatly during the past 75 years, there is a potential shortfall in the cumulative research that has led to solutions to major problems associated with alcohol.