Thursday, December 11, 2008

A Cure For Alcoholism

By Ed Phillips

Alcoholism can only be treated after the addiction to alcohol is dealt with. The medical profession regard alcoholism as being a disease and it is determined as being a physical or mental condition which has a negative affect on the human body. The worst of which is death, although other conditions include discomfort, dysfunction, irregular behavior, syndromes and distress.

Going by this definition of disease, alcoholism is also a disease that may impede the subject's control over his habit of compulsive alcohol consumption. His craving for alcohol becomes as strong as the need for food or water. An alcoholic may continue to drink alcohol in spite of its grave legal, health and family consequences. Excessive consumption of alcohol or its denial may cause distress, deviant behavior and withdrawal symptoms. Alcoholism may damage the vital organs and lead to the consumer's death.

When you Seek an Alcoholism Cure You may feel guilty about your uncontrollable urge for an alcoholic drink the first thing in the morning and need an ever increasing quantity of alcohol to stop feeling the effects of its denial. If this is the situation, you need to seek medical assistance for alcoholism cure.

Screening and Diagnosis: The apparent signs and symptoms of alcoholism such as memory loss, dyspepsia, pain and weakness may be initially confused with those of the old age. The doctor will prescribe a screening test with a standard questionnaire to confirm his suspected diagnosis.

Withdrawal Symptoms: When an alcohol addict is denied his usual quota of alcohol at his fixed hour, he reveals numerous withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, head aches, pains, uneasiness and so on. These indications can be confirmed either from the patient himself or from his family members and friends.

Blood Alcohol Tests: This test is important to show what the alcohol consumption is at any particular time and is carried out in DUI accident cases. Although this test gives some insight, it does not give any clear indication of problems caused by long term alcohol consumption.

Tests on kidney, liver or reduced testosterone levels in case of men are also suggested to determine the effects of alcohol. Other blood tests are carried out on the size of red blood cells which enlarge due to prolonged alcoholism. These tests also determine the existence of a factor called carbohydrate-deficient transferring which points to heavy alcohol consumption.

Treatment: The negative factor with alcoholics is that they will always deny having alcohol addicted related health problems. The main reason being that they know quite well that it would lead to them having to give up their daily dosage of alcohol. It is so important that family and friends insist on initiating treatment to stop this terrible developing into something even more damaging. There are several treatments available depending on each individual, although in general it will consist of either an outpatient program or a residential inpatient treatment.

Evaluating the Level of Dependence: Counseling is the ideal method to really find out the real level of alcohol dependency as the existence of alcohol craving is a real one. Once we have established this level, an alcohol reduction plan will be drawn up in order to smooth out the body's negative effects.

Intervention by Specialists: This is the time when help really begins as specialized alcohol addiction doctors establish the finer details of a specific treatment strategy. This includes counseling with various treatments such as prevention therapy, relative behavior therapy, dealing with being paranoid and beliefs that cause psychological stress, learning how to put mind over matter, learning how to deal with traumatic experiences, behavioral modification techniques, and getting to grips with self-help manuals. Once all this is under way, then the time has come for follow-up care in a treatment center.

Residential Alcoholism Cure: If, however, you have become dependent upon alcohol, simply cutting back the alcohol quantity may not prove effective. You may have to go for residential treatment programs which may include alcoholism cure, abstinence, individual and group therapy, participation in alcoholism support groups, educational lectures on alcoholism cure and so on.

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