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Alcohol contributes to 79,000 deaths and $223.5 billion in societal costs annuallyin the United States.1,2 Almost 9% of U.S. adults (approximately 13% of those whodrink) meet the criteria for an alcohol-use disorder3 (Table 1)4,5; the prevalence ofalcohol-use disorders is higher in clinical settings.5 Alcohol consumption can haveadverse social, legal, occupational, psychological, and medical consequences. Therisk of harmful consequences and disability exists on a continuum6 (Fig. 1). Riskdrinking is defined as an average of 15 or more standard drinks per week or 5 ormore on an occasion for men and 8 or more drinks weekly or 4 or more on an occasionfor women and people older than 65 years of age.5 A standard drink (i.e.,12 oz of beer, 5 oz of wine, or 1.5 oz of 80-proof liquor) contains 14 g of ethanol.High average consumption or frequent heavy drinking can be clinically silent yethave adverse health and social consequences7,8 (see Fig. S1 and S2 in the SupplementaryAppendix, available with the full text of this article at NEJM.org).Continued drinking despite adverse consequences constitutes an alcohol-usedisorder4 (Table 1). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourthedition, text revision (DSM-IV-TR), differentiates abuse from dependence,4 but recentresearch suggests that they represent one disorder, which the proposed taxonomyfor the DSM-5 would consolidate into a single spectrum.9 At the severe endof the spectrum, chronic, severe dependence is a recurring brain disorder characterizedby loss of control over drinking, drinking despite harm, daily or neardailydrinking, a compulsion to drink (“craving”), tolerance, withdrawal, andsubstantial disability
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