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Default 07-01-2013, 03:02 PM

Alcoholism is a chronic and often progressive disease that includes problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol, continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems, having to drink more to get the same effect (physical dependence), or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. If you have alcoholism, you can't consistently predict how much you'll drink, how long you'll drink, or what consequences will occur from your drinking.
   
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Default 07-01-2013, 03:03 PM

For most adults, moderate alcohol use is probably not harmful. However, about 18 million adult Americans are alcoholics or have alcohol problems. Alcoholism is a disease with four main features:

Craving - a strong need to drink
Loss of control - not being able to stop drinking once you've started
Physical dependence - withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, or shakiness when you don't drink
Tolerance - the need to drink greater amounts of alcohol to feel the same effect
   
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Default 07-01-2013, 03:04 PM

It’s not always easy to see when your drinking has crossed the line from moderate or social use to problem drinking. But if you consume alcohol to cope with difficulties or to avoid feeling bad, you’re in potentially dangerous territory. Alcoholism and alcohol abuse can sneak up on you, so it’s important to be aware of the warning signs and take steps to cut back if you recognize them. Understanding the problem is the first step to overcoming it.
   
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Default 07-01-2013, 03:04 PM

Alcoholism is a word which many people use to mean alcohol dependence (alcohol addiction). Some people are problem drinkers without being dependent on alcohol. If you are alcohol-dependent then detoxification ('detox') can help you to stop drinking.
   
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Default 07-01-2013, 03:05 PM

Alcohol abuse means having unhealthy or dangerous drinking habits, such as drinking every day or drinking too much at a time. Alcohol abuse can harm your relationships, cause you to miss work, and lead to legal problems such as driving while drunk (intoxicated). When you abuse alcohol, you continue to drink even though you know your drinking is causing problems.
   
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Default 07-01-2013, 03:06 PM

We've all seen the stereotypical "drunk" in movies and television shows: He's the one staggering down the street, clothing askew, slurring his words and tripping over his own feet. But in the real world, alcoholism is often much more difficult to spot. Alcoholics may hide their drinking problem from friends, family -- even from themselves
   
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Default 07-01-2013, 03:06 PM

In the United States alone, alcoholism affects millions of people and costs the country billions of dollars each year.

In this article, we'll learn the difference between heavy drinking and alcoholism, find out how alcohol affects the body, discover the genetic, social and physiological factors that lead individuals down the path to alcoholism and learn how alcoholics can get treatment for their addiction.
   
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Default 07-01-2013, 03:07 PM

But first, what is alcoholism?
Most people can enjoy the occasional glass of wine with dinner or beer out with friends. But for other people, one drink becomes two drinks, which becomes four drinks -- they are unable to stop drinking.

Not everyone who drinks alcohol heavily is considered an alcoholic. People who drink regularly enough to affect their family or work responsibilities and who drink in a way that puts them in dangerous situations (for example, behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated) are said to abuse alcohol. Although they use alcohol in an unhealthy way, people who suffer from alcohol abuse do not necessarily develop a physical dependence upon alcohol.
   
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Default 07-01-2013, 03:17 PM

Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing. It is medically considered a disease, specifically an addictive illness, and in psychiatry several other terms are used, specifically "alcohol abuse" and "alcohol dependence," which have slightly different definitions.[1] In 1979 an expert World Health Organization committee discouraged the use of "alcoholism" in medicine, preferring the category of "alcohol dependence syndrome

you can find more details on here The Medical Information - Part 1
   
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