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Alcoholism - Medical Negligence Compensation
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Alcoholism is basically a dependency on alcohol. There is a loss of control over a person's drinking. You can't control how much you drink or when you drink. You might not be able to control how long you drink. It can interfere with your relationships, your finances, your health and your work. You can have a problem called "alcohol abuse" that is not exactly alcoholism because you don't have all of the symptoms of the disease. If you have all of the symptoms, you can get better using counseling, group therapy, self help and medications.
Symptoms of alcoholism include feeling a compulsion to drink alcohol, being unable to control the amount of alcohol you drink, becoming intolerant to alcohol so you need more to achieve an effect, having legal problems due to alcohol or having alcohol interfere with employment, finances, relationships or other aspects of your life, drinking alone, having withdrawal symptoms when you can't drink, having blackout periods, losing interest in other daily activities, being irritable when you can't drink, hiding alcohol or gulping drinks/ordering doubles.
Doctors ask these questions to see whether or not you have alcoholism:
- Do you drink more than 4-5 drinks per day most days?
- Do you feel guilt around your drinking?
- Do you feel a need to drink upon arising in the morning?
- Do you think you should cut back on your drinking?
- Are you bothered when others comment or criticize your drinking behaviors?
Answering even one or more of these questions positively means you might have alcoholism.
Risk factors for alcoholism include those who drink steadily over time, especially on a regular basis, starting to drink earlier in life, being male, having a family history of alcoholism, being depressed or having other emotional or mental problems and having friends or a partner who is also an alcoholic.
Alcoholism can lead to many complications, including problems related to putting yourself in dangerous situations, having serious motor vehicle accidents while drinking, having problems with your spouse, having poor school or work performance and having a higher likelihood of becoming a criminal.
There can be liver problems, including alcoholic liver cirrhosis, digestive problems such as gastritis and malabsorption of vitamin B, problems with stroke or heart failure, complications with diabetes (if you have it), and difficulty with sexual dysfunction and menstruation interruption. There can be a paralysis of the eye muscles and birth defects if you drink during pregnancy. Alcohol can cause osteoporosis and complications inside the brain and neurological system. Certain cancers come at a greater risk if you drink alcohol.
Doctors diagnose alcoholism by evaluating you and asking you questions. He or she can find an enlarged liver or find the answers to your questions are suspicious for cancer. There aren't any blood tests for alcoholism but the doctor might ask your relatives and friends about your drinking habits. The diagnosis is based on the DSM-IV criteria for alcoholism and include tolerance for alcohol, withdrawal symptoms, drinking more alcohol than one intended to drink, wishing to cut down on drinking behaviors, drinking al a lot, giving up other activities in order to drink and using alcohol even when you know it is bad for you.
The treatments for alcoholism include some of the following therapies:
Going through detoxification and withdrawal symptoms in order to get the alcohol out of the system. This can be done at an alcohol treatment center or a hospital.
Working with alcohol abuse specialists to learn how to stay away from alcohol.
You can go through regular psychological counseling which can help get at the underlying reason behind why you drink.
You can take oral medications such as Antabuse, Revia and Campral, which are medications that block the cravings for alcohol or make you sick if you drink alcohol.
An injectable medication called Vivitrol is injected once monthly in order to block the cravings for alcohol.
Support programs like AA can help an alcoholic cope with drinking and the aftereffects of not drinking. Such programs support sobriety.
Having treatment for other, related medical conditions.