Who gets it?

27% of men and 13% of women in the UK exceed sensible drinking levels.

18 to 24 year-olds, both male and female, are the most likely to exceed the sensible limits.

Certain occupations have a greater incidence of alcohol misuse such as publicans, actors and doctors.

Population studies indicate that the more overall alcohol use that takes place within any culture, the more misuse there will be. Price and availability are important factors in total consumption.

• Withdrawal symptoms sweats, nausea, ‘shakes’ and less commonly delirium tremens (DTs).
• Increased tolerance to alcohol needing to drink more to get the same effect.
• Narrowing of drinking habits drinking the same drink in the same environment.
• Importance of drinking drinking takes precedence over family, work and other factors.
• Relief drinking drinking to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
• Thinking about alcohol even against conscious wishes, for a majority of the time.
• Return to original drinking pattern after abstinence at a rapid rate.

You should seek urgent medical help if severe confusion, fits or bleeding occur in a person know to suffer from alcoholism.

Your GP will want to undertake a full physical examination and undertake a full blood screen with particular emphasis on the liver and clotting functions which are affected from the early stages of the condition.

Before treatment can start it is important that you acknowledge that you have a problem. Once the problem has been accepted, total abstinence is the only effective treatment.

Abstinence should be supported by psychological programs and there may be a need for medication such as tranquilizers or sedatives to help control withdrawal symptoms.

Occasionally, aversion therapy is used, if you take any alcohol within 14 days of this type of therapy it induces very unpleasant side effects.

The initial stages of detoxification usually take 4 to 7 days and these should be followed by a prolonged period of psychological support.