Alcohol Use Disorder – Kansas City, KS
Fighting Liquor’s Hold on You
It's fine to have beer, wine, or spirits sometimes, but constant drinking is another matter. The latter represents a dangerous addiction to alcohol that could ruin your whole life. With that said, never fear; you can trust B&L Medical Group to help you through this problem. Our office has the power to treat alcohol use disorder here in Kansas City. For more details about it, please keep reading or book an appointment today.
What’s Alcohol Use Disorder?
While alcohol’s benefits are still unclear, its risks are well-established. The substance is pretty addictive and easily abused.
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a dangerous and harmful pattern of alcohol usage. To be more specific, it refers to excessive and uncontrolled drinking that tends to upend one’s life. Those afflicted experience strong cravings, use alcohol even where it’s unsafe, and can even suffer withdrawal symptoms.
Current research hasn’t nailed the exact cause(s) of AUD. That said, it has found the following risk factors:
- Genetics – People with a family history of AUD are more likely to have it.
- Poor Mental Health – Conditions like depression, generalized anxiety disorder, and ADHD can increase the risk of alcohol abuse.
- A History of Trauma – Often enough, those with emotional traumas will use alcohol to cope.
- Social & Cultural Background – Having a friend or partner who drinks can prompt you to drink as well.
How Does Alcohol Use Disorder Affect You?
It can be quite hard to live with alcohol use disorder. When untreated, the condition leads to many short and long-term problems.
Most of these issues revolve around your immediate, day-to-day life. An addiction to alcohol makes even simple tasks challenging, so it can interfere with your job, close relationships, and more. Many sufferers find themselves unable to work or care for themselves properly. Worse yet, they face bodily harm through injuries, violence, organ failure, and STDs.
All that said, AUD’s largest impact is a much higher risk of early death. Alcohol poisoning – which occurs when you drink too much too quickly – disrupts your body’s core life-supporting functions. Similarly, chronic alcohol use is linked to cancers of the throat, colon, breast, liver, etc. Drinking too much can also lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, liver disease, and strokes.
What Treatments Exist for Alcohol Use Disorder?
Alcohol use disorder shouldn’t leave you too low, despite the risks above. This disorder is treatable with the right methods and resources.
Medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is typically the best option for AUD. Through it, a patient combats their cravings (and withdrawal symptoms) by taking special medicines over time. These unique drugs are highly effective and work well alongside talk therapy and similar types of support. More importantly, trained medical professionals have proven they’re safe; they won’t cause relapses.
B&L Medical Group offers two drugs that address AUD: Naltrexone and Vivitrol. As administered by our team, they’d ensure you kick alcohol aside.
Get Help for Your Alcoholism
Please don’t wait to overcome your addiction to alcohol. Instead, call us at 913-713-1238 (or visit our website) so we can make sure you get help. Nurse Laura will gladly work with you and suggest the most suitable treatment that helps you thrive!
Alcohol Use Disorder FAQs
Is Alcohol Use Disorder Inherited?
Your biology doesn’t “cause” alcohol use disorder. That said, a high risk of alcoholism can (and often does) run in families.
Just as genes affect hair color, height, and so on, they also make alcohol use disorder more or less likely. Many alcoholics thus have close relatives – siblings and parents especially – who also struggle with drinking problems. Risk isn’t the same as destiny, though; having alcoholic family members doesn’t mean you’ll inevitably become an addict. More important are factors like stress levels, whether alcohol is readily available, etc.
Knowing the role of genetics in alcohol use disorder is important. Through that knowledge, you can take steps to protect yourself better from alcohol.
Can Alcohol Use Disorder Be Cured?
Sadly, alcohol use disorder can’t be entirely cured at this time. The best one can do is manage the condition with appropriate treatments.
No matter how long they avoid drinks, an alcoholic can still suffer a relapse. It’s not possible – at least not yet – to eliminate the disorder once it occurs. Therefore, not drinking (i.e., “staying dry”) is the safest course for most people with this condition. At the same time, continued counseling and medication can help people resist the impulse to relapse.
You needn’t fear that alcoholism is “too hard” to control. With the right support and procedures, you can rebuild your life and find immense day-to-day satisfaction.
What is a Safe Level of Drinking?
As a matter of fact, there is a safe level of drinking for most adults. The Dietary Guidelines of Americans states that moderate alcohol consumption carries few (if any) risks.
What constitutes “moderate alcohol use” depends on one’s circumstances. For instance, most men can generally have two drinks per day without fearing for their health. Women and older people, however, should only have one drink per day at most; any more might cause problems.
Of course, the recommended limits don’t guarantee safety at all times. A “safe” level of drinking for an alcoholic is none at all, rather than the suggested amounts above. Therefore, you should consider many different factors to define a low-risk level of intake.
Does Alcohol Affect Older People Differently?
Often enough, yes – alcohol does affect older people differently than it does younger folks. Drinking in one’s middle or senior years has effects that you won’t find among twenty- and thirty-somethings.
Older people are likely to suffer dangerous symptoms when they drink too much. Indeed, such effects include slower reaction times, hearing and sight problems, a higher risk of falls, car crashes, etc. The reason for such symptoms is that old age lowers one’s tolerance to alcohol.
Note also that older people tend to take more medicines than younger people. If they mix alcohol with certain medications, they could suffer dangerous or fatal complications.
