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 behaviour, syndromes and distress.



On the whole, as the disease's name would suggest, alcoholism will do everything possible to make the patient continue consuming alcohol. You can compare the craving to alcohol with our basic need for water, and it's so strong that not even a worsening health pattern will stop the patient from drinking. Through pure frustration, the patient will become more defiant and aggressive as the withdrawal symptoms kick in. It won't be long though before vital organ damage takes the stage and then death will follow shortly.

When it comes to actually looking for a cure to alcoholism, guilt will play a major factor as the urge to drink alcohol starts earlier in the day and the quantities increase with the hope of just forgetting the matter at hand. This is the point when medical support should be contemplated in order to cure alcoholism.

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: Should an alcoholic be denied access to alcohol at a fixed hour, then you will begin to see withdrawal symptoms set in such as sickness, head aches, pains, uneasiness etc. This state of mind can be confirmed by either the patient or someone very close to him.

Blood Alcohol Tests: Such tests are important for discovering what level of alcohol consumption we are dealing with at a particular point of time. This test can give some insight into how serious the problem is, but it doesn't indicate any problem that may have arisen due to 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: Counselling 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 specialised alcohol addiction doctors establish the finer details of a specific treatment strategy. This includes counselling with various treatments such as prevention therapy, relative behaviour 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, behavioural 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.