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Paying the Tab: The Costs and Benefits of Alcohol Control
By Philip J. Cook.
278 pp, $35.
Princeton, NJ, Princeton University Press, 2007.
ISBN-13 978-0-6911-2520-6.
JAMA. 2008;299(7):840-841.
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Alcohol is the most widely abused drug in the United States, and 3.4% of the population is alcohol dependent by Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Fourth Edition) definition.1
Alcoholism is a primary, chronic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by continuous or periodic impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial.2 Individuals with alcoholism are much more likely to develop medical problems, sustain injuries, and be involved in motor vehicle crashes, which often are fatal.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol and drug abuse are associated with 100 000 deaths per year and cost expenditures of $184.6 billion per year.3 The same report states that 20% to 40% of patients in large urban hospitals are there . . . [Full Text of this Article]
Bernd Wollschlaeger, MD, Reviewer
Department of Family Medicine
University of Miami
North Miami Beach, Florida
info@miamihealth.com
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