[Why talk about alcohol?].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to H D Wick.
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This article describes brief interventions for individuals with levels of alcohol consumption associated with increased morbidity and mortality but without severe dependence on alcohol. Brief interventions are described and the results of major studies evaluating their efficacy are reported. Data from the medical literature offer convincing evidence on the efficacy of these interventions to reduce alcohol consumption. Consecutive to a reduction of the level of alcohol consumption, further research also demonstrated a beneficial effect of brief interventions in terms of absenteeism at work, days hospitalized, and mortality. Evidence of the efficacy of brief interventions for "high-risk drinkers" justify their implementation in medical practice. In Switzerland, the national programme on handling alcohol "handle with care?" will offer workshops to primary care physicians about the practice of brief interventions.
The daily practice of primary care physicians includes the frequent encounter with patients suffering from alcohol problems. Among these are the identification and treatment of the alcohol dependent patient, but also the identification of and counseling for the excessive alcohol drinker. Biological indicators such as the new marker Carbohydrate-Deficient Transferrin (CDT), can be of some help in the field. They may be used as case finding tools for suspected excessive alcohol drinking or dependence, but also as a monitoring tool for the patient under treatment. The markers may be used in this way as a bio-feedback and/or as a compliance assessment instrument.