Alcoholics Can Beat Their Addiction

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDayNews) -- Many people are able to recover from alcoholism, suggests a survey in the current issue of Alcoholism.

The survey found that 35.9 percent of American adults with alcoholism that began more than a year prior to the survey were in full recovery and showed no signs of either alcoholism or alcohol abuse. They either abstained from alcohol or drank at levels below those known to increase the risk of relapse.

The results are based on data from the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a project of the U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

The recovery analysis was based on 4,422 adults who met the clinical criteria for alcohol dependence. Most were middle-aged, non-Hispanic white males. Sixty percent had attended or completed college. More than half had experienced the onset of alcohol dependence between the ages of 18 and 24, and only 25.5 percent had ever received treatment for their alcohol problems.

The survey found that 25 percent of people with alcoholism that began more than a year ago were still alcoholics, 27.3 percent were in partial remission, and 11.8 percent were risk drinkers with no symptoms of alcoholism but whose drinking habits increase their risk of relapse.

"Results from the latest NESARC analysis strengthen previous reports that many persons can and do recover from alcoholism," NIAAA Director Dr. Ting-Kai Li said in a prepared statement.

"Today''s report is valuable as a snapshot of current conditions and for information about some of the characteristics associated with different recovery types. Longitudinal studies will be required to understand the natural history of alcohol dependence over time," Li said.

More information

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has more about alcoholism.

-- Robert Preidt

SOURCE: U.S. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, news release, Jan. 18, 2005