Why the scourge of alcoholism defies a cure--
30 percent of Americans abuse alcohol
By Howard Witt | Chicago Tribune senior correspondent
July 25, 2007
More than 30 percent of American adults have abused alcohol or suffered from alcoholism at some point in their lives, according to a new study released this month by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a branch of the National Institutes of Health.
Yet only a quarter of those afflicted received any treatment. And other studies show that, at best, only a quarter of those who seek treatment manage to abstain from alcohol for a year.
"Alcohol problems are not just something that affects Hollywood stars," said Dr. Robert Swift, a psychiatrist at Brown University who specializes in alcoholism. "We're talking about a chronic, relapsing condition. And we still have a long way to go in treatment. It's like treatment of cancer-some people can be helped but others just cannot."
I took my last drink 11 years ago, my life (and the lives of many others) would have been much better if I'd never taken my first drink at that fraternity party in April, 1967. I just found this help for making the decision about drinking advertised in AOL pop-up ad: http://www.family.samhsa.gov/stop/
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