25 NOVEMBER 2024

Greetings friends and family,

One of the great pleasures of having grandchildren is the fun of returning to the picture books that you and your children loved when very young. One of my daughters recently reminded me of one of our family favorites, “The Three Billy Goats Gruff.” So being the doting Mimi (what my grands call me!) that I am, I rushed out to find copies of this wonderful folk tale to give as holiday gifts.

For those few of you who might be unfamiliar with the story, it’s a very simple tale. The 3 Billy Goats Gruff are responding to a primal need — they are hungry! The problem is that the pickings are slim in the meadow where they currently reside. As the saying goes, the grass is always greener on the other side, and so it is for the Billy Goats Gruff. Just across the bridge there lies a verdant pasture – and it is abundant with fresh green grass and daisies. But —there’s an obstacle in that under that bridge lives a mean, nasty, crusty, voracious old troll.

What to do? The Goats Gruff set themselves a quest, put their horns together, and come up with a plan to outsmart the troll. They succeed and as a result — they get to eat the tasty grass and delectable daisies to their heart’s content! What are the lessons in this fairy tale? To my thinking, it encourages children to persevere; to not give up at the first sign of difficulty. It teaches the importance of collaboration. Some versions of the story actually depict the Gruffs conferring with each other; some simply imply the exchange of ideas among them. The goats’ success promotes the value of seeking and considering the input of others. Each of the goats models the ideals of bravery, strength, and confidence (even if one has to ‘fake it until you make it’) in the face of risk and danger. Hence, the story implies that one reaps rewards from planning for smart risks and standing your ground. Finally, I see children benefiting from witnessing the obvious love and care for one another that the Goats Gruff display through planning and executing their plan. Through cooperation and teamwork, they defeat the nasty troll and get to the greener pasture. All three not only survive, but they thrive.

If only real-life conflicts could resolve this amicably, by collaborating to solve problems, reaching consensus, and agreeing on the optimum end goal —-resulting in a WIN-WIN outcome beneficial to all concerned. Most certainly, in terms of beating a disease, such as Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), it’s a complex venture. Like any dire health condition, attaining a cure for a disease involves multiple factors and the input of many stakeholders. What we can do – is make a start and FAR believes that starting point is university research. We need more investigation into causes, diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and in attaining the ability to cure AUD.

Our research team at Virginia Commonwealth University has concluded their study, taking MRIs of subjects with AUD and comparing them to MRIs of patients without AUD. Their results prove that the disease model of AUD is accurate; MRI scans show definite areas of the brain where groups of neurons are profoundly adversely affected by AUD. But there is hope —- the doctors believe these changes are reversible —- with targeted precision medical treatment, including drug and psychotherapy. See my article with more specifics gleaned from the team when I met with them last December and their next steps. Our other team has transferred to Texas Tech University and is about to resume work on gathering data on Early-Stage Risks for the development of AUD. We are currently vetting new university biomed research projects focused on AUD to fund next year. Your donations and past support have made all this possible! Thank you!

Like the Three Billy Goats Gruff, FAR is seeking the ultimate WIN-WIN outcome for the estimated 29 million Americans suffering with AUD (NIAAA). As our research teams come ever closer to finding effective treatments for a lasting recovery for these Americans, there is absolutely no doubt that we all benefit. Thank you again for your past support and if you can, please help again by donating at www.alcoholismresearch.org or by sending a check to
FAR PO Box 31135 Chicago IL 60631

Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season!

Best,
Kathleen Madden, President and Corresponding Secretary, FAR