The recreational use of alcohol has spread through all areas of society and is accepted in many cultures as an inclusive and festive custom. But with the increase of this consumption has also emerged a complex public health problem: dependence and addiction to alcohol (alcoholism), a disease with serious health consequences of the addict and to his family and social environment.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between 40 and 60 per cent of deaths from injuries in Europe are related to alcohol (alcoholism).

Addiction to alcohol, although still considered wrong as a matter of lack of will or character, is a disease entity that escapes the control of the patient and requires treatment to stop drinking and compulsive consumption of this substance.

The treatment of alcoholism, under this view, faces major obstacles to the recovery of the patient withdrawal.

The alcohol withdrawal symptoms (abstinence syndrome) occur because once in the brain, alcohol affects chemicals called neurotransmitters that control the flow of information between brain cells called neurons, linked by synapses, and that for this pathological neuroadaptation caused by alcohol, end up affecting the behavior, thoughts and feelings of people.

With chronic alcohol consumption, these neurotransmitters are affected and the brain undergoes a change in its structure and functions, so that can only operate “normally” with the presence of alcohol.

The person whose brain is accustomed to alcohol needs to increase more and more consumption (tolerance) for the purposes of the first times I drank, with the result that to abruptly stop drinking, brain disorders caused crop for consumption and that were hidden by the apparent “normality”. These disorders, which cause withdrawal symptoms decrease or disappear only when drinking alcohol again.

For this reason it is difficult for an addict to stop drinking alcohol when they know that finding relief for withdrawal due to alcohol consumption.