Alcoholism - one of the top healthcare crises in the world

Alcoholism is a chronic disease that often requires intensive continuing treatment for long term recovery, according to "Alcoholism: Treatment and Recovery," a report by the Caron Foundation.

Alcohol abuse is the third highest cause of preventable death in the United States and the most common drug of abuse among people who receive addiction treatment. At Caron, alcohol is the primary drug of abuse identified by 48% of the adult patients upon admission.

"There are many misperceptions about the nature of alcoholism and those affected by it," said Susan Merle Gordon, Ph.D., the report's author. "In treating alcoholism, it is important to remember that it is a disease, not a moral failing or learned behavior, and that it is chronic in nature, increasing the likelihood of relapse even after treatment."

According to the study, patients who adhere to their course of treatment by attending counseling sessions, using prescribed medications, adhering to continuing care recommendations, and following the advice of their care providers concerning lifestyle changes, tend to have better outcomes.

More than 60% of Caron patients who regularly attend some form of aftercare following treatment maintained abstinence from drug or alcohol use, compared with 40% of patients who attended sporadically, and 30% who did not attend an aftercare program.

The report focuses on the problems associated with excessive use of alcohol and identifies current treatment strategies for alcoholism. It discusses alcohol as a chronic medical disease, examines the costs of alcohol abuse, identifies the environmental and genetic risk factors for alcoholism and outlines the various methods for treating alcohol disorders and concludes with a discussion of the predictors of recovery. The report is available online at http://www.caron.org/.