Hematogical Markers of Alcoholism

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An important focus of alcohol research is the search for biological markers that could be used in simple screening tests to identify people who are at risk for alcoholism or who already are chronic heavy drinkers. Two categories of biological markers exist: state markers, which reflect a person's alcohol consumption, and trait markers, which indicate a predisposition for alcoholism.

State markers fall into two main groups: screening markers and relapse markers. Screening markers, which detect chronic alcohol consumption, could complement information obtained from patients in the course of taking their medical history. This physical information could provide important diagnostic …