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Alcohol Use and Management

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Lifestyle Medicine

Abstract

Unhealthy alcohol use is a leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality that can be addressed in the primary-care setting. All individuals seeking medical care should be screened for unhealthy alcohol use and provided feedback based on their level of use. Brief interventions for those who are drinking excessively can lead to reductions in drinking levels, and for those who meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder, brief interventions can assist in the referral to specialty treatment. Treatment recommendations should be provided in a clear and nonjudgmental manner, and options for reducing alcohol use or seeking additional treatment should be provided. Assessing willingness to change and working collaboratively can facilitate engagement and guide treatment recommendations. The use of pharmacological treatment can assist in reducing unhealthy alcohol use.

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Abbreviations

AUD:

Alcohol use disorder

AUDIT:

Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test

CAGE:

Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye opener

HCP:

Health-care professional

IM:

Intramuscular

NIAAA:

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

NIDA:

National Institute on Drug Abuse

NMDA:

N-methyl-D-aspartate

NNT:

Number needed to treat

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA

    Evan Goulding MD

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  1. Evan Goulding MD
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Correspondence to Evan Goulding MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. New York, USA

    Jeffrey I. Mechanick MD

  2. Chicago, USA

    Robert F. Kushner MD

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Goulding, E. (2016). Alcohol Use and Management. In: Mechanick, J., Kushner, R. (eds) Lifestyle Medicine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24687-1_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24687-1_16

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-24685-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-24687-1

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