The Effect of Behaviour in Patients Who Are Hospitalized and Suffer from Alcohol Withdrawal

Abstract

Background: Several mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, anxiety, insomnia, hallucination and depression, appear when people heavily consume alcoholic beverages for weeks, months, or years. This behaviour appears in up to 80% of patients who are alcohol dependent and is called alcohol withdrawal. It can appear in patients hospitalized between 8hrs and 3 weeks, depending on the stage of their alcohol dependence. More than 90% of alcohol withdrawal signs and symptoms occur within 48 hours after the patient stops drinking. Every year,500,000 episodes of withdrawal symptoms are estimated for1.2 milion patients hospitalized. It is very important to know that over 50% of patients with alcohol withdrawal syndrome are middle-class, highly functional individuals.The withdrawal period can mean additional stress for the pacient who presents injury and needs to undergo surgical procedures. Poor healing increases the risk for infections, complications and prolonged hospitalization. Stress and other behavioral factors can also affect wound healing. Consequently, it is very important to speak about the dangers to which other patients are exposed, such as bites that can transmit hepatitis, syphilis, HIV, and the physical aggressions on health professionals. For patients who are heavy alcohol drinkers, the risk is the same because anxiety can the slowing of respiration and increases pulmonary risks. Also, the decreased activity increases the risk of thrombosis and of bowel upset.
Conclusion. This type of patients should be treated like normal patients, but it is necessary for them to stay as isolated as possible in order not to put the lives of others in danger.