Addiction medicine specialists warn, however, that although CDT will be a useful tool, it is not in itself a conclusive test for alcoholism. And when it's negative, it doesn't rule out alcoholism, and that's really important to understand. Good diagnostic interviewing along with laboratory screening ends up making a good diagnosis or ruling it out. In the case of women, that is even more important, because the tests are less sensitive in females, so using them together makes even more sense. There is also evidence that long-time abusers who relapse will show up positive after much less drinking.
Experts say that people can be alcoholics and drink much less than that.
The attendees endorsed CDT as the most specific and useful of the tests. Those who work with alcoholics say that although the CDT test will be very helpful to primary care physicians as a screening tool, it will be even more useful to addiction medicine specialists looking for signs of recurrent drinking. The reason is that CDT is more specific and more sensitive than GGT to sudden spikes in alcohol consumption. It's kind of a safety net. He estimated that he would be able to intervene in relapsed patients four to five weeks sooner than he would if he waited until they disclosed voluntarily that that they were drinking again.