Alcohol and alcoholism : international journal of the Medical Council on Alcoholism
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To assess nutritional risk of alcoholic patients admitted for alcohol detoxification. ⋯ Malnutrition should be actively considered and screened for in alcoholic patients admitted for alcohol detoxification due to its high prevalence and benefits obtained from treatment.
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To assess the proportion of deaths assigned to ischaemic heart disease (IHD) which in fact were caused by the toxic effects of alcohol, and how this may affect the official statistics of mortality from IHD in Lithuania. ⋯ A significant number of alcohol-attributable deaths in Lithuania were misclassified as coronary deaths, accounting for almost one-tenth of officially registered deaths from IHD in ages 25-64. A high prevalence of positive post-mortem blood or urine alcohol tests suggests that the proportion of alcohol-related deaths among out-of-hospital IHD deaths may be actually even higher. A similar situation may be present in some other countries where high levels of alcohol consumption and binge drinking patterns are observed.
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Underage drinking is a major problem in Australia and may be influenced by exposure to alcohol advertising. The objective of the present study was to collect data on 12-17 year old Australian adolescents' exposure to different types of alcohol advertising and examine the association between exposure to advertising and alcohol consumption. ⋯ The results are consistent with studies from other countries and suggest that exposure to alcohol advertisements among Australian adolescents is strongly associated with drinking patterns. Given current high levels of drinking among Australian youth, these findings suggest the need to address the high levels of young people's exposure to alcohol advertising.
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To develop a prediction model for withdrawal seizures (WS) and delirium tremens (DT) during moderate to severe alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AWS) in a large cohort of inpatients treated for AWS (n = 827). ⋯ In this large retrospective cohort, some easily determinable parameters at admission may be useful to predict a complicated course of alcohol withdrawal regarding the occurrence of WS or DT. Using the provided nomograms, clinicians can estimate the percentage likelihood of patients to develop either WS or DT during their course of withdrawal. Prevalence of structural brain lesions in the patient's history does strongly warrant a careful observation of patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Alcohol withdrawal syndrome: symptom-triggered versus fixed-schedule treatment in an outpatient setting.
To investigate whether, in the treatment with chlordiazepoxide for outpatient alcohol withdrawal, there are advantages of symptom-triggered self-medication over a fixed-schedule regimen. ⋯ Symptom-triggered self-medication was as safe as fixed-schedule medication in treating outpatients with AD and mild to moderate symptoms of AWS. The SAWS is a powerful monitoring tool, because it is brief and permits the subject to log the withdrawal symptoms.