Alcoholism

Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a disease that includes the following four symptoms:
- A strong need/ urge, to drink
- Not being able to stop drinking once drinking has begun
- Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, anxiety after stopping drinking
- The need to drink greater amounts of alcohol to get "high."

Alcoholism is a disease. The craving that an alcoholic feels for alcohol is as strong as the need for food or water. An alcoholic will continue to drink despite serious family, health, legal problems. Like many other diseases, alcoholism is chronic, meaning that it lasts a person's lifetime; it usually follows a predictable course; and has symptoms. The risk for developing alcoholism is influenced both by a person's genes and by his/ her lifestyle

Alcoholism cannot be cured at this time. Even if an alcoholic hasn't been drinking for a long time, he or she can still suffer relapse. To guard against a relapse, an alcoholic must continue to avoid all alcoholic beverages whatsoever.

Cirrhosis caused by chronic alcohol consumption is a common problem. The usual setting is an individual with alcoholic cirrhosis who has stopped drinking for ten years, and then develops HCC. It is somewhat unusual for an actively drinking alcoholic to develop HCC. What happens is that when the drinking is stopped, the liver cells try to heal by regenerating (reproducing). It is during this active regeneration that a cancer-producing genetic change (mutation) can occur, which explains the occurrence of HCC after the drinking has been stopped.

Patients who are actively drinking are more likely to die from non-cancer related complications of alcoholic liver disease (e.g., liver failure). Indeed, patients with alcoholic cirrhosis who die of HCC are about 10 years older than patients who die of non-cancer causes. Finally, as noted above, alcohol adds to the risk of developing HCC in patients with chronic HCV or HBV infections

Alcohol problems vary in severity from mild to life threatening and affect the individual, the person's family, and society in numerous adverse ways.

Usually, a variety of factors contribute to the development of a problem with alcohol. Social factors such as the influence of family, peers, and society, and the availability of alcohol, and psychological factors such as elevated levels of stress, inadequate coping mechanisms, and reinforcement of alcohol use from other drinkers can contribute to alcoholism. Also, the factors contributing to initial alcohol use may vary from those maintaining it, once the disease develops.

Alcoholism can be treated. Alcoholism treatment programs use both counseling and medications to help a person stop drinking. Most alcoholics need help to recover from their disease. With support and treatment, many people are able to stop drinking and rebuild their lives.

Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are associated with a broad range of medical, psychiatric, social, legal, occupational, economic, family problems.
Several screening tests are routinely employed by many health care professionals to identify people at risk for alcoholism. Such tests usually consist of 1 or more questionnaires.

Commonly used tests are the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), the TACE questionnaire, and the CAGE questionnaire.

The doctor may draw blood to evaluate it for liver functions, anemia, and electrolyte levels (blood chemistry levels). Alcoholics often have elevated liver function tests, which indicate liver damage. Gamma glutamyl transferase is the most sensitive liver function test. It can be elevated after only a few weeks of excess alcohol consumption. Alcoholics may also have anemia (low blood count), as well as electrolyte disturbances including low potassium, low magnesium, and low calcium

Alcohol affects individuals differently. Your blood alcohol level may be affected by your age, gender, physical condition, amount of food consumed and any drugs or medication. In addition, different drinks may contain different amounts of alcohol, so it's important to know how much and the concentration of alcohol you consume.

Several levels of care are available to treat alcoholism. Medically managed hospital-based detoxification / rehabilitation programs are used for more severe cases of dependence that occur with medical and psychiatric complications. Medically monitored detoxification and rehabilitation programs are used for people who are dependent on alcohol and who do not require more closely supervised medical care. The purpose of detoxification is to safely withdraw the alcoholic from alcohol and to help him or her enter a treatment program. The purpose of a rehabilitation program is to help the alcoholic accept the disease, begin to develop skills for sober living, and get enrolled in ongoing treatment and self-help programs. Most detoxification programs last just a few days. Most medically managed or monitored rehabilitation programs last less than 2 weeks.

Many alcoholics benefit from longer-term rehabilitation programs, day treatment programs, or outpatient programs. These programs involve education, therapy, addressing problems contributing to or resulting from the alcoholism, and learning skills to manage the alcoholism over time.

There are many national and local resources that can help. The National Drug and Alcohol Treatment Referral Routing Service provides a toll-free telephone number, 1-800-662-HELP (4357), offering various resource information. Through this service you can speak directly to a representative concerning substance abuse treatment, request printed material on alcohol or other drugs, or obtain local substance abuse treatment referral information in your State.
Many people also find support groups a helpful aid to recovery.