Alcoholism: MedlinePlus [NEW TOPIC PAGE]

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Alcoholism: MedlinePlus

Alcohol Policy | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Alcoholism

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alcoholism.html

Also called: Alcohol dependence

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For most adults, moderate alcohol use is not harmful. However, nearly 17.6 million adults in the United States are alcoholics or have alcohol problems. Alcoholism is a disease with four main features:

• Craving - a strong need to drink
• Loss of control - not being able to stop drinking once you've begun
• Physical dependence - withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating or shakiness after stopping drinking
• Tolerance - the need to drink greater amounts of alcohol in order to get "high"

Alcoholism carries many serious dangers. Heavy drinking can increase the risk of certain cancers. It can cause damage to the liver, brain and other organs. It can cause birth defects. It increases the risk of death from car crashes and other injuries as well as the risk of homicide and suicide.

NIH: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

MEDICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

• Alcohol withdrawal
• Alcoholic ketoacidosis
• Alcoholic liver disease
• Alcoholic neuropathy
• Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse
• Beriberi
• Central pontine myelinolysis
• Delirium tremens
• Diet and substance abuse recovery
• Pellagra
• 
  

  Serum ketones test Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome

  

  

Related Topics

• Alcohol
• Cirrhosis
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
• Underage Drinking
• Substance Abuse Problems
• Alcohol Policy | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
• http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTIwNTI4Ljc4NjAzMzEmbWVzc2FnZWlkPU1EQi1QUkQtQlVMLTIwMTIwNTI4Ljc4NjAzMzEmZGF0YWJhc2VpZD0xMDAxJnNlcmlhbD0xNjk1ODUwNCZlbWFpbGlkPWNlcmFzYWxlMzE0QGdtYWlsLmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9Y2VyYXNhbGUzMTRAZ21haWwuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&132&&&http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/UnderageDrinking/Underage_Fact.pdf
• http://links.govdelivery.com/track?type=click&enid=ZWFzPTEmbWFpbGluZ2lkPTIwMTIwNTI4Ljc4NjAzMzEmbWVzc2FnZWlkPU1EQi1QUkQtQlVMLTIwMTIwNTI4Ljc4NjAzMzEmZGF0YWJhc2VpZD0xMDAxJnNlcmlhbD0xNjk1ODUwNCZlbWFpbGlkPWNlcmFzYWxlMzE0QGdtYWlsLmNvbSZ1c2VyaWQ9Y2VyYXNhbGUzMTRAZ21haWwuY29tJmZsPSZleHRyYT1NdWx0aXZhcmlhdGVJZD0mJiY=&&&127&&&http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/CollegeFactSheet/CollegeFactSheet.pdf

National Institutes of Health

• The primary NIH organization for research on Alcoholism is the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

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