Few Americans seek treatment to kill their alcohol-abuse demons

An analysis of a U.S. sample of alcoholics revealed that more than 30 percent of American adults have abused alcohol or suffered from alcoholism at some point in their lifetime. Researchers compiled their findings in a study that was published in Monday's Archives of General Psychiatry.

In their study, based on a new analysis of the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, the researchers said that nearly one in three Americans abuse or become dependent on alcohol over the course of their lives, and most never seek treatment.

To reach their findings, the Govt. researchers conducted a survey of 43,093 U.S. adults of 18-years and older who were questioned in person in 2001 and 2002. The study found that out of the total 30.3 percent alcoholics, 17.8 percent had reported alcohol abuse at some point during their lifetime and another 12.5 percent said they were dependent on it at some point.

In the survey, funded by the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), a part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), 4.7 percent said they had abused alcohol in the past year, while 3.8 percent said they were alcohol-dependent in the same period.

And, only 24 percent of alcoholics reported receiving any treatment at all. "Of those with lifetime alcohol dependence, only 24.1% ever received treatment while of those with 12-month alcohol dependence, only 12.1% received alcohol treatment in the past year," Deborah Hasin of Columbia University Medical Center in New York and colleagues wrote.

"Alcohol use disorders continue to present a widespread and serious personal and public health problem in the United States. Alcohol dependence was significantly more prevalent among men, whites, Native Americans, younger and unmarried adults and those with lower incomes," researchers wrote.

Alcohol addiction or Alcoholism, also known as "alcohol dependence" is a chronic and often progressive disease that includes alcohol craving and continued drinking despite repeated alcohol-related problems, such as losing a job or getting into trouble with the law as well as the pain and suffering of the individuals and their families.

Alcohol abuse occurs at all economic levels of the society, from wealthy to impoverished, and among young as well as adults. After continued use of alcohol some people develop a condition called alcohol dependency.

Liver damage is the best known result of alcohol abuse. Liver swells with acute intoxication and becomes bloated. Over many years it becomes relatively non-functional. Another major consequence of alcoholism is pancreatitis. Impairment of pancreatic enzyme production spoils digestion.

Decreased insulin production may lead to diabetes. Excessive intake of alcohol disturbs the metabolism of various vitamins and other nutrients in the body. Rapid water loss is reported within the first several hours of alcohol ingestion.

In addition to the health issues including heart disease, cancer, prancreatitis and liver disease, traffic accidents are the other factors related to the alcohol abuse.

As per the estimates of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 13,000 people died in crashes due to the drunk drivers in 2005. According to an estimate provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2001, 75,000 people died because of excessive alcohol use.