Alcohol withdrawal and associate problems

Symptoms and signs of Alcohol withdrawal and management of Alcohol withdrawal

 Are you a alcoholic..? If so have you ever hurt about the alcohol withdrawal syndrome..? Most of you may not know about the situation of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. It is a very dangerous situation when the person can even die as a result of the symptoms associate with the alcohol withdrawal.It can cause lot of medical, psychological and the social problems.

What is Alcohol and Alcohol Abuse ?

Alcohol is a organic compound which contain a OH group on their chemical structure. Normally as alcohol we use only the ethanol (C2H5OH) and methanol (CH3OH) is a lethal even with amount of spoon. Therefore here we only concern on the ethanol which is the substance widely in use as a drink. Normally according to the guidelines, doctors only recommend about 2 standard units of alcohol per day with 1 day of avoidance of drink to reduce addiction. However when the people takes the alcohol as a social drinker or non dangerous level later they can develop a stage of dependency of alcohol.

How does the Alcohol dependency develop in a alcoholic?

 As mention above the persons misusing alcohol may develop a state of alcohol dependency as a result of the inhibition of the GABA receptor function and the expression in the central nerves system which will ultimately result in the tolerance to the alcohol. This state of tolerance to alcohol can cause number of neurological and physical symptoms. At this time person have to depend on the alcohol. He feels unable to do his daily works with out alcohol. He miss number of meals.

What are the signs and symptoms of alcohol dependency ?

 Most of the people face the state of alcohol withdrawal between the 12 - 48 hours after the last intake of alcohol. If they show following symptoms, you can suspect the withdrawal of alcohol.
Inability to sleep (insomnia)
1. Nausea and vomiting
2. Headache
3. Agitated mood
4. Mild anxiety
5. Sweating
6. Delirium tremors

These are the main features of the alcohol withdrawal. However these may be associated with the may features of the others systems of the body. As examples patient may experience  fever, weight loss, joint pain, seizures, palpitation, increase heart rate.

However the most important and dangerous thing is the delirium tremors as it cause significant mortality rate if not attend soon.

Other problems associated with the alcoholism

Other very important problem in the alcoholic patients are the Cirrhosis and associated liver problems. Also it can increase the chance of getting number of disease conditions. You may experience alcoholic gastritis due to the ulceration of stomach because of inadequate intake of food. Also the malnutrition and the weight loss are common features

Management and treatments for alcohol withdrawal syndrome

The patient should be treated with type of benzodiazepam with thiamine in the acute problem. To reduce relapses and the long term prevention of getting alcohol withdrawal symptoms, the patient should manage pharmacologically  and non pharmacologically. In the non pharmacological sector you have to concern on counseling, social and family support also. Unless patient will unable to avoid getting the alcohol repetitively and being addicted to it again.