Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism is a disorder of structure or function in a human, animal, or plant, especially one that produces specific symptoms or that affects a specific location and is not simply a direct result of physical injury.
What is Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism ?
Alcoholism is a condition when a person have signs of physical addiction to alcohol and continues to drink , despite problems with physical and psychological health. Alcohol abuse is when person's drinking habits leads to problems, but not physical addiction.
These problems can lead to a number of harmful physical, psychological and socioeconomic effects such as alcohol poisoning, cirrhosis of the liver, inability to work and socialize and destructive behaviors(violence and vandalism).
Alcoholism is not a gender related disease.
Alcohol Abuse Symptoms
People who have alcoholism or alcohol abuse often:
- Continue to drink, even after knowing the ill effects of drinking
- Drink alone
- Become hostile when asked about drinking
- Unable to control drinking
- Make excuses to drink
- Miss work or school, or have a decrease in performance because of drinking
- Stop taking part in activities because of alcohol
- Need to consume alcohol on most days to get through the day
- Become violent if somebody tries to stop them to drink
In addition, physical problems also
develops. Alcoholics suffer from disturbing memory lapses called
blackouts. Alcoholics eat poorly because their irritated liver and
inflamed digestive systems leads to heart burns and nausea.
The warning signs are "slurred speech, alcohol odour".
"Dry drunk syndrome" is a syndrome characterized by short temper, irritability and restlessness.Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Causes
The medical professional will perform a physical examination and ask
questions about person's medical and family history, including use of
alcohol.
Tests to rule out, if a person is alcoholic or not:
• Blood alcohol level
• Complete blood count
• Liver function test
• Magnesium blood testAlcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Diagnosis
Treating alcoholism depends on how much a person drinks. Further treatment options are:
-
Detoxification - It involves a nurse or doctor supporting the person
to safely give up drinking. It can be done by helping the person to
slowly reduce the alcohol intake over time or by medications. Thus
reducing the withdrawal symptoms
-
Counseling - It includes self-help groups and talking therapies, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)
-
Medication - There are two main types of medicines to facilitate a
person to stop drinking. The first is to help reduce withdrawal symptoms
and is generally given in tapering doses over a short period of time.
The most common medicine that’s used in this way is called
chlodiazapoxide (Librium). The another medication to reduce any urge
that one may have to drink. The most common medications used for this
are acamprosate and naltrexone; these medicines are given at a fixed
dose and you'll usually be on them for 6-12 months.