Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Recognizing and Treating Alcohol Problems

While some 18 million Americans suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence, only one in eight receives treatment. Poor diagnosis may play a role in people being undertreated, but there are a growing number of tools to help people assess and understand whether they have alcohol problems.

One of the latest tools is a new government Web site called “Rethinking Drinking,” which, through a 20-question assessment, is designed to determine whether your drinking patterns are safe, risky or harmful.

Launched and supported by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) division, the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) web site features a self-assessment test that is completely confidential and anonymous.

Medications for Alcohol Dependence

The Food & Drug Administration has approved medications for the treatment of alcohol dependence which offer treatment options in addition to traditional 12-step and counseling programs. Rethinking Drinking provides key facts about medications for alcohol dependence:

Newer medications can make it easier to quit drinking.
Newer medications don’t make you sick if you do drink.
None of these medications is addictive.
Medications can be combined with support groups or alcohol counseling.

Traditionally, approaches to overcome alcoholism have not included medications. Government statistics show that 75 percent of people receiving traditional approaches for alcohol dependence relapse to heavy drinking within the first year of beginning treatment.

New Guidelines Include Medications

Last year, the HHS issued best-practice guidelines for the treatment of alcohol dependence. These guidelines include for the first time the recommendation to consider the two most recent FDA-approved medications for alcohol dependence, naltrexone for extended-release injectable suspension and acamprosate calcium.

One of the newly added medications in the HHS guidelines is an extended-release injection taken once a month. Pill medications have been successful for some patients. However, in cases where a patient may be challenged to reliably take a daily pill, an extended-release injection that is given once a month can be a helpful treatment option.

To find a physician in your area, go to www.alcoholanswers.org/local. For online self assessment, go to www.rethinkingdrinking.niaaa.nih.gov.

source: NewsUSA

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Cancer treatment-an insight of chemotherapy

Cancer is an uncontrolled growth of body cells, which can be fatal at times. Cancer is considered as one of the most deadly diseases in the world resulting in the death of large number of people every year. Though cancer is fatal, cancer can be completely treated if detected at early stages. There is no….

New Path For Cocaine Addiction Research

Cocaine is one of the oldest drugs known to humans, and its abuse has become widespread since the end of the 19th century. At the same time, we know rather little about its effects on the human brain or the mechanisms that lead to cocaine addiction. The latest article by Dr. Marco Leyton, of the….

Medical Uses of Diazepam and Its Abuse by Addicts

Diazepam is a benzodiazepine derivative that is commonly used for its Central Nervous System depressant properties. Diazepam is prescribed to treat anxiety, insomnia, and withdrawal symptoms of alcohol and opiates. Apart from its medicinal use, diazepam is a highly addictive drug that triggers the activity of Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA). GABA is a neurotransmitter that calms….

Is Alcohol Detox Always a Part of Alcohol Treatment

When you are addicted to alcohol there is a need for two components of treatment in order to make a full recovery. First, you have to get treatment for the physical addiction to the alcohol and then you can seek help for the psychological aspects of the addiction. Alcohol detox is the first step to….

The brain maintains language skills in spite of alcohol damage by drawing from other regions

Researchers know that alcoholism can damage the brain’s frontal lobes and cerebellum, regions involved in language processing. Nonetheless, alcoholics’ language skills appear to be relatively spared from alcohol’s damaging effects. New findings suggest the brain maintains language skills by drawing upon other systems that would normally be used to perform other tasks simultaneously. Prior neuroimaging….