Alcohol Dependence and Addiction

Alcoholism is a complex condition that involves both alcohol abuse and dependence, the so-called alcohol use disorders. Alcoholism is a quantitative and multifactorial disorder, where the combined incidence of environmental aspects and multiple genetic factors varies from one individual to another. In this book, the authors present topical research in the study of alcohol dependence, including alcohol induced impairment of the cardiac autonomic nervous system; alcohol consumption and its relation to psychiatric symptoms and sexual behaviour patterns; the genetics of alcoholism; alcohol-use disorders; gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) as a pharmacological treatment for alcohol dependence and physical aggression in alcohol dependence.