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Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (Alcohol Use Disorder)

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Alcohol use disorder facts

  • Alcohol abuse, on the less severe end of the alcohol use disorder spectrum, affects about 10% of women and 20% of men in the United States, most beginning by their mid teens.
  • There is no one test that definitively indicates that someone has an alcohol-use disorder. Therefore, health-care professionals diagnose these disorders by gathering comprehensive medical, family, and mental-health information.
  • There are thought to be five stages of alcoholism, the more severe end of the alcohol use disorder spectrum.
  • There are numerous individual treatments for alcoholism, including medical stabilization (detox), individual and group counseling, support groups, residential treatment, medications, drug testing, and/or relapse-prevention programs.
  • Some signs of a drinking problem include drinking alone, to escape problems, or for the sole purpose of getting drunk; hiding alcohol in odd places; getting irritated and/or craving alcohol when you are unable to obtain alcohol to drink; and having problems because of your drinking.
  • While some people with more severe alcohol use disorder (formerly alcoholism or alcohol dependence) can cut back or stop drinking without help, most are only able to do so temporarily unless they get treatment.
  • The long-term effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism can be devastating and even life-threatening, negatively affecting virtually every organ system.
Medically Reviewed by a Doctor on 1/21/2014

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The Relationship of Chronic Viral Hepatitis, Alcoholism, and Cirrhosis to Liver Cancer

The most common diseases associated with liver cancer are chronic viral hepatitis, alcoholism, and cirrhosis(scarring of the liver). Moreover, chronic viral hepatitis is common in alcoholism, and both viral hepatitis and alcoholism cause cirrhosis which usually precedes the development of cancer. Therefore, the contributions and interrelationships of alcohol abuse, viral hepatitis, and cirrhosis in the development of liver cancer are complex.