Alcoholism

Alcoholism is an allergy to alcohol. It is a medical condition. Someone with the disease of alcoholism is considered to be an alcoholic.

Alcoholism, Abuse Alcohol is a disease

Alcoholism cannot be cured. It can be put into remission so someone with alcoholism can lead a relatively normal life, if they are willing to take the necessary steps.

Alcoholism is a chronic disease that makes your body dependent on alcohol. You may be obsessed with alcohol and unable to control how much you drink, even though you're drinking is causing serious problems with your relationships, health, work and finances.

It's possible to have a problem with alcohol, but not display all the characteristics of alcoholism. This is known as "alcohol abuse," which means you engage in excessive drinking that causes health or social problems, but you aren't dependent on alcohol and haven't fully lost control over the use of alcohol.

Although many people assume otherwise, alcoholism is a treatable disease. Medications, counseling and self-help groups are among the therapies that can provide ongoing support to help you recover from alcoholism.

Research indicates early drinking triggers alcoholism abuse

Data from a survey of 43,000 U.S. adults heighten concerns that early alcohol use, independent of other risk factors, may contribute to the risk of developing future alcohol problems. Those who began drinking in their early teens were not only at greater risk of developing alcohol dependence at some point in their lives, they were also at greater risk of developing dependence more quickly and at younger ages, and of developing chronic, relapsing dependence. Among all respondents who developed alcoholism at some point, almost half (47 percent) met the diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence (alcoholism) by age 21.

The associations between early drinking and later problems held even after investigators controlled for other risk factors for dependence, adding to concerns that drinking at a young age might raise the risk of future alcohol problems rather than being an identifying feature of young people predisposed to risky behavior. The study appears in the July issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, Volume 160, pages 739-746.

Elias Zerhouni, M.D., director of the NIH, said, "This is a very good example of how insights gained from health research can inform public policy. Converging research suggests that youthful drinking is associated with an increased risk of long-term, not just acute, health consequences."

Scientists at the Boston University School of Public Health and Youth Alcohol Prevention Center, led by Dr. Ralph Hingson, carried out the analysis using data from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a representative survey of the U.S. civilian non-institutionalized population aged 18 years and older.

NESARC involved face to face interviews with adults ages 18 and older. The survey used questions based on diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence from the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). In the study, "starting to drink" meant the age when respondents first drank alcohol, not counting tastes or sips.

NIAAA Director Dr. Ting-Kai Li said "this work underscores the need for research to clarify how early drinking relates to the risk of lifetime alcohol problems. In particular, it is important to learn whether early alcohol use may affect the developing brain in ways that increase vulnerability to dependence."

In results that echo earlier studies, of those individuals who began drinking before age 14, 47 percent experienced dependence at some point, vs. 9 percent of those who began drinking at age 21 or older.

In general, for every year of age before 21 a respondent began to drink, the greater the odds that he or she would develop alcohol dependence at some point in life. While one quarter of all drinkers in the survey started drinking by age 16, nearly half (46 percent) of drinkers who developed alcohol dependence began drinking at age 16 or younger.

New findings showed that among all drinkers, early drinking was associated not only with a higher risk of developing alcoholism at some point, but also within 10 years of first starting to drink, before age 25, and within any year of adult life. Early drinking was also associated with increased risk of having multiple episodes of alcoholism. Further, among respondents who had had alcohol dependence at some point, those who began drinking young had episodes of longer duration and with a wider range of symptoms than those who started later.

Previous research has established the link between early onset of drinking and lifetime diagnosis of alcoholism. Key to understanding the relationship between early drinking and alcoholism risk is whether the act of drinking while young raises lifetime risk, or whether early drinking reflects an underlying predisposition for risky behavior in particular young people. In the latter case, early drinking would be considered a marker identifying individuals already at risk for developing alcoholism. In this study, investigators attempted to account for factors-such as family history of alcoholism, childhood antisocial behavior and depression, and smoking and drug use-known to be associated with higher risk. Even controlling for a number of risk factors and the effects of age differences among respondents, early drinking was associated with an increased risk of lifetime alcohol diagnosis.

In calculating the impact of early drinking on the risk of experiencing alcoholism, the study used statistical methods that account for the fact that older respondents have had a longer window of opportunity to develop alcoholism than younger respondents. The risk of those who began drinking before age 14 was multiplied by a factor (or "hazard ratio") of 1.78 relative to those who started drinking at age 21 or older.

The recently released 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey-conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-found that among high school students nationwide, 26 percent had drunk alcohol (other than a few sips) for the first time before age 13.

The authors conclude that the results of both studies support the need to take measures to delay alcohol consumption by underage youth. Dr. Hingson said, "This analysis suggests that interventions that delay drinking onset may not only reduce the acute consequences of drinking among youth, but may help reduce alcohol dependence among adolescents and adults. It's an important public health issue for longitudinal research to resolve."

- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Alcoholism Abuse Symptoms

Before treatment or recovery, most people with alcoholism deny that they have a drinking problem. Other signs of alcoholism and alcohol abuse include:

• Drinking alone or in secret
  


• Being unable to limit the amount of alcohol you drink
  


• Not remembering conversations or commitments, sometimes referred to as "blacking out"
  


• Making a ritual of having drinks before, with or after dinner and becoming annoyed when this ritual is disturbed or questioned
  


• Losing interest in activities and hobbies that used to bring pleasure
  


• Feeling the need or compulsion to drink
  


• Irritability when your usual drinking time nears, especially if alcohol isn't available
  


• Keeping alcohol in unlikely places at home, at work or in the car
  


• Gulping drinks, ordering doubles, becoming intoxicated intentionally to feel good or drinking to feel "normal"
  


• Having legal problems or problems with relationships, employment or finances
  


• Building a tolerance to alcohol so that you need an increasing number of drinks to feel alcohol's effects
  


• Experiencing physical withdrawal symptoms - such as nausea, sweating and shaking - if you don't drink

People who abuse alcohol may experience many of the same signs and symptoms as people who are dependent on alcohol. However, alcohol abusers don't feel the same compulsion to drink and usually don't experience physical withdrawal symptoms when they don't drink. A dependence on alcohol also creates a tolerance to alcohol and the inability to control your drinking.

Alcoholism Abuse Test

If you've ever wondered if your own alcohol consumption crosses the line of abuse or dependence, ask yourself these questions:

• Do you need a drink as soon as you get up?
  


• Do you feel guilty about your drinking?
  


• Do you think you need to cut back on your alcohol consumption?
  


• Are you annoyed when other people comment on or criticize your drinking habits?
  


• Drinking more alcohol or drinking over a longer period of time than you intended.
  


• Persistently having a desire to cut down on your alcohol intake or making unsuccessful attempts to do so.
  


• Spending a great deal of time obtaining, using, or recovering from alcohol use
  


• Giving up important social, occupational or recreational activities
  


• Continuing to use alcohol even though you know it's causing physical and psychological problems.
  

If you answered yes to two or more questions, it's likely that you have a problem with alcohol. Even one yes answer may indicate a problem.

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Alcoholism