Alcohol abuse epidemiology

The 1992 National Longitudinal Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey (NLAES), based on interviews with a national probability household sample of nearly 43,000 adults age 18 years and older, showed the 1-year prevalence of DSM-IV alcohol use disorder to be 7.4% (i.e., 3.0% with alcohol abuse and 4.4% with alcohol dependence) (Grant et al. 1994). Findings from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a community-based survey of nearly 43,000 individuals conducted in 2001—2002 (Grant... 

While initiation of the use of substances is often in middle and high school, chronic use may be established in young adulthood. The National Alcohol Epidemiologic Survey reported that 16.2% of its 18- to 29-year-old sample met criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence.3... 

Crum., R., Bucholz, K., Helzer, J., and Anthony, J. (1992) The risk of alcohol abuse and dependence in adulthood the association with educational level. Am J of Epidemiology 135 989— 999. 

Regier DA, Farmer ME, Rae DS, et al Comorhidity of mental disorders with alcohol and other drug abuse results from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area (EGA) Smdy. JAMA 264 2511-2518, 1990... 

Harper MH, Winter PM, Johnson BH, et al Withdrawal convulsions in mice following nitrous oxide. Anesth Analg 59 19—21, 1980 Hasin D,Nunes E, MeydanJ Comorbidity of alcohol, drug, and psychiatric disorders epidemiology, in Dual Diagnosis and Psychiatric Treatment Substance Abuse and Comorbid Disorders, 2nd Edition. Edited by Kranzler HR, Tinsley JA. New York, Marcel Dekker, 2004, pp 1-34... 

Epidemiological research suggests that probably 10 to 20% of the population of the United States may have problems related to substance use, with approximately 5 % of the population having problems with drugs other than alcohol (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2003). The most widely abused substances in the United States are alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, but the typical pattern is for a person to abuse more than one substance at a time. An example might be that a person may smoke both cigarettes and marijuana, or may use both cocaine and heroin. 

The role of alcoholic cirrhosis in the development of PHC is thus difficult to assess on the basis of current epidemiological evidence. Only about 8-10% of chronic abusers of ethanol develop cirrhosis. Although 50% or more of those with PHC in Western countries have cirrhosis, only 10% or less of those with cirrhosis develop PHC. The diseases appear to be closely linked, but the relative importance of cirrhosis in the development of PHC is not known. To complicate the situation, experimental evidence on the pathology of alcoholic cirrhosis has been difficult to obtain. 

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