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Alcoholism

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(PD) Image: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Images of a 61-year-old healthy man (upper images) and a 60-year-old alcoholic man (lower images). Note on the MRI the thinner corpus callosum displaced upward by enlarged ventricles and, on the DTI, less well delineated white matter tracts in the alcoholic man compared with the healthy man.
(PD) Image: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Images of a 61-year-old healthy man (upper images) and a 60-year-old alcoholic man (lower images). Note on the MRI the thinner corpus callosum displaced upward by enlarged ventricles and, on the DTI, less well delineated white matter tracts in the alcoholic man compared with the healthy man.

Alcoholism is a chronic condition, the development and presentation of which is influenced by genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors. As a disease process, it is often progressive, and sometimes fatal. Alcholism is typically characterized by impaired impulse control, preoccupation with alcohol, continued use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and a generalized distortion in thinking. While the condition itself is considered chronic, the symptom profile may present either continuously or periodically." [1]

Contents

Alcoholic styles

Chronic drinking

Maintenance drinking

Binge drinking

Blackout drinking

Recovery styles

The 'dry drunk'

In recovery

Post-recovery

Treatment

Medications

Baclofen

Baclofen is a a selective GABA B-receptor agonist that in a single trial of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis improved abstinence rates (71% versus 29%) over three months.[2]

Disulfiram

A randomized controlled trial showed benefit from disulfiram [3]

Topiramate

A randomized controlled trial of volunteers showed benefit from topiramate.[2]

Naltrexone

Randomized controlled trials show conflicting benefit from naltrexone with benefit among recent abstainers[4] and no benefit from chronic users[5].

See also

Alcohol (drug)

References

  1. ↑ National Library of Medicine. Alcoholism. Retrieved on 2007-12-06.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2007. Lancet
  3. ↑ Fuller RK, Branchey L, Brightwell DR, et al (1986). "Disulfiram treatment of alcoholism. A Veterans Administration cooperative study". JAMA 256 (11): 1449–55. PMID 3528541.
  4. ↑ Anton RF, O'Malley SS, Ciraulo DA, et al (2006). "Combined pharmacotherapies and behavioral interventions for alcohol dependence: the COMBINE study: a randomized controlled trial". JAMA 295 (17): 2003–17. DOI:10.1001/jama.295.17.2003. PMID 16670409.
  5. ↑ Krystal JH, Cramer JA, Krol WF, Kirk GF, Rosenheck RA (2001). "Naltrexone in the treatment of alcohol dependence". N. Engl. J. Med. 345 (24): 1734–9. DOI:10.1056/NEJMoa011127. PMID 11742047.
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