Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are one of the most common and least-treated health conditions in the world. Some AUDs decline in severity or even get better without treatment.¹ AUDs often accompany depression, anxiety, fears and phobias, sleep disorders, liver problems, and other diseases. They may be caused by shared genes underlying other psychiatric conditions, especially depression.² And while there’s a strong genetic component in many AUD cases, there are a host of contributing factors, from cultural and regulatory environments to psychological disposition to brain circuitry and anxiety, that can play important roles in the development of the condition—or, at least, that can play anything from a substantial role to a very limited one. It all depends. 

As any patient, involved health care practitioner, and/or expert would be quick to point out, AUD is a highly complicated condition, sometimes frustratingly so. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), 6.2 percent of adults over 18 in the U.S. have an AUD, including over 9 million men and 5 million women.³ These numbers can be difficult to gauge in part because of the condition’s complexity—if we had a blood test that a physician could perform or a throat culture that could be sent to the lab, it would establish a diagnosis to everyone’s satisfaction. AUD is the most prevalent substance use disorder in the world, and from a public health perspective, it’s important not to let the complexity of AUD get in the way of sound policies and treatment practices. A comprehensive seminar recently published in The Lancet offered an updated discussion of the state of research on AUD, covering diagnosis, treatment, epidemiology, risk factors, environmental issues, and other considerations, as a guide to what we’ve learned about the condition.