All Adults Should Be Screened for Unhealthy Alcohol Use, Suggests New Guidelines
The United States Preventive Task Force (USPSTF) has recently released new guidelines that urge all primary care practitioners to screen every one of their patients, including pregnant women, above 18 years of ager, for alcohol usage. And those found following an unhealthy pattern should be provided with short-term counselling to help reduce their intake.
The statement, published in the JAMA network in November 2018, however, did not find enough evidence to warrant similar screenings for those under 18 years of age. The task force has therefore called for further research in this regard. Short-term counselling was defined as face-to-face or web-based interaction limited to one to four sessions spanning a total time duration of 2 hours.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines unhealthy drinking as more than four drinks a day and more than 14 drinks a week for men aged 21-64. For women and people above 65 years of age, this limit is reduced to three drinks a day and seven drinks a week. The NIAAA advises pregnant women to not drink at all.
Doctors still don’t ask about alcohol consumption
The guidelines presented by the USPSTF were actually a fresh reminder of its stand since many years. In 1989, it had suggested that primary care physicians should ask their patients to describe how they used alcohol. Then in 1996, the task force had once again urged primary care doctors to screen their patients for alcohol use and counsel them briefly. In spite of such suggestions, the implementation of this primary level prevention tool was quite low. Only about one in six patients reported discussing alcohol with their primary care physicians.
The study found that patients, who were asked to reduce their intake of alcohol, did so to please the researchers. In reality, there was no changes in the objective parameters of measuring alcohol consumption. These parameters included blood alcohol count (BAC) levels, rate of injuries, alcohol-related illnesses, and alcohol-related hospitalizations. Based on the study results, the researchers concluded that the “net effect of screening and behavioral counselling was moderate.”
Alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. and the fifth globally. An estimated 88,000 people die annually of alcohol and related causes in the U.S. In 2010, the economic burden of using alcohol and related costs was estimated at $249 billion.
Short-term effects of alcohol consumption include loss of coordination, slow brain activity, drowsiness, mood swings, raised blood pressure and heart rate, irregular breathing, etc. Long-term effects of alcohol consumption include liver cirrhosis, heart disease, cancer, chronic physical ailments, digestive problems, etc. Long-term alcohol use is also associated with the development of mental disorders, like depression, anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Pregnant women who drink put their child at the risk of birth and developmental defects.
Seeking help for alcoholism
Addiction is a menace and alcoholism kills. Fortunately, there are a lot of evidence-based treatment programs available to help a dependent person detox safely and change their alcohol seeking behavior. Detox programs are beneficial for anybody suffering from an alcohol use disorder (AUD), alcohol dependence or any other alcohol related problems.
If you or someone you know is addicted to alcohol and is seeking the services of detox treatment centers in California, then get in touch with Hillside Mission. We use pharmacogenetics testing before initiating the detox program to ensure that the treatment process is safe, smooth and comfortable. To know more about detoxification programs in California, call at our helpline number (888) 379-9360 or chat online with a representative.