"Provides basic consumer health information about alcohol abuse, addiction, and related health effects, with facts about treatment and recovery. Includes index, glossary of related terms, and other resources"--Provided by publisher.

Part I: Understanding alcohol use, abuse, and dependence. -- When can alcohol be used safely? -- Ethnicity, culture, and alcohol -- Binge drinking -- Facts about alcoholism -- Alcohol-related problems: are you at risk? -- Understanding the development of an addiction -- The genetics of alcoholism -- Part II: The problem of underage drinking. -- Underage drinking in America: scope of the problem -- Current drinking patterns among underage drinkers -- Does advertising play a role in underage drinking -- How alcohol affects development -- Factors that place teens at risk for alcohol-related problems -- Alcohol use on college campuses -- Family guide to underage drinking prevention -- Efforts to prevent and reduce alcohol problems in adolescents -- Community-based alcohol abuse prevention -- The minimum legal drinking age -- Part III: The physical effects and consequences of alcohol abuse. -- Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) -- Alcohol hangover -- Alcohol changes the brain -- Alcohol-induced liver disease -- Alcohol and cardiovascular disease -- Alcoholic neuropathy -- Alcoholic lung disease -- Alcohol abuse affects bone health -- Other organs at risk from alcohol abuse -- How alcohol interacts with other diseases and disorders -- Use with caution: alcohol and medications -- Part IV: The effects of alcohol on reproductive and fetal health. -- Alcohol and the reproductive system -- Alcohol use among pregnant women and recent mothers -- Preventing fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) -- Effects of alcohol on a fetus -- Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) -- FASD among Native Americans -- Adopting and fostering children with FASD -- FASD may co-occur with mental illness -- Part V: Mental health problems associated with alcohol abuse. -- Anxiety disorders and alcohol abuse -- Depression and alcohol use -- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and problems with alcohol use -- Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with conduct disorder raises alcohol-abuse risk -- Alcohol and other addiction disorders -- Alcohol's association with suicide -- Part VI: Alcohol's impact on family, work and the community. -- Children living with alcohol-abusing parents -- Interpersonal violence and alcohol -- Alcohol-impaired vehicle operation -- Preventing alcohol-impaired driving -- Alcohol impacts the workplace -- Alcohol-related fire fatalities -- Raising alcohol taxes reduces harm -- Part VII: Treatment and recovery. -- Helping someone who has a problem with alcohol -- Screening for alcohol use and alcohol-related problems -- Changing alcohol drinking habits -- The differences between brief intervention and treatment for alcoholism -- Alcohol treatment: need, utilization and barriers -- Detoxification: one part of alcohol abuse treatment -- Withdrawal from alcohol -- Prescription medicines used for alcohol abuse treatment -- Alcohol abuse treatment : process and programs -- Treating co-occurring drug and alcohol use disorders -- Recovery from co-occurring mental illness and alcohol abuse -- The role of mutual support groups in alcohol abuse recovery -- Part VIII: Additional help and information-- Glossary of terms related to alcohol use and abuse -- Directory of support groups for alcohol-related concerns -- Directory of state agencies for substance abuse services -- Directory of organizations with information about alcohol use and abuse.