It has long been observed that excessive use of alcohol affects the liver. The liver is the major organ in the body that is responsible for eliminating waste products and other toxic substances from the system. When an individual drinks excessive amounts of alcohol, the person’s liver begins to metabolize the alcohol in order to rid the toxin from the body. Alcohol is metabolized before other substances, and the liver needs to work excessively hard to perform its functions when a person drinks large amounts of alcohol. As harmful and debilitating as AUD can be for both the person with the disease and their loved ones, there are many approaches that you can take to manage the condition.
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A healthcare provider can evaluate the AUD severity and its health impacts, refer you to specialists, and determine the appropriate treatment. A number of health conditions can often go hand in hand with AUD. Common mental health conditions that co-occur with AUD are depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, trauma- and stress-related disorders, other substance use disorders, and sleep disorders. Studies show that people who have AUD are more likely to suffer from major depression or anxiety over their lifetime. When addressing drinking problems, it’s important to also seek treatment for any accompanying medical and mental health issues. Just as some people with diabetes or asthma may have flare-ups of their disease, a return to drinking can be seen as a temporary setback to full recovery and not as a failure.
Setbacks Are Part of the Process
- The provider can help adjust the treatment plan and aid long-term recovery.
- Treatment can help anyone battling addiction learn to cope without the use of substances.
- Ask different programs if they offer sliding-scale fees—some programs may offer lower prices or payment plans for individuals without health insurance.
- Just as some people with diabetes or asthma may have flare-ups of their disease, a return to drinking can be seen as a temporary setback to full recovery and not as a failure.
- The sooner you treat alcohol-related dementia, the better your chances of recovery.
- Though there may be no easy “cure” for alcoholism, or alcohol use disorder, the condition is treatable.
Ideally, health care providers will one day be able to identify which AUD treatment is most effective for each person. These advances https://ecosoberhouse.com/ could optimize how treatment decisions are made in the future. Three medications are currently approved in the United States to help people stop or reduce their drinking and prevent a return to drinking.
- Cutting alcohol out completely will have a greater health benefit.
- Additionally, an alcohol rehab program offers comprehensive treatment that includes education, therapy, detoxification, and aftercare services.
- There are three stages—alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic hepatitis, and alcoholic cirrhosis.
Planning a Vacation with a Loved One in Recovery
Many others substantially reduce their drinking and report fewer alcohol-related problems. While the exact causes of alcoholism are not known, a number of factors can play a role. The condition is likely the result of a combination of genetic, social, psychological, and environmental factors. Still, it can take five or more years before the risk of relapse drops below 15% — the level of risk that can alcoholism be cured an average person has of developing a SUD in their lifetime.
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Other early signs of alcoholism include blackout drinking or a drastic change in demeanor while drinking, such as consistently becoming angry or violent. Rather than see relapse as a setback, it can be helpful to view it as an essential part of the recovery journey. Alcoholism, an informal term used to describe an alcohol use disorder (AUD), can be successfully treated, but using the term “cured” can lead to misunderstanding.
- They use a set of 11 criteria established by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) to assess alcohol use severity.
- For example, antidepressants, if someone with an alcohol addiction were self-medicating to treat their depression.
- Symptoms of alcohol-related neuropathy are similar to those of peripheral neuropathy.
Residential treatment programs
Too many people have gotten clean, built a new life they love, declared they’re “cured,” and multiple drinks later find themselves back where they were a few years ago. As you work through recovery, you’ll lose your physical dependence on alcohol. Your body may even begin to return to a normal tolerance level. However, while your cravings may get significantly weaker, they may always be there. And if you ever return to drinking, you will still struggle to stop. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or other 12-step programs can offer that social support.
- Older people are also more vulnerable to injuries from falls due to changes in eyesight, spatial recognition, and bone health.
- These complications are reasons why it’s important to treat alcohol addiction early.
- Even though it is a biased measure, BMI is still widely used in the medical community because it’s an inexpensive and quick way to analyze a person’s potential health status and outcomes.
- The therapy goals are to develop the skills needed to manage your habits, build social support, set and work toward realistic goals, and deal with or avoid things that trigger drinking.
Like with all drugs, long-term alcohol abuse creates changes in the brain’s biochemistry. This is a topic that continues to be of great debate in our society. While many consider alcoholism, or any addiction for that matter, to simply be a lifestyle choice, researchers and addiction specialists classify alcoholism as a chronic brain disease. Note that alcohol-related dementia is sometimes confused with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. While the two conditions share some similarities, they have different causes. Wernicke-Korkasoff syndrome is caused by a thiamine (Vitamin B1) deficiency, though heavy alcohol use can be an underlying cause of this deficiency.
