scholarly journals A view from the acute hospital: managing patients with alcohol problems

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (9) ◽  
pp. 500-506
Author(s):  
David Pang ◽  
Pete Duffield ◽  
Ed Day

Regular heavy consumption of alcohol is associated with a wide range of physical, psychological and social problems. All health-care clinicians should be able to screen for and detect problematic levels of alcohol consumption in their patients, and deliver an effective brief intervention. When patients with alcohol dependence are admitted to hospital there must be an assessment of whether medication is required to prevent withdrawal symptoms and potential delirium tremens and withdrawal seizures. Medically assisted alcohol withdrawal using a long-acting benzodiazepine such as chlordiazepoxide should be carefully monitored and titrated to effect, and the clinician should be aware of the risk of Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome and other complications. Abstinence from alcohol is usually only the first step in treatment, and effective linkage to community alcohol services is an important step.

2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 324-330
Author(s):  
Raquel Mateus ◽  
Jeannette Y. Wick

People have consumed alcohol for centuries. Most clinicians who work with people who have dementia acknowledge that alcohol may cause or exacerbate dementia's symptoms. Alcohol-related dementia (ARD) has been recognized since the 1960s, but clinicians rarely use this diagnosis. Regardless, it is common and develops pursuant to long-term excessive alcohol consumption. It may, in some cases, evolve into Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Diagnosis can be obscured if patients are not truthful about their alcohol consumption. Often, friends or family provide a better picture of the patient's alcohol history than patients do themselves. Thiamine treatment may prevent or improve symptoms. Abstinence from alcohol is critical, but it is difficult for older people with long histories of heavy drinking. Consultant pharmacists can help the heath care team develop nuanced care plans for patients who have ARD.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 324-330
Author(s):  
Raquel Mateus ◽  
Jeannette Y. Wick

People have consumed alcohol for centuries. Most clinicians who work with people who have dementia acknowledge that alcohol may cause or exacerbate dementia’s symptoms. Alcohol-related dementia (ARD) has been recognized since the 1960s, but clinicians rarely use this diagnosis. Regardless, it is common and develops pursuant to long-term excessive alcohol consumption. It may, in some cases, evolve into Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Diagnosis can be obscured if patients are not truthful about their alcohol consumption. Often, friends or family provide a better picture of the patient’s alcohol history than patients do themselves. Thiamine treatment may prevent or improve symptoms. Abstinence from alcohol is critical, but it is difficult for older people with long histories of heavy drinking. Consultant pharmacists can help the heath care team develop nuanced care plans for patients who have ARD.


Author(s):  
Le Thi Kim Thoa ◽  
Dang H. Hoang ◽  
Nguyen Dang Vung ◽  
Pham H. Tien ◽  
M. A. Plant

Alcohol consumption is associated with a wide range of health and social consequences. It is also associated with a number of risk taking behaviours. These include illicit drug use and unsafe sex.  Alcohol consumption appears to be increasing in Vietnam. The purpose of this paper is to examine the patterns of alcohol consumption and its relationship with a number of other risk taking behaviours amongst young people.  Information was also obtained concerning leisure activities and use of health care. The paper also sets out to examine possible gender differences in relation to alcohol consumption and risk behaviour and to propose the development and implementation of alcohol monitoring and prevention programs in Vietnam.  The study involved a cross-sectional, community survey using a standardised interview.  This was conducted during face-to-face interviews with 1,408 young people aged 10-19 years.  Respondents were recruited randomly through the lists of the households from 12 selected communes in three areas in Northern Vietnam. The findings presented here were part of a larger health risk behaviour survey.  Levels of alcohol use were low. Overall, 16.5% of participants were experienced drinkers, and only 4% of them were current drinkers. Males were significantly more likely than females to report drinking. This study also showed that rates of alcohol consumption were associated with age, education, geographical area, gender, tobacco smoking, involvement in violence, watching television, computer use and playing computer games, wearing safety helmets and use of health services. Alcohol consumption tended to increase with age for both males and females.  Alcohol and its effects on young people are clearly a growing public health issue in Vietnam.  Because of this, more detailed behavioral research should be conducted into the relationship between alcohol consumption and other risky behaviours amongst young people.  It is also recommended that alcohol harm reduction policies should be implemented and integrated into measures to reduce levels of other health problems such as HIV/AIDS and non communicable diseases. Such policies should ideally be evidence-based and evaluated.


Crisis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher R. DeCou ◽  
Monica C. Skewes

Abstract. Background: Previous research has demonstrated an association between alcohol-related problems and suicidal ideation (SI). Aims: The present study evaluated, simultaneously, alcohol consequences and symptoms of alcohol dependence as predictors of SI after adjusting for depressive symptoms and alcohol consumption. Method: A sample of 298 Alaskan undergraduates completed survey measures, including the Young Adult Alcohol Consequences Questionnaire, the Short Alcohol Dependence Data Questionnaire, and the Beck Depression Inventory – II. The association between alcohol problems and SI status was evaluated using sequential logistic regression. Results: Symptoms of alcohol dependence (OR = 1.88, p < .05), but not alcohol-related consequences (OR = 1.01, p = .95), emerged as an independent predictor of SI status above and beyond depressive symptoms (OR = 2.39, p < .001) and alcohol consumption (OR = 1.08, p = .39). Conclusion: Alcohol dependence symptoms represented a unique risk for SI relative to alcohol-related consequences and alcohol consumption. Future research should examine the causal mechanism behind the relationship between alcohol dependence and suicidality among university students. Assessing the presence of dependence symptoms may improve the accuracy of identifying students at risk of SI.


2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria D. Cimini ◽  
Mitchell S. Earleywine ◽  
Estela M. Rivero ◽  
Sandra A. Harvey ◽  
Tamira J. Palmetto-Despaion ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Okolie S.O. ◽  
Kuyoro S.O. ◽  
Ohwo O. B

Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) will revolutionize how humans relate with the physical world around us. Many grand challenges await the economically vital domains of transportation, health-care, manufacturing, agriculture, energy, defence, aerospace and buildings. Exploration of these potentialities around space and time would create applications which would affect societal and economic benefit. This paper looks into the concept of emerging Cyber-Physical system, applications and security issues in sustaining development in various economic sectors; outlining a set of strategic Research and Development opportunities that should be accosted, so as to allow upgraded CPS to attain their potential and provide a wide range of societal advantages in the future.


2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Geist-Martin ◽  
Catherine Becker ◽  
Summer Carnett ◽  
Katherine Slauta

The big island of Hawaii has been named the healing island – a place with varied interpretations of healing, health, and a wide range of holistic health care practices. This research explores the perspectives of holistic providers about the communicative practices they believe are central to their interactions with patients. Intensive ethnographic interviews with 20 individuals revealed that they perceive their communication with clients as centered on four practices, specifically: (a) reciprocity – a mutual action or exchange in which both the practitioner and patient are equal partners in the healing process; (b) responsibility – the idea that, ultimately, people must heal themselves; (c) forgiveness – the notion that healing cannot progress if a person holds the burden of anger and pain; and (d) balance – the idea that it is possible to bring like and unlike things together in unity and harmony. The narratives revealed providers’ ontological assumptions about mind-body systems and the rationalities they seek to resist in their conversations with patients.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Hegy ◽  
Noemi Anja Brog ◽  
Thomas Berger ◽  
Hansjoerg Znoj

BACKGROUND Accidents and the resulting injuries are one of the world’s biggest health care issues often causing long-term effects on psychological and physical health. With regard to psychological consequences, accidents can cause a wide range of burdens including adjustment problems. Although adjustment problems are among the most frequent mental health problems, there are few specific interventions available. The newly developed program SelFIT aims to remedy this situation by offering a low-threshold web-based self-help intervention for psychological distress after an accident. OBJECTIVE The overall aim is to evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the SelFIT program plus care as usual (CAU) compared to only care as usual. Furthermore, the program’s user friendliness, acceptance and adherence are assessed. We expect that the use of SelFIT is associated with a greater reduction in psychological distress, greater improvement in mental and physical well-being, and greater cost-effectiveness compared to CAU. METHODS Adults (n=240) showing adjustment problems due to an accident they experienced between 2 weeks and 2 years before entering the study will be randomized. Participants in the intervention group receive direct access to SelFIT. The control group receives access to the program after 12 weeks. There are 6 measurement points for both groups (baseline as well as after 4, 8, 12, 24 and 36 weeks). The main outcome is a reduction in anxiety, depression and stress symptoms that indicate adjustment problems. Secondary outcomes include well-being, optimism, embitterment, self-esteem, self-efficacy, emotion regulation, pain, costs of health care consumption and productivity loss as well as the program’s adherence, acceptance and user-friendliness. RESULTS Recruitment started in December 2019 and is ongoing. CONCLUSIONS To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study examining a web-based self-help program designed to treat adjustment problems resulting from an accident. If effective, the program could complement the still limited offer of secondary and tertiary psychological prevention after an accident. CLINICALTRIAL ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03785912; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03785912?cond=NCT03785912&draw=2&rank=1


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