Alcoholism - Facts about Alchol Abuse, Alcohol Addiction and Alcohol Detection

The use of alcohol in moderation is not harmful. In fact, for most adults, alcohol beverages are typical in many social and family gatherings and celebrations. However, alcohol drinking becomes dangerous to your health when you start doing it habitually to the point of abusing it. According to statistics, there are about 18 million people in the United States who abuse alcohol, and over 70 million Americans have dealt with alcoholism in their family.

This section contains essential details about alcohol abuse and the common ways used to test for alcohol consumption. The information is especially helpful for parents who want to know whether or not their teenagers are abusing alcohol and understanding the symptoms, as well as the dangers that alcohol abuse can bring to their health and their lives. Employers will also find this page helpful especially if you do not have alcohol testing policy in place yet.

What is Alcoholism?

Alcoholism is defined as a chronic, often progressive disease in which a person craves alcohol and drinks despite repeated alcohol related problems like losing a job or a relationship.

What are the signs and symptoms of alcoholism?

Alcoholism is characterized by the following signs and symptoms:

• Drinking by yourself or in secret
• Craving alcohol
• Not being able to control the amount you drink
• Blackouts (not remembering events or conversations)
• Becoming irritable when you can' t get a drink at your regular time
• Having legal problems or an inability to sustain a relationship or a job
• Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety, when you stop drinking
• Needing more alcohol to feel its effects
• Liver disease

How do I know if a loved one or an employee is into alcohol abuse?

Aside from the visible signs and symptoms of alcoholism, one way to know if your loved one or one of your employees is abusing alcohol is by performing an alcohol test. For parents, there are several alcohol home test kits available in online and offline pharmacies that are capable of providing instant results. Likewise, employers have several options to conduct alcohol test in the workplace, depending on the conditions stated in your alcohol testing policy.

How prevalent is alcohol abuse in the country?

Statistics showed that in 2006, here were nearly 1.8 million admissions for treatment of alcohol and drug abuse to facilities that report to State administrative data systems. The table below shows that about 40 percent of the admissions were for alcohol treatment:

% of Admission	Substance/Drug
21.9	Alcohol
17.8	Alcohol + another drug
16.1	Marijuana
13.7	Heroin
9.9	Smoked cocaine (crack)
8.7	Stimulants
4.2	Opiates (not Heroin)

Source: http://www.the-alcoholism-guide.org/alcoholism-statistics.html#axzz1RIwBfN23

How does alcohol abuse affect a person's driving abilities?

Alcohol affects every organ in the drinker's body and can damage a developing fetus. Heavy use increases your risk of certain cancers, stroke, and liver disease. Likewise, intoxication can impair your brain function and motor skills. In the 2008 report of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 31 percent of car accidents were alcohol related.

The table below reveals incidents of alcohol-related fatalities in the United States from 2000-2008:

Year	Total Fatalities	Alcohol-Related Fatalities
	Number	Number	Percent
2008	37,261	13,846	37
2007	41,059	15,387	37
2006	42,532	15,829	37
2005	43,443	16,885	39
2004	42,518	16,919	39
2003	42,643	17,013	40
2002	43,005	17,524	41
2001	42,196	17,400	41

Source: http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html

Drinking and driving fatalities by state in 2008:

State	Total fatalities	Alcohol-related Fatalities
	Number	Number	Percent
Texas	3,382	1,463	43
California	3,434	1,198
Florida	2,978	1,041	35
Pennsylvania	1,468	578	39
North Carolina	1,433	500	35
Georgia	1,493	489	33
South Carolina	920	463	50
Illinois	1,043	434	42
Ohio	1,190	415	35
New York	1,231	409	33
Louisiana	912	404	44
Tennessee	1,035	386	37
Alabama	966	367	38
Virginia	824	365	44
Missouri	960	364	38
Michigan	980	331	34
Arizona	937	329	35
Mississippi	783	297	38
Oklahoma	749	274	37
Indiana	814	250	31
Wisconsin	605	250	41
Kentucky	826	226	27
Washington	521	225	43
Arkansas	600	205	34
Colorado	548	202	37
New Jersey	590	197	33
Maryland	591	186	31
Minnesota	456	161	35
Oregon	416	159	38
Kansas	385	157	41
Massachusetts	363	151	42
West Virginia	380	142	37
Nevada	324	121	37
New Mexico	366	118	32
Iowa	412	113	27
Connecticut	264	104	40
Montana	229	103	45
Idaho	232	93	40
Nebraska	208	75	36
Wyoming	159	75	47
Utah	275	55	20
New Hampshire	139	53	38
North Dakota	104	52	50
Hawaii	107	50	46
Delaware	121	49	40
Maine	155	47	30
South Dakota	119	41	34
Rhode Island	65	29	45
Alaska	62	24	38
Vermont	73	15	15
Dist of Columbia	34	13	39

Source: http://www.alcoholalert.com/drunk-driving-statistics.html

What are the different kinds of alcohol tests? How do they differ from each other?

Among the common alcohol testing techniques include breath alcohol testing, urine alcohol testing, blood alcohol testing, saliva alcohol testing, and hair alcohol testing. Their underlying differences factors in a number of things, such as the type of specimen collected, detection times, and the convenience for specimen collection - to name a few.

Breath alcohol test or most commonly known the alcohol breathanalyzer detects how much alcohol is in your blood by measuring the amount of alcohol in the air you breathe out (exhale). At present, there are a number of available alcohol breathanalyzer, each using a different method to determine the level of alcohol in the breath.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of using alcohol breath analyzer?

Breathanalyzer test is perhaps the most common method used to detect alcohol level in the person’s body. Unlike other methods, breathanalyzer offers no discomfort as it estimates blood alcohol concentration (BAC) by measuring the amount of alcohol in one’s breath. However, the test does not take into account the driving abilities of the person, and it can result in false BAC readings due to a person's breathing rate caused by vigorous exercise, hyperventilation, or a person holding one's breath.

What are alcohol biomarkers?

Alcohol biomarkers are physiological indicators of alcohol exposure or ingestion and may reflect the presence of an alcohol use disorder. At present, the most readily measurable biomarkers in alcohol testing are EtG and EtS.

What is EtG?

EtG stands for Ethanol Glucuronide. It is a direct metabolite of alcohol (ethanol) with a long urinary elimination time. Its presence in the urine or saliva may be used to detect the recent ethanol ingestion - even after the ethanol alcohol itself is no longer detectable. The presence of EtG in urine or saliva is a definitive indicator that alcohol was ingested.

How is EtG detected?

Through EtG alcohol testing, Ethanol Glucuronide can be detected in the urine for up to 3-5 days following consumption of alcohol. EtG tests are extremely useful for the assessment of people younger than the legal drinking age, as well as people under supervision of the criminal justice system when alcohol consumption is strictly prohibited.

Is EtG also detected via hair samples?

Yes. When an individual consumes alcohol, various alcohol metabolites including EtG are released - from the scalp and deposited on the exterior of the hair shaft as the hair grows - into the body. EtG are analyzed using techniques known as LC/MS/MS (LiquidChromatography coupled with tandem Mass Spectrometry detection).

What is the detection window for alcohol testing?

The detection window for alcohol testing varies depending on the sample of specimen and the method of testing used.

Below is a test comparison chart of blood test vs. hair test:

	Alcohol Abuse Test Comparison Chart
	Detection Window	Markers	Result Detail	Benefits	Limitations
LFT Blood Test	2-4 Weeks	Total Bilirubin ALP AST ALT Gamma GT	Quantitative	Long term alcohol consumption	Invasive sample collection.
CDT Blood Test	2-4 Weeks	Carbohydrate Deficient Transferrin	Quantitative	Can detect alcohol abuse even 2-3 weeks after donor stopped drinking	Invasive sample collection. Measures only excessive alcohol consumption (average of 50g per day, for at least 2 weeks).
EtG Hair Test	2-8 Weeks	Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG)	Quantitative	Analysis can be segmented by month, provided as a lower cost solution for determination of alcohol abuse	Must also take into consideration medical and other contextual information, including blood alcohol test results.

Source: http://www.alphabiolabs.com/assets/files/documents/DOT406VariousTypesofTesttoDetectAlcoholAbuseIssue01.pdf

Below is a test comparison chart of blood test vs. urine test:

	Blood alcohol testing vs. Urine alcohol testing
	Blood Alcohol Testing	Urine Alcohol Testing
Window of detection	2 - 4 Weeks	< 72 Hours
Regularity	Approx once a month	Every three days
Results	False positives are reduced	Risk of false positives
Collection	Company nurse	Unknown third party

Source: http://www.alphabiolabs.com/assets/files/documents/DOT406VariousTypesofTesttoDetectAlcoholAbuseIssue01.pdf

Other references:

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/alcoholism-000002.htm

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003632.htm