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Substance Abuse and Addiction- Alcohol the most Abused drug

Alcohol addiction — Substance abuse and addiction are not friendly to anyone but the good news is whatever drug you are addicted to be it alcohol there is hope of recovery

In your neighborhood probably there is a bar or just any place ware legal is sold and you will confess that in those places there are individuals who will never miss visiting those joints not even for one day. These are the people I want to talk about in this article. Moderate alcohol consumption may not be that bad health wise and in fact can be soothing and relaxing. However when consumed disorderly alcohol can be poisonous and injurious to human life in many ways which includes traffic accidents, homicides, suicide and rape, alcohol abuse also has adverse effects on social and domestic life ranging from absconding employment duties, spousal and child abuse and even crime.

Those who take alcohol are likely experience changes in their bodies immediately as mood changes to complete loss of coordination, vision, balance, and speech these changes can be attributed to acute intoxication or just drunkenness. It is important for the public to know that the authorities regard a rate of 0.08% of alcohol in the bloodstream as evidence of intoxication. If the rate becomes more in the blood then this can impair brain function and eventually cause unconsciousness but an extreme overdose is serious alcohol poisoning and can be fatal.

Substance Abuse and Addiction- Understanding Alcohol Abuse

Chronic alcoholism is a potentially fatal disease characterized by continuous craving for amplified tolerance of physical dependence upon and loss of control over alcohol consumption. The physical dependence on alcohol differs with individual consumer with some chronic alcoholics get very drunk and others exercise enough control to give the appearance of coping with everyday affairs in a near-normal way. However, alcoholism can lead to a number of physical ailments, including hypoglycemia, high blood pressure, brain and heart damage, end-stage liver damage, enlarged blood vessels in the skin, pneumonia, tuberculosis, chronic gastritis, and recurrent pancreatitis.

The consequences of alcoholism may include: impotence in men, damage to the fetus in pregnant women, and an elevated risk of cancer of the larynx, esophagus, liver, breast, stomach, pancreas, and upper gastrointestinal tract. And also because alcoholics rarely have proper diets, they are at a high risk of being malnourish. Nevertheless high level consumers will have impaired liver function with one in five developing cirrhosis.

Symptoms of Alcohol Abuse

If you have to take good precaution to be free from being an alcoholic, you must know the signs and symptoms of alcohol abuse and the following are just but a few:

Short-term blackouts or memory loss.
Repeated arguments or fights with family members or friends as well as irritability, depression, or mood swings.
Continuing use of alcohol to relax, to cheer up, to sleep, to deal with problems, or to feel “normal.”
Headache, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, or other unpleasant symptoms when you stop drinking.
Flushed skin and broken capillaries on the face; a husky voice; trembling hands; bloody or black/tarry stools or vomiting blood; chronic diarrhea; and drinking alone, in the mornings, or in secret; these symptoms are specifically associated with alcoholism.

Keep in mind that alcohol abuse is different from alcohol dependence.

With abuse, a person uses alcohol in excess but may not have regular cravings, a need to use daily, or withdrawal symptoms during sudden stoppage. The person may often have heavy alcohol binge episodes separated by periods of not drinking.
If a person is dependent on alcohol, he or she needs to drink regularly or even daily and drink more and more to get the same effects. The person also experiences withdrawal symptoms if he or she stops drinking and wants to quit drinking alcohol but can’t.

Substance Abuse and Addiction- Treatments for Alcoholism

The ultimate objective of treatment for alcoholism is abstinence. Among alcoholics with otherwise good health, social support, and motivation, the chances of regaining is good. About 50% to 60% remain abstinent at the end of a year’s treatment and a majority of those break dry permanently. However those with poor social support, poor motivation, or psychiatric disorders have a tendency to relapse within a few years of treatment. For these people, success is measured by longer periods of abstinence, reduced use of alcohol, better health, and improved social functioning.

Substance Abuse and Addiction- Conventional Medicine for Alcoholism

Treatment for alcoholism can begin only when the alcoholic accepts that the problem exists and agrees to stop drinking. They will have to understand that alcoholism is treatable and must desire to change and to diligently follow the three treatment procedures:

Detoxification (detox): This may be needed immediately after stopping alcohol use and can be a medical emergency, as detox can result in withdrawal seizures, hallucinations, delirium tremens (DT), and in some cases may result in death.
Rehabilitation: This involves counseling and medications to give the recovering alcoholic the skills needed for maintaining sobriety. This step in treatment can be done inpatient or outpatient. Both are equally effective.
Maintenance of sobriety: This step’s success requires an alcoholic to be self-driven. The key to maintenance is support, which often includes regular Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings and getting a sponsor.

Because detoxification does not stop the craving for alcohol, recovery is often difficult to maintain. For a person in an early stage of alcoholism, discontinuing alcohol use may result in some withdrawal symptoms, including anxiety and poor sleep. Withdrawal from long-term dependence may bring the uncontrollable shaking, spasms, panic, and hallucinations of DTs. If not treated professionally, people with DTs have a mortality rate of more than 10%, so detoxification from late-stage alcoholism should be attempted under the care of an experienced doctor and may require a brief inpatient stay at a hospital or treatment center.

Treatment may involve one or more medications. Benzodiazepines are anti-anxiety drugs used to treat withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety and poor sleep and to prevent seizures and delirium. These are the most frequently used medications during the detox phase, at which time they are usually tapered and then discontinued. They must be used with care, since they may be addictive.

There are several medicines used to help people in recovery from alcoholism maintain abstinence and sobriety. One drug, disulfiram may be used once the detox phase is complete and the person is abstinent. It interferes with alcohol metabolism so that drinking a small amount will cause nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, confusion, and breathing difficulty. This medication is most appropriate for alcoholics who are highly motivated to stop drinking or whose medication use is supervised, because the drug does not affect the motivation to drink. Our job is to help you get better and be free from any form of addiction and that is why at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center Doctor Akoury who is the founder is offering a focused Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) treatment with the sole intension to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE when this is done you will not only have a testimony but life a productive and happy life free from addiction.