Alcohol problem drinking

Many individuals use alcohol as a short-term means for coping with social and other anxieties, but this can paradoxically lead to harmful drinking and far greater problems. Patients with phobic anxiety are particularly at risk for developing alcohol problems. In addition, the symptoms of alcohol withdrawal may mimic those of an anxiety state the dependent drinker may complain of feeling anxious and restless in the... 

Benzoic acid is generally considered to exhibit an inhibitory effect on microbial growth, although it is of little use for bacterial control, where the greatest problem will occur at pH values above 4, outside the effective limit mentioned above. Improved results are obtained when it is used in conjunction with other preservatives, for example, S02 or sorbic acid, due to synergistic effects. It is interesting to note that the current European Directive, which sets individual limits of 300 rng/1 for sorbic acid and 150 mg/1 for benzoic acid in non-alcoholic flavoured drinks, nevertheless permits a joint preservative use of up to 250 mg/1 sorbic acid with 150 mg/1 benzoic acid. 

People who continue to drink alcohol in spite of adverse medical or social consequences related directly to their alcohol consumption suffer from alcoholism, a complex disorder that appears to have genetic as well as environmental determinants. The societal and medical costs of alcohol abuse are staggering. It is estimated that about 30% of all people admitted to hospitals have coexisting alcohol problems. Once in the hospital, people with chronic alcoholism generally have poorer outcomes. In addition, each year thousands of children are born in the USA with morphologic and functional defects resulting from prenatal exposure to ethanol. Despite the investment of many resources and much basic research, alcoholism remains a common chronic disease that is difficult to treat. 

Alcohol abuse is a pattern of problem drinking that results in health consequences, social problems, or both. 

Another reason the Japanese did not develop an epidemic of alcohol problems may be biological. The phenomenon of importance here is the Asian flushing response." It is a physical reaction that occurs with drinking alcohol it consists of cutaneous flushing and sometimes other symptoms, including palpitations, tachycardia, perspiration, and headache. As the name implies, the reaction occurs in Asians but not in people of other races. 

Brief interventions can be as simple as feedback about the consequences of heavy alcohol use for a person (for example, You have some liver problems, and we can trace it to your drinking ) or advice to cut down or stop drinking. They are based on the idea that alcohol problems exist on a continuum of severity and that interventions can occur at any point along that continuum. The research has shown that for the most part brief interventions have been used with people who have mild to moderate alcohol problems they are effective compared to no treatment in reducing alcohol consumption to below risk levels. There is some speculation about who is most helped by brief interventions and why they work. These clearly are topics for future research. 

J. S., Quigley, L. A. (1993). Harm reduction for alcohol problems Moving beyond the controlled drinking controversy. Behavior Therapy, 24,461-504. 

Beriberi is a neurological and cardiovascular disorder that is caused by a deficiency of thiamine (also called vitamin Bj). It has been a serious health problem in Asia and continues to be in those places where rice is the main staple food. The problem is exacerbated if the rice is dehusked (polished) because only the outer layers of the seeds contain appreciable amounts of thiamine. Beriberi also occurs in some malnourished chronic alcoholics, so to avoid this problem in some countries certain alcohol-containing drinks are fortified with thiamine. Beriberi is characterized by pain in the limbs, weak muscles, abnormal skin sensation, and an enlarged heart with inadequate cardiac output. Which biochemical processes are affected by thiamine deficiency ... 

Butters, J. E., R. G. Smart, R. E. Mann and M. Asbridge (2005). Illicit drug use, alcohol use and problem drinking among infrequent and frequent road ragers. Drug Alcohol Depend., 80,169-175. 

---