The role of A&E physicians in health promotion with regards to alcohol-related problems - Essay Example

Introduction: Alcohol use disorders are common conditions in clinical practice in the Accident and Emergency. It has been said that the average alcohol-dependent person decreases his or her life span by 10 to 15 years, and alcohol contributes to 22,000 deaths and 2 million nonfatal injuries each year. Of them, not infrequently, the initial encounters of many of these patients occur as presentations in the Accident and Emergency. Recent years have witnessed a blossoming of clinically relevant research regarding alcohol abuse and dependence, including information on specific genetic influences, the clinical course of these conditions, and the development of new and helpful treatments.

There are many health effects that can occur with both acute and long-term or chronic use of alcohol in both males and females due to pathologic changes it can induce in several organ systems that can be permanent and irreversible. Moreover, long-term, escalating levels of alcohol intake on a habitual basis can predispose to tolerance as well as an intense adaptation of the body to a conditioned state induced by alcohol that cessation of use can lead to a withdrawal syndrome that is usually marked by insomnia, hyperactivity of the autonomic nervous system, and feelings of intense anxiety (Department of Health, 2004, 1-6).

Epidemiologic evidence suggests that the problem with alcoholism lack the stereotypical features of other substance abuse disorders mainly due to the fact that alcohol drink is considered a socially acceptable beverage, although society does not accept the excess and abuse. That which starts as a social norm may eventually turn out to be an addictive behaviour. Psychiatric manifestations apart, a history of alcoholism provides the explanation of many other health conditions that a physician may come across, more so in the Accident and Emergency, and from that point of view, awareness that