There are a number of tests and tools used to identify possible alcoholism symptoms. Many of these tools are self-administered or professionally administered questionnaires. These are designed to help the alcohol abuser identify his or her own symptoms of addiction.

There are five major tests used by addiction counselors and alcohol abuse programs. These include the CAGE questionnaire, the Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire, the Michigan Alcohol Screening Test, the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the Paddington Alcohol Test. To learn more about each one, keep reading.

The CAGE

The CAGE Questionnaire is an acronym based on the four simple questions that it uses. It is a popular test because it’s simple and often takes seconds to administer. To identify or diagnose addiction, a respondent must answer “yes” to two of the following questions. Have you ever thought you should cut down on drinking? Have your family and friends ever addressed or criticized your drinking? Do you feel guilty about your drinking? Do you ever need a drink to start your day or to alleviate a hangover?

The person is then initially diagnosed with alcoholism if answering “yes” to two or more of the above questions. It’s designed specifically for alcoholism and not intended to be used to identify other drug dependencies.

The ADDQ (Alcohol Dependence Data Questionnaire)

The ADDQ not only attempts to identify alcohol dependence, but also determine the severity of that dependence. It’s a little more comprehensive than other tests and typically takes a few minutes to administer.

The ADDQ is used mostly throughout Europe and the UK, but it’s also utilized in some areas of the United States. It consists of 15 questions and actually gives respondents a score on a scale of 0 to 45. A score that comes in higher than 20 typically infers a high level of alcohol dependence.

The Michigan Alcohol Screening Test (MAST)

The Michigan Alcohol Screening Test is used primarily by the justice system as a way of determining an individual’s dependence on alcohol and is often used when considering sentencing for any alcohol-related offenses.

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT)

The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test was first developed by the World Health Organization. It is administered all over the world and is the official test in six countries.

AUDIT is comprised of ten simple questions. The first group of questions deals with alcohol consumption levels, the next focuses on alcohol dependence and the remaining group covers alcohol related issues or problems.

The Paddington Alcohol Test

The PAT was created for emergency health workers to use when dealing with someone who had a possibly alcohol-related injury or was in the ER due to hazardous drinking. It’s intended to identify alcohol abuse issues so that the patient may be directed to the proper care and resources.

These five tests are each intended to determine a respondent’s level of dependence on alcohol and associated alcoholism symptoms. Each has been validated, is used in the field and is designed for a particular purpose.

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Binge drinking is most often linked to college campus fraternity parties, dorm escapades and athletic event celebrations. Walking down the street on the campus of the University of Wisconsin on our way to Camp Randall Stadium for a football game, we see the young men hanging out dorm rooms, frat houses and apartment buildings, guzzling beer and ten sheets to the wind at 11:00 in the morning. Call it a right of passage, or just something young men in college do, but it has potential for being very deadly. Beyond drunk is alcohol poisoning and the party is over.

Simply put, alcohol poisoning is the body absorbing too much alcohol over a short period of time. The college campus binge drinking is a good example, but it happens just about anywhere, any time. It can also be caused by drinking ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, or methyl alcohol (wood alcohol). Home made alcohol such as moonshine or white lightning can be potentially very dangerous. The body can only take so much. Because alcohol depresses the central nervous system, massive amounts of alcohol, or the wrong kind of alcohol in heavy amounts, not only can cause a person to pass out, but stop breathing as well.

The slowing of breathing is just one sign of trouble. Before they pass out, a person might have vomiting, be confused or in a kind of drunken stupor, their temperature might drop and their skin might have a “blue” tinge to it. They may experience seizures. Even if all of these symptoms are not present, alcohol poisoning might still be happening. If someone has had way too much and passes out, they may be at risk of dying.

Binge drinking at parties is intentional, but alcohol poisoning can occur quite unintentionally. Take for example the child who drinks a household product like mouthwash, or an over-the-counter medication. Their little system may not handle the ethanol content in those. Other products like rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol), or hand sanitizers, or other cleaning products are dangerous. Kids have been known to drink antifreeze.

Most alcohol poisoning cases are, however, from drinking too much alcoholic beverage. Your body can probably handle a 12-ounce beer and eliminate the alcohol from your body in about an hour, if you don’t have another beer. But what if you have three or four beers in an hour, which is not at all uncommon? What if you have a few beers each our over several hours? Your blood alcohol content is going to go up. Take this simple fact and accelerate it, as in the case of binge drinking, and you can see the potential for trouble. The body just can’t keep up. Even after you stop drinking, your blood alcohol level can go up because the stomach passes the beer into your colon.

So often at college parties where the beer is flowing, maybe people are doing shots, there’s always that one person who passes out drunk. “Oh, there’s Hal, he’s passed out. Let him sleep.” His friends don’t necessarily think he’s in trouble. Maybe he’s not, but alcohol poisoning is serious business. One thing to do if you suspect your friend is in trouble is to call 911, or call 800-222-1222, which will connect you to a local poison control center. Just letting him sleep is not a good idea. The help on the phone will guide you through the process and instruct you on what to do. They will probably ask you what he has been drinking, so offer that information. One thing not to do is let your friend vomit. Remember that his central nervous system is depressed and his gag reflex might be impaired. He might choke to death.

Alcohol poisoning requires medical intervention and some of the treatments include oxygen treatment, airway precautions to prevent him from choking and help him breathe, intravenous fluids (alcohol causes dehydration) and even dialysis to rid the blood of alcohol and toxins. If a person has really consumed a lot of alcohol, the first 24 hours of this treatment can be touchy.

The way to prevent alcohol poisoning is moderation. But sometimes “moderation” is a meaningless word. What is moderation? As a guideline, it’s one drink a day for women and two drinks for men. It’s a 12-ounce beer, or 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of liquor. For an alcoholic, moderation means nothing. People with the disease can’t stop drinking and, therefore, are at risk of alcohol poisoning.

The guy passed out at a frat party, or the alcohol abuser who’s had a very bad day, or the alcoholic who craves a drink when they get up in the morning, are not in a position to help themselves necessarily, and so it becomes necessary for friends, family and co-workers to assist. They may look like they’re peacefully sleeping it off when they’re passed out on the couch, but it’s only when they don’t get up when we realize something was wrong.

Am I my brother’s keeper? Yes.

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Although the use of the term ‘alcoholism’ is common, it has varying definitions. It usually refers to any condition which causes a person to keep drinking alcohol despite the evident negative medical and social consequences. The compulsion to drink alcohol, and a lack of awareness of the negative effects of heavy drinking are also referred to as ‘alcoholism’. Not all definitions of alcoholism specify that recent or continuous intake of alcohol is a required, and some note the long-term effects of alcoholism such as
symptoms of withdrawal.

The behaviour regarding alcohol consumption which leads to alcoholism varies wildly. It is impossible to predict the probability of becoming an alcoholic based on drinking habits, though obviously some alcohol intake is required. The biological processes which cause alcohol dependence are not fully understood, though influences such as mental health, genetic predisposition and social surroundings have been researched.

The word ‘alcoholism’ was first used in Sweden by Dr. Huss in 1849, but it was not brought into common usage until the 1940s with the founding of the Alcoholics Anonymous. The AA didn’t have a clear definition for the disease, so they likened it to a kind of allergy.

A study done in 1960 by Dr. Jellinek put forward the modern theory that alcoholism is a disease. Although the medical definition in usage has been altered since, the perception of alcoholism as a disease has a large influence and following. A few medical experts still content that alcoholism is not a disease and refer to it instead as ‘heavy drinking’ when talking about alcohol dependence.

Multiple tools are available to those wishing to conduct screening for alcoholism. Identification of alcoholism may be difficult because there is no detectable physiologic difference between a person who drinks frequently and a person with the condition. Identification involves an objective assessment regarding the damage that imbibing alcohol does to the drinker’s life compared to the subjective benefits the drinker perceives from consuming alcohol. While there are many cases where an alcoholic’s life has been significantly and obviously damaged, there are always borderline cases that can be difficult to classify.

The primary effect of alcoholism is to encourage the sufferer to drink at times and in amounts that are damaging. The secondary damage caused by an inability to control one’s drinking manifests in many ways.

It is common for a person suffering from alcoholism to drink well after physical health effects start to manifest. The physical health effects associated with alcohol consumption may include cirrhosis of the liver, pancreatitis, epilepsy, polyneuropathy, alcoholic dementia, heart disease, increased chance of cancer, nutritional deficiencies, sexual dysfunction, and death from many sources.

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In order to cure alcoholism it is first necessary to wipe out the addiction to alcohol. A doctor views alcoholism as a disease, the definition of which is a mental or physical state which interferes with the normal workings of the body. Disease in general can lead to a feeling of discomfort, dysfunction, disturbed behavior, syndromes, distress or it can even result in causing death.

In general, as the name would suggest, alcoholism will prevent the patient from kicking the habit of alcohol consumption. The patient’s craving for alcohol would be similar to our actual need for water and will tend to continue consuming alcohol even though his health will be put at risk. The signs soon tell in the patient’s behavior as he becomes more defiant and the withdrawal symptoms more obvious and should the vital organs get damaged, then death is not far away.

When it comes to actually looking for a cure to alcoholism, guilt will play a major factor as the urge to drink alcohol starts earlier in the day and the quantities increase with the hope of just forgetting the matter at hand. This is the point when medical support should be contemplated in order to cure alcoholism.

Screening and Diagnosis: At first the normal symptoms of alcoholism such as memory loss, dyspepsia, pain and weakness could actually be confused with similar signs of old age. So a Doctor will confirm his suspected diagnosis by prescribing a screen test as well as the patient having to fill out a standard questionnaire.

Withdrawal Symptoms: Should an alcoholic be denied access to alcohol at a fixed hour, then you will begin to see withdrawal symptoms set in such as sickness, head aches, pains, uneasiness etc. This state of mind can be confirmed by either the patient or someone very close to him.

Blood Alcohol Tests: This test is important to show what the alcohol consumption is at any particular time and is carried out in DUI accident cases. Although this test gives some insight, it does not give any clear indication of problems caused by long term alcohol consumption.

Tests should also be carried out on the kidneys, liver and for reduced testosterone levels (in men), in order to establish how alcohol has become a determining factor in damaging our health. The red blood cells are also tested to see if they have become larger, as this is a symptom of alcoholism. Another test indicates “carbohydrate-deficient transferring”, which is also another symptom of heavy alcohol consumption.

Treatment: The negative factor with alcoholics is that they will always deny having alcohol addicted related health problems. The main reason being that they know quite well that it would lead to them having to give up their daily dosage of alcohol. It is so important that family and friends insist on initiating treatment to stop this terrible developing into something even more damaging. There are several treatments available depending on each individual, although in general it will consist of either an outpatient program or a residential inpatient treatment.

Evaluating the Level of Dependence: First of all we have to establish the level of dependency to alcohol as a certain craving level may still exist. Counseling is an ideal way to find out just where stand, followed by an alcohol reduction plan to help overcome the body’s negative response.

Intervention by Specialists: Normal practice involves specialized alcohol addiction medics determining a specific treatment strategy. This will of course include counseling with relative behavior therapy, prevention therapy, the identification of paranoidism and beliefs that lead to psychological stress, learning how to cope with traumatic events, learning how to put mind over matter, behavioral modification techniques, the use of self-help manuals. Once all this has been put into practice then it is time for follow-up care in a treatment center.

Residential Alcoholism Cure: If you realise that you life has become dependent on alcohol, then just reducing the quantity of alcohol consumed may not prove to be effective. You should consider the option of going to a residential treatment program such as curing alcoholism, individual and group therapy, abstinence, taking part in alcoholism help groups, educational chats on alcoholism cures etc.

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Throughout the years many different people have tried to prevent the use of alcohol. Doctors, religious leaders, governments, and even husbands and wives but with all their efforts combined, the levels of alcoholism in the home and workplace has risen drastically. Alcoholism affects more and more people each year. Some of it is learned behavior passed down through the previous generation, specifically from the parents, but not always.

One key way in preventing alcoholism is to stop the cycle within the family unit before it is passed down to another generation of children. With all the mysteries still surrounding alcoholism, this strategy is not an absolute guarantee that alcoholism won’t rear its ugly head again. Sometimes alcoholism “skips” a generation. For instance, a child may grow up in an alcoholic home, growing to despise alcohol and all of its damaging traits, and never drink. This child grows into adulthood, marries and has children of their own. Later, their children grow and one of them becomes an alcoholic even though there was rarely any booze around them.

Another key in preventing alcoholism is education. Informing children of the dangers of underage drinking will help in increasing their chances of not becoming alcoholic. The longer a person can go, growing from child to adult without drinking, the better their chances. The seed of alcoholism is usually planted at an early age and if they start drinking, say, as an adolescent or teenager, their chances of becoming alcoholic increase. Not everyone who drinks as a teenager will become alcoholic. Though, there are cases where individuals became alcoholic even though they hadn’t started drinking alcohol until their mid-twenties.

The absolute best way to prevent alcoholism and be guaranteed a person will not end up alcoholic is for them to remain totally and completely abstinent. An individual will have the greatest chance of never becoming alcoholic if they don’t ever drink. But in this day and age, wishing for someone to never experiment with alcohol at all in their lifetime may be a fruitless endeavor. Somewhere, sometime, they will be offered alcohol. But unlike many other drugs, one drink of alcohol will not make a person an alcoholic. Usually what happens is the individual will enjoy the effects alcohol has on them and they will pursue it again and again until eventually dependency develops. How long it takes for dependency to accrue in the body is anybody’s guess. A few months of hard drinking may cause dependence in one person where a few years of hard drinking in another will not.

If someone has a predisposition to becoming alcoholic, it is best to try and have them stop drinking as soon and as early as possible. But if their inclination is more toward alcoholic, they may already be on a path that only they will be able to get off of. Outside influence will have little effect on quelling their drinking. If you have tried everything under the sun to stop drinking but have been unsuccessful, help yourself by accepting outside help. The odds are against you of being successful by yourself. Why not increase the odds and your chances of getting sober and staying sober by admitting yourself to a treatment facility? You and everyone around you deserve it.

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Alcoholism statistics do not lie and there are many statistics. First, there are statistics on what type of alcoholic you may fall into. Believe it or not, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has stated that there are five types of alcoholics. Even more surprising is that the largest group of alcoholics in the US is young adults. Out of the five types of alcoholics, nearly 31.5% fall into the young adult’s category. Out of that 31.5% nearly 20% of them function just as well as a person who doesn’t drink does.

The next type of alcoholic is the young antisocial alcoholics. This category is made up of people in their mid twenties who began drinking at an early age. More than half of them have grown up with alcoholism in their families and at least half of them have been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. The rest have suffered from depression, or anxiety also. Surprising there are nearly 20% of alcoholics who are functional alcoholics. Half of these alcoholics are smokers and are all almost middle age, with stable jobs and families. Nearly 19% of alcoholics are considered intermediate familial alcoholics and 9% are classified as chronic severe alcoholics. The severe alcoholics are also the most prevalent type of alcoholics who will seek treatment for their problems.

Nearly 9.8 million men report having a drinking problem while almost 3.9 million women have a drinking problem. That is almost three times as many men as women. However nearly half of the US both male and female have one or more member or friend with a drinking problem and almost 43% of adults have been exposed to alcoholism. Nearly 8 million children under the age of 18 have an alcoholic parent.

Now, let’s look at the statistics of what alcohol and alcoholism can cause. Each year nearly 100,000 deaths are due to alcohol. 1/3 of those deaths are from suicides, and accidents like car crashes, or drowning. This has made alcohol the third leading cause of preventable deaths. Speaking of car crashes, nearly half of all the car accidents that happen are due to alcohol or drunk driving.

Another effect of alcoholism in pregnant women is fetal alcohol syndrome. There are more newborns born today that are affected by fetal alcohol syndrome, alcohol related neurodevelopment disorder, and alcohol-related birth defects then any other birth defect. This includes Down Syndrome, spina bifida and SIDS combined. Nearly 15,000 infants are born each year with fetal alcohol syndrome. Sadly this number could be greatly reduced if women avoid alcohol during her pregnancy.

The statistics do not lie. Alcoholism is a serious problem that has affected nearly half of our population. Do you know that one out of every thirteen Americans is probably an alcoholic? Chances are you know someone who is an alcoholic.

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Alcohol has been implicated as a factor that may hurt your efforts to lose body fat. Whether alcohol is “fattening” has been a very controversial subject because technically speaking, alcohol is NOT stored as fat; it is oxidized ahead of other fuels.

Whether moderate drinking is healthy has also been a subject of controversy. Many studies show that cardiovascular health benefits are associated with moderate beer or wine drinking (which has been of particular interest lately with reservatrol in the news so much), while other studies show improved insulin sensitivity. Some experts however, say that alcohol has no place in a fitness lifestyle.

A recent study published in the journal Obesity adds new findings to our knowledge about alcohol, insulin resistance and abdominal obesity. Analysis of the results as compared to other studies also gives us some insights into why some people seem to drink and get fat while others seem to drink and get thin!

The truth about the beer belly phenomenon

This new study, by Ulf Riserus and Erik Inglesson, was based on the Swedish Uppsala Longitudinal cohort. The researchers found that alcohol intake in older men did not improve insulin sensitivity, which contradicted their own hypothesis and numerous previous studies. They also said there was a very “robust” association between alcohol intake, waist circumference and waist to hip ratio. They pointed out that a high alcohol intake, especially hard liquor, was closely associated with abdominal body fat, not just overall body mass.

Abdominal fat accumulation is not just a cosmetic problem, it can be a serious health risk. Abdominal fat, also known as “android” or “central” obesity, increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, glucose intolerance and elevated insulin levels.

Many other studies have also found a link between alcohol intake and abdominal fat, but this too has been controversial. A study that was widely publicized by the BBC in 2003 dismissed the concept of the “beer belly.” Nevertheless, it looks like there’s some scientific support to it after all (or at least a “liquor belly” according to this newer study). Hormones may be strongly involved because high alcohol intake has been shown to decrease blood testosterone in men, and also increase cortisol levels, which can lead to visceral fat accumulation.

Why is there so much controversy? Why the discrepancy in research findings about alcohol’s influence on obesity, abdominal fat, and insulin sensitivity?

Well, here’s the real story of why some people don’t get fat when they drink:

A lot of the confusion is because epidemiological research cannot show cause and effect relationships and mistakes can easily be made when drawing associations based on limited data.

With the nature of these longitudinal studies, you have to look at the lifestyle and nature of drinkers in general (or in this study, hard liquor drinkers). Also, the Swedish study focused on older men, so age may have been a factor. You may be more likely to deposit alcohol right on your belly as you get older. When you hear that alcohol increases belly fat, you also have to look at what else is going on in the life of the drinker, particularly what the rest of a person’s diet looks like, and how alcohol intake affects appetite and eating habits.

Research says that alcohol can mess up your body’s perception of hunger, satiety and fullness. If drinking stimulates additional eating, or adds additional calories that aren’t compensated for and which lead to positive energy balance, then you get fat. You may also get fat in the belly, no thanks to what booze does to hormones.

Another thing that confounds the reports on whether alcohol contributes to weight gain is the fact that the game changes in heavy drinkers. We know that alcohol contains 7.1 calories per gram and these calories always count as part of the energy balance equation… or do they? With chronic excessive alcohol consumption, it’s possible that not all of these calories are available for energy. Due to changes in liver function and something called the microsomal ethanol oxidizing system (MEOS), alcoholism may be a real case of where some calories don’t count. Many alcoholics also skip meals and eat less with increasing alcohol consumption.

Alcohol metabolizing pathways notwithstanding, even if binge drinkers, daily drinkers or heavy drinkers consume most of their calories from alcohol, if they eat very little, and remain in a calorie deficit, they will not get fat. Compound this with the hormonal effects and you witness the skinny, but under-nourished, unhealthy and atrophied alcoholic (the person you’d think would be most likely to have a beer belly).

It’s the calories that count

The bottom line is, the idea that alcohol just automatically turns into fat or gives you a beer belly is mistaken. It’s true that alcohol suppresses fat oxidation, but mainly, alcohol adds calories into your diet, messes with your hormones and can stimulate appetite, leading to even more calories consumed. That’s where the fat gain comes from.

If you drink in moderation, if you’re aware of the calories in the alcohol, if you’re aware of the calories from additional food intake consumed during or after drinking, and if you compensate for all of the above accordingly, you won’t get fat. Now, with that said, you might be wondering: “You mean I can drink and still lose fat? I just need to keep in a calorie deficit?”

Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. But before you rush off to the pub for a cold one, hold that thought for a minute while you consider this first: The empty alcohol calories displace the nutrient dense calories!

When you’re on a fat loss program you have a fairly small “calorie budget”, so you need to give some careful thought to how those calories should be “spent.” For example, if a female is on a 1500 calorie per day diet, does she really want to “spend” 500 of those calories – one third of her intake – for a few alcoholic drinks, and leave only 1000 for health-promoting food, fiber and lean muscle building protein? I realize some people may answer “yes” to that question, but then again, if some people spent their money as frivolously as they spent their calories, they would be in deep trouble!

To summarize this into some practical, take-home advice, here are 7 of my personal tips for alcohol consumption in the fitness lifestyle:

(1) Don’t drink on a fat loss program. Although you could certainly drink and “get away with it” if you diligently maintained your calorie deficit as noted above, it certainly does not help your fat loss cause or your nutritional status.

(2) Drink in moderation during maintenance. For lifelong weight maintenance and a healthy lifestyle, if you drink, do so in moderation and only occasionally, such as on weekends or when you go out to dine in restaurants. Binge drinking and getting drunk has no place in a fitness lifestyle (not to mention hangovers aren’t very conducive to good workouts).

(3) Don’t drink daily. Moderate drinking, including daily drinking, has been associated with cardiovascular health benefits. However, I don’t recommend daily drinking because behaviors repeated daily become habits. Behaviors repeated multiple times daily become strong habits. Habitual drinking may lead to heavier drinking or full-blown addictions and can be hard to stop if you ever need to cut back.

(4) Count the calories. If you decide to have a bottle of beer or a glass of wine or two (or whatever moderation is for you), be sure to account for the alcohol in your daily calorie budget.

(5) Watch your appetite. Don’t let the “munchies” get control of you during or after you drink (Note to chicken wing and nacho-eating men: The correlation to alcohol and body fat is higher in men in almost all the studies. One possible explanation is that men tend to drink and eat, while women may tend to drink instead of eating).

(6) Watch the fatty foods. When drinking, watch the fatty foods in particular. A study by Angelo Tremblay back in 1995 suggested that alcohol and a high fat diet are a combination that favors overfeeding.

(7) Enjoy without guilt. If you choose to drink (moderately and sensibly), then don’t feel guilty about it or beat yourself up afterwards, just enjoy the darn stuff, will you!

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Do you think that treatment for alcohol is really necessary?

Well, who wants to die in a painful manner like the alcoholic addicts? Today, the world has many options for treating alcoholic patients like medications, natural and emotional. Yes, emotionally also a person can get out of alcoholic addiction. Science has developed one magical pill that helps in curing addiction towards alcohol. The new kinds of drugs introduced by science have a magic to minimize the cravings and urge for Alcohol. These drugs help the patient in satisfying his alcoholic urge via medicine.

Treatment Programs to Cure Alcoholism:

Today, a lot of clubs and government societies are introducing treatment programs for curing the citizens, who are dying because of alcoholism. Treatment programs not only help the addicts in realizing their mistake of being an addict but also make them aware about their responsibility of being a human being. Treatment programs help the addict in feeling guilty for being an addict towards alcohol or drug. It is very important for any person to realize his mistake in order to correct it and these kinds of treatment programs and sessions helps the addicts in realizing their foolishness.

Apart from medicines and treatment programs, there is a wonderful way to cure an alcoholic addict and i.e. emotions. Emotions are a good tool for making any problem solved. By making any person close to the emotion, treatment can be done. It is said that a person is weak by heart and strong by head, which is 100% true! You can cure your closest friend; husband, wife, father and even siblings by making him emotionally drown towards love and care. Thus, love and care helps to treat alcoholism.

You can go through any of the above treatment options for curing an alcoholic addict but remember that each addict has a story behind his addiction, therefore understand the addict before letting him know your treatment procedure. Aware your surroundings and help the planet from being an addict towards alcoholism!

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There remains much debate around the issue of alcoholism as a disease. The side of the debate you are on probably depends on whether or not you or someone you know is an alcoholic. If you have lived with an alcoholic, you probably believe alcoholism is a disease. If you have had little exposure to alcoholism, you may view it simply as a personal choice to drink too much alcohol. You group alcoholism with other excessive behaviors.

For the most part, the medical community treats alcoholism as a disease. In fact, alcoholism is categorized as a chronic and progressive disease. It can progress to a point of fatality. Alcoholics die as a result of vehicular accidents, alcohol poisoning, and liver disease among other complications.

Alcoholism is basically defined as an obsession that evolves into an uncontrollable compulsion for alcohol. There are physical symptoms that help define alcoholism as a disease. Keep in mind that alcoholism is considered a family disease because it impacts everyone living with the alcoholic. This is not a disease that causes pain only to the “patient”. It causes pain and other symptoms such as depression in everyone who loves the alcoholic.

Studies are being conducted to determine if an actual addictive gene exists that predisposes individuals to substance abuse, whether alcohol, nicotine or narcotics. If such a gene is discovered, it may confirm alcoholism as an organic disease. This means it is a latent disorder that an individual is born with, is triggered later in life and develops into a disease.

Opponents of alcoholism as a disease often site the role of environment in alcohol dependency. Two children grow up in an alcoholic family. Assume similar genetics. One child never takes a sip of alcohol. The other becomes an alcoholic like her mother. Can alcoholism be considered a disease when personal conduct and choice is the first step toward deciding to take a drink or not take a drink? The debate is likely to continue into the foreseeable future.

Whether it is a mental obsession or a physical need, alcoholism disease is very much a part of our culture today. If fact, we now regulate the behavior of individuals who have too much to drink. There are laws that prohibit individuals impaired by alcohol from driving. Most companies have policies against alcohol consumption during work hours, including business lunches. You can be arrested for public intoxication. These “rules” appear to support the theory of alcoholism as a personal conduct issue rather than disease. You decide.

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