"Alcohol addiction is a brain disease,” psychiatrist Marcin Wojnar said at a conference last month, explaining that frequent use and the circumstances of drinking can alter the brain’s reward system, the circuit that reinforces behaviors by creating a sense of pleasure.
Wojnar leads the Department and Clinic of Psychiatry at the Medical University of Warsaw and is president of the Polish Society for Addiction Research. He is also a vice president of the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism.
He told the conference that many people drink heavily, yet only some become dependent, which reflects biological, psychological, social and cultural conditions.
He listed warning signs that point to rising risk.
A single session of more than 100 grams of pure alcohol, for example five large beers, one liter of wine or a quarter liter of vodka, is a red flag.
Drinking more than 20 grams daily, for example two beers, two glasses of wine, or a 50-milliliter shot of vodka, is also alarming.
Other signals include starting the day with alcohol, taking a morning “hair of the dog” to ease a hangover, drinking alone, or turning to alcohol when tired, unwell, sad, guilty or in pain.
Neglecting duties at home or work because of drinking, or becoming irritable when access to alcohol is limited, are further concerns.
Clinicians suspect dependence when a person shows three of six signs. These include strong craving or compulsive drinking, difficulty controlling drinking such as failing to wait until afternoon or always finishing the bottle, withdrawal symptoms when drinking stops, rising tolerance that leads to larger amounts, loss of interest in other pleasures and pursuits, and continued drinking despite serious health harm, for example liver damage.
Experts say Poles typically do not sip small amounts with meals but instead drink large amounts on single occasions. That pattern carries higher health and social risks.
Wojnar cited market estimates that the average adult in Poland consumes about 11 liters of pure alcohol annually, but he believes the real figure may be one or two liters higher.
Cardiologist Zbigniew Gaciong, a professor at the University of Warsaw and former rector of the Warsaw Medical University, warned that binge drinking, meaning heavy episodic drinking, raised cardiovascular mortality regardless of total intake.
“There is no cardioprotection in binge drinking,” he said, adding that wine consumed infrequently in large quantities is as harmful as strong spirits, and that the way people drink matters more than the type of alcohol.
(rt/gs)
Source: PAP