Alcohol use disorder: When is drinking a problem? - Harvard Health Blog - Harvard Health Publishing

Alcohol use disorder: When is drinking a problem? - Harvard Health Blog - Harvard Health Publishing

Harvard Health Blog Alcohol use disorder: When is drinking a problem? POSTED DECEMBER 20, 2018, 10:30 AM Marcelo Campos, MD, Contributor Over the past few months, a conversation about alcohol use has been center stage in the national news. Stories about harmful behavior associated with alcohol use are quite common in many families around the world. The rise of the opioid epidemic in the US has rightly caught our attention, but overshadowed a much more common problem. In the United States, from 2006 to 2010 alcohol-associated deaths accounted for 88,000 deaths annually, or almost 10% of all US deaths. While many people are becoming aware that medication assisted therapy can help treat opioid use disorder, very few know that medication and counseling can significantly reduce alcohol use compared with trying to cut back on your own. Learn more »

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