Prophylactically treating any patient suspected of alcohol problems with thiamine, folate and magnesium, prior to initiating other therapies, may prevent the development of significant neuropathies. Intoxicating drugs may mask the signs and symptoms of underlying disease . Intoxicated patients must be adequately evaluated and monitored closely as they clear intoxicating drugs, to be certain to catch the development of atypical signs and symptoms. Withdrawal syndromes may evolve as patients metabolize and excrete drugs of abuse. Prophylactic medical therapy is available for safely detoxifying patients from alcohol, opiates and sedative-hypnotic drugs.
Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease .
If untreated, many patients eventually die of their disease. A variety of addiction treatment programs are available in the United States. Those patients entering treatment programs may successfully gain permanent sobriety after their first treatment. Unfortunately, most patients relapse after treatment. There are different techniques used to measure the success of addiction treatment programs.