| Summary: | Alcohol is the most widely used psychotropic drug in the industrialised world; it has been used for thousands of years as a social lubricant and anxiolytic. In the UK, it is estimated that 24% of adult men and 13% of adult women drink in a hazardous or harmful way. Levels of hazardous and harmful drinking are lowest in the central and eastern regions of England (21-24% of men and 10-14% of women). They are highest in the north (26-28% of men, 16-18% of women). Hazardous and harmful drinking are commonly encountered amongst hospital attendees; 12% of emergency department attendances are directly related to alcohol whilst 20% of patients admitted to hospital for illnesses unrelated to alcohol are drinking at potentially hazardous levels. Continued hazardous and harmful drinking can result in dependence and tolerance with the consequence that an abrupt reduction in intake might result in development of a withdrawal syndrome. In addition, persistent drinking at hazardous and harmful levels can also result in damage to almost every organ or system of the body. Alcohol-attributable conditions include liver damage, pancreatitis and the Wernicke's encephalopathy. Key areas in the investigation and management of these conditions are covered in this guideline
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