AAAP 2008: NESARC Findings Changing Understanding of Alcoholism Wave 2 Data Sheds Further Light on 5 Subtypes
December 9, 2008 (Boca Raton, Florida) — New findings from 2 waves of the National Epidemiological Study on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) community survey are changing clinicians' understanding of alcohol dependence, researchers say.
Presented here at the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry 19th Annual Meeting and Symposium, Howard B. Moss, MD, from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, in Bethesda, Maryland, described how NESARC data identified 5 subtypes of alcohol-dependent drinkers and the more recent wave 2 data shed light on recovery, remission, and treatment seeking.
The data show that rather than being solely a disease of middle-aged men, more than half of alcohol-dependent individuals are young adults. In addition, only half of alcoholics have a family history of the disease, said Dr. Moss.
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