MAIN Health Diseases & Conditions Alcoholism Symptoms & Treatment

The signs and symptoms of alcoholism can vary from person to person depending on personality, intelligence, and many other variables including how clever the alcoholic becomes at hiding the problem from friends and loved ones.

However, experts have become adept at spotting basic behaviors that are common to all alcoholics. These may range anywhere from frequent hangovers to "accidental" falls at home to auto collisions and near-misses on the road. In college students, alcohol poisoning from an all-night binge is one danger sign. Other general symptoms of alcohol abuse include blackouts and memory loss, stomach cramps, loss of appetite, loss of interest in sex, and male impotence.

As alcohol begins to take its toll, and the immune system begins to break down, chronic infections or abcesses are also common symptoms. Only later on are the obvious outward signs easy to spot — including "spider veins" and red nose and cheeks. More serious medical conditions also present themselves as the disease progresses. These may include cirrhosis, hepatitis, anemia, heart disease (alcoholic cardiomyopathy), abnormal brain functioning (Wernicke's encephalopathy) seizures and hallucinations.

On the Web, find out more about the symptoms of alcoholism, how to spot them in teens, men, women, and the elderly, plus advice on when to seek treatment, where to find support, and other facts and information on reading the signs of alcoholism...

Drink Too Much? - Self-help questions, sample drinking diary, signs you may be drinking too much and tips on helping others with their drinking problem, with related links and resources.

Alcohol Withdrawal - Descriptions of symptoms that may range anywhere from mild irritability to hallucinations, including information on treatment, when to get help from support groups, and related links and resources from MedlinePlus.

also see in Alcoholism -> Alcoholism Research | College Drinking

Drunk Driving | Family Resources | Meetings, Support

Teen Drinking | Women & Alcohol

also see in Diseases -> Cirrhosis | Liver Diseases