Resumo

NAVARRETE HERNANDEZ, Brígido Rodolfo  e  SECIN DIEP, Ricardo. Generalities of alcohol use disorder. Acta méd. Grupo Ángeles [online]. 2018, vol.16, n.1, pp.47-53. ISSN 1870-7203.

Drug addiction is one of the most important health problems worldwide today. Only recently, addiction was recognized as a medical problem, so that awareness of disease in the general population is low. For example, in US there is evidence that only 20% of the population of addicts is receiving treatment. The problem of addiction treatment is that it requires an approach at all levels of scientific knowledge to understand the dynamics of this process. In the addictive spectrum, alcohol influences both the incidence and the course of many medical conditions and about 6% of all deaths worldwide in 2012, may be attributable to the use of it. The number of hospital admissions related to alcohol consumption has increased, for example in the UK, the number of patients admitted double between 2001 and 2012. Different studies show that over 20% of patients attending primary care points and emergency units have alcohol use disorder and/or dependence, however are not identified and therefore channeled to specialized attention. Therefore, it is important in primary care areas to have a greater knowledge on this problem identification and treatment.

Palavras-chave : Alcohol; dependence; dual pathology; addictions; brain; diagnosis; psychiatry; treatment.