Mar 11

Mar 11 Alcohol and Alcoholism by NIAAA

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

Also part of the National Institute of Health

Guided by our mission to lead the nation’s research efforts on alcohol use disorder, NIAAA supports research conducted within the Institute, as well as in institutions around the world. The Institute's 2017-2021 Strategic Plan serves as a roadmap for optimizing the allocation of resources to areas of alcohol research most likely to benefit from additional support, translating scientific discoveries for the benefit of the public, and continuing to build on NIAAA’s position as the nation’s key source of evidence-based information on alcohol and health.

Alcohol Use Disorder

Problem drinking that becomes severe is given the medical diagnosis of “alcohol use disorder” or AUD. AUD is a chronic relapsing brain disease characterized by compulsive alcohol use, loss of control over alcohol intake, and a negative emotional state when not using.

An estimated 16 million people in the United States have AUD. Approximately 6.2 percent or 15.1 million adults in the United States ages 18 and older had AUD in 2015. This includes 9.8 million men and 5.3 million women. Adolescents can be diagnosed with AUD as well, and in 2015, an estimated 623,000 adolescents ages 12–17 had AUD.

To be diagnosed with AUD, individuals must meet certain criteria outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Under DSM–5, the current version of the DSM, anyone meeting any two of the 11 criteria during the same 12-month period receives a diagnosis of AUD. The severity of AUD—mild, moderate, or severe—is based on the number of criteria met.

To assess whether you or loved one may have AUD, here are some questions to ask. In the past year, have you:

Had times when you ended up drinking more, or longer than you intended?
More than once wanted to cut down or stop drinking, or tried to, but couldn’t?
Spent a lot of time drinking? Or being sick or getting over the aftereffects?
Experienced craving — a strong need, or urge, to drink?
Found that drinking — or being sick from drinking — often interfered with taking care of your home or family? Or caused job troubles? Or school problems?
Continued to drink even though it was causing trouble with your family or friends?
Given up or cut back on activities that were important or interesting to you, or gave you pleasure, in order to drink?
More than once gotten into situations while or after drinking that increased your chances of getting hurt (such as driving, swimming, using machinery, walking in a dangerous area, or having unsafe sex)?
Continued to drink even though it was making you feel depressed or anxious or adding to another health problem? Or after having had a memory blackout?
Had to drink much more than you once did to get the effect you want? Or found that your usual number of drinks had much less effect than before?
Found that when the effects of alcohol were wearing off, you had withdrawal symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, shakiness, irritability, anxiety, depression, restlessness, nausea, or sweating? Or sensed things that were not there?

If you have any of these symptoms, your drinking may already be a cause for concern. The more symptoms you have, the more urgent the need for change. A health professional can conduct a formal assessment of your symptoms to see if AUD is present.

However severe the problem may seem, most people with AUD can benefit from treatment. Unfortunately, less than 10 percent of them receive any treatment.

Ultimately, receiving treatment can improve an individual’s chances of success in overcoming AUD.

Genetics of Alcohol Use Disorder

Talk with your doctor to determine the best course of action for you, and for more information see NIAAA's resources:

Rethinking Drinking

Treatment for Alcohol Problems:
Finding and Getting Help

Alcohol's Effects on the Body

Drinking too much – on a single occasion or over time – can take a serious toll on your health. Here’s how alcohol can affect your body:

Brain:
Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.

Heart:
Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart, causing problems including:

Cardiomyopathy – Stretching and drooping of heart muscle
Arrhythmias – Irregular heart beat
Stroke
High blood pressure

Research also shows that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may protect healthy adults from developing coronary heart disease.

Liver:
Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including:

Steatosis, or fatty liver
Alcoholic hepatitis
Fibrosis
Cirrhosis

Pancreas:
Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.

Cancer:
Drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk of developing certain cancers, including cancers of the:

Mouth
Esophagus
Throat
Liver
Breast

Immune System:
Drinking too much can weaken your immune system, making your body a much easier target for disease. Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much. Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk.

Learn more about alcohol’s effects on the body.

Overview of Alcohol Consumption

People drink to socialize, celebrate, and relax. Alcohol often has a strong effect on people – and throughout history, we’ve struggled to understand and manage alcohol’s power. Why does alcohol cause us to act and feel differently? How much is too much? Why do some people become addicted while others do not?

Here at NIAAA, we are constantly researching the answers to these and many other questions about alcohol. Here’s what we know:

Alcohol’s effects vary from person to person, depending on a variety of factors, including:

How much you drink
How often you drink
Your age
Your health status
Your family history

While drinking alcohol is itself not necessarily a problem – drinking too much can cause a range of consequences, and increase your risk for a variety of problems.

Consequences of drinking too much
Alcohol enters your bloodstream as soon as you take your first sip. Alcohol’s immediate effects can appear within about 10 minutes. As you drink, you increase your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level, which is the amount of alcohol present in your bloodstream. The higher your BAC, the more impaired you become by alcohol’s effects. These effects can include:

Reduced inhibitions
Slurred speech
Motor impairment
Confusion
Memory problems
Concentration problems
Coma
Breathing problems
Death

Other risks of drinking can include:

Car crashes and other accidents
Risky behavior
Violent behavior
Suicide and homicide

People who drink too much over a long period of time may experience alcohol’s longer-term effects, which can include:

Alcohol use disorder
Health problems
Increased risk for certain cancers

In addition, long-term alcohol use disorder may result in Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a brain disorder due to thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency. Lack of vitamin B1 is common in people with alcohol use disorder. For more information visit MedlinePlus.

More Information:

Alcohol Facts and Statistics
What Is A Standard Drink?
Drinking Levels Defined

Brochures and Fact Sheets

This section contains easy-to-read material for the public covering a wide range of alcohol-related topics. Publications listed below are online full text and free of charge unless otherwise noted. To place an order, go to the Ordering form.

Spanish language versions of these publications are also provided at Publicaciones en Español.