Introduction

Abstract

Alcohol use disorders are a serious health problem having not only a profound primary effect on individuals, their life expectancy, and general health but also significant secondary effects on families and friends and a tertiary effect on society through the increased cost of health care and losses in productivity. The consumption of alcoholic beverages has long been an integral part of celebrations throughout the world. Some have even suggested a historic and evolutionary connection between humans and alcohol metabolism linking survival of our species with the ability to consume rotting fruit and eliminate alcohol [1]. In the early history of mankind, when much of the water may have been toxic or potentially filled with pathogens, consumption of alcohol may have been safer than consumption of water. The use and abuse of alcohol, whether to celebrate, grieve, or just cope with life’s ups and downs, has led to a culture that condones and encourages its use and yet in recent years has become increasingly aware of the dangers of overindulgence.