The 'burden of disease' in those who recover from addiction
01 April, 2019
Recent research shows that more than one-third of people who are recovering from addiction continue to experience chronic physical disease.
Excessive use of alcohol and drugs can lead to mental and physical health issues, some of which include anxiety, depression, diabetes, liver disease, and heart disease.
Many of these conditions may improve after recovery, but some may linger and diminish the quality of life.
A study carried out at the Massachusetts General Hospital Recovery Research Institute in Boston analyzed the impact of recovery on medical conditions that are caused or aggravated by alcohol and drug abuse.
The researchers published their findings in the Journal of Addiction Medicine, in a paper titled "Medical burden of disease among individuals in recovery from alcohol and other drug problems in the United States."
"The prodigious psychological, social, and interpersonal impact of excessive and chronic alcohol and other drug use is well-characterized," said David Eddie, Ph.D., a research scientist and lead author of the study.
He continued, "Less well-appreciated is the physical disease burden, especially among those who have successfully resolved a significant substance use problem."
Statistics on substance abuse
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2016, more than 20 million people aged 12 or older had a substance use disorder related to alcohol or illicit drugs during the previous year.
Of these people, about 15 million were addicted to alcohol, and more than 7 million had an illicit drug use disorder.
The same survey revealed that approximately 21 million people in the U.S. aged 12 or older needed treatment for substance use addiction, including almost 4 million individuals who received any treatment for the issue and about 2 million who received the treatment at a specialized facility.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimate that about 88,000 people die from alcohol-related causes every year, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.
In 2017, over 70,200 people in the country died from a drug overdose, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
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