Where the culture is more deeply rooted, the problem can be seen more in terms of mortality, hospitalizations, use of the emergency room “. 20 years have passed, Scafato underlines, but nothing has moved in this direction.
“Those who are alcohol addicted can certainly turn to services which, however, only intercept 9% of all cases of alcohol dependence in Italy. Instead, we calculate that in our country there are about 700,000-1,000,000 alcohol addicts, but there are 67,000 in charge: therefore there is no capacity for attraction, for identification. There is no network ”.
- Scafato explains that therapy aims at changing the person, but the family must also be involved, according to an ecological-social, bio-psycho-social model.
- Prevention, however, remains essential to try to prevent new alcohol addicts from suffering from the disease and early identification is essential.
There are very simple tools that can be used
Questionnaires that allow you to determine if a person may have a problematic relationship with alcohol. In this case, it is necessary to contact the attending physician who will establish a strategy to follow, especially in consideration of the fact that in many cases these people already have organ damage.
“There are about 650,000 ‘harmful’ consumers in Italy who already need treatment and do not receive it, while those at risk are even 8,600,000”.According to Scafato, it is of utmost importance to train doctors.
Alcohol is the only risk factor that can immediately expose you to a fatal event.
“Alcohol is the leading cause of death among young people up to the age of 29 in Italy and is the leading cause of disability and premature mortality. This is why we must intervene, so that the 18,000 deaths from alcohol in our country and about three million in the world can be reduced ”.
We therefore need campaigns that educate awareness and provide useful notions for informed choices.
“Talking with the doctor, establishing with him whether the use of alcohol is actually plausible should be the start of a new culture that is not one of prohibiting, but of knowing in order not to take risks”.
- Alcoholism
- Laboratory Test - How to Best Prepare
- Also known asalcohol addiction
What is alcoholism?
The use of alcohol can be occasional but it can also turn into a real addiction linked to its excessive consumption. Alcoholism, or addiction to alcohol, is a chronic, often progressive and lethal disease, at the base of which there may also be components of a genetic, psychological and environmental type.
Alcoholism is defined as the condition of chronic excessive alcohol intake and the consequent dependence on alcoholic beverages.
According to the Ministry of Health, there are no considerably “safe” quantities of alcohol consumption. The consumption of alcohol is considered “risky or harmful” if the quantity of alcohol consumed is such as to generate a risk for the safety and health of the person himself or for the safety of third parties, as to interfere with the normal course of relational or working life , scholastic, to the point of creating an addiction.
- However, although alcohol consumption is a necessary condition for alcoholism, its use does not necessarily expose the person to develop alcohol dependence.
- The amount, frequency and regularity of alcohol consumption necessary for the development of the disease varies greatly from person to person.
The response of each person to alcohol depends on age, physical condition, drugs taken, psychological conditions, etc …. Even the consumption of small amounts of alcohol can cause problems for some people. For example, abstention from alcohol is recommended in pregnant women.