Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
An alcoholic will continue to drink despite serious family, health, or legal problems. Like many other diseases, alcoholism is chronic, meaning that it lasts a person's lifetime; it usually follows a predictable course; and it has symptoms. The risk for developing alcoholism is influenced both by a person's genes and by his or her lifestyle." [62]
Within the medical and scientific communities, there is a broad consensus regarding alcoholism as a disease state. For example, the American Medical Association considers alcohol a drug and states that "drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use despite often devastating consequences.
Alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) is a set of symptoms that can occur following a reduction in or cessation of alcohol use after a period of excessive use. [1] Symptoms typically include anxiety , shakiness , sweating, vomiting, fast heart rate , and a mild fever. [ 1 ]
Alcohol-related brain damage can have drastic effects on the individuals affected and their loved ones. The options for treatment are very limited compared to other disorders. Although limited, most patients with alcohol-related cognitive deficits experienced slight improvement of their symptoms over the first two to three months of treatment. [8]
Alcohol dependence is differentiated from alcohol abuse by the presence of symptoms such as tolerance and withdrawal. Both alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse are sometimes referred to by the less specific term alcoholism. However, many definitions of alcoholism exist, and only some are compatible with alcohol abuse.
A major focus in the book was a comparison of the various definitions of alcoholism: the medical model, which focuses on the individual's physical addiction and on symptoms such as ulcers or cirrhosis of the liver; the behavioural model, which focuses on alcoholism as an individual choice that may be influenced by environmental factors;
Alcoholism is characterized by a wide range of symptoms including compulsive alcohol seeking and consumption, tolerance (resistance to the effects of alcohol after repeated consumption), and withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, profuse sweating, and uncontrollable shaking upon rapid cessation of drinking. [4]
Substance-related disorders, also known as substance use disorders, are a type of mental disorder that affects a person's brain and behavior, leading to their inability to control their use of substances like legal or illegal drugs, alcohol, or medications. The disorders can lead to large societal problems.