Alcohol use disorder. The other disease.

Abstract

Alcohol consumption throughout history has been conditioned by cultural and social elements, and its widespread use has led to a sometimes dangerous normalization in certain countries. Globally, it is known that alcohol-related disease causes around three million deaths per year.

Our aim as health promoters should be to intervene early in order to detect mild and moderate cases of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in order to prevent them from being treated in specialized hepatology units.

Addiction treatment centers are the first specialized step in the approach to this pathology, so knowledge of specific pharmacotherapy for moderate and severe AUD is required, as well as the necessary psychotherapeutic tools for this purpose.

Coordination between the different hospital services involved in the treatment of organic pathology and addiction treatment centers should be considered as a necessary strategy in the approach to patients with severe alcohol use disorder, as well as a relapse prevention tool in transplant patients.

Keywords: alcoholism, pharmacotherapy, dual pathology, liver disease.