This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gitlow, S. E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Gitlow, S. E.

The Disease of Alcoholism¹

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029

A pharmacological view of narcotic addiction and alcoholism, or sedative addiction, serves as a basis for the further examination of these complex illnesses. The disease called alcoholism (sedativism) consists, however, of much more than just a chronic or periodic addiction to a sedative drug. The urgent need to understand the psychological and societal parameters of this illness is underscored by the likelihood that alcoholism represents the major factor in the cause of death of young adults (<45 years) in the United States today. Its further role as a carcinogen is only recently achieving adequate examination.

¹ Presented at the Alcohol and Cancer Workshop, October 23 and 24, 1978, Bethesda, Md.