History

Historically the name "dipsomania" was coined by German physician C.W. Hufeland in 1819 before it was superseded by "alcoholism". That term now has a more specific meaning. The term "alcoholism" was first used in 1849 by the Swedish physician Magnus Huss to describe the systematic adverse effects of alcohol. Alcohol has a long history of use and misuse throughout recorded history. Biblical, Egyptian and Babylonian sources record the history of abuse and dependence on alcohol. In some ancient cultures alcohol was worshiped and in others, its abuse was condemned. Excessive alcohol misuse and drunkenness were recognized as causing social problems even thousands of years ago. However, the defining of habitual drunkenness as it was then known as and its adverse consequences were not well established medically until the 18th century. In 1647 a Greek monk named Agapios was the first to document that chronic alcohol misuse was associated with toxicity to the nervous system and body which resulted in a range of medical disorders such as seizures, paralysis, and internal bleeding. In 1920 the effects of alcohol abuse and chronic drunkenness boosted membership of the temperance movement and led to the prohibition of alcohol in the United States, a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages that remained in place until 1933; this policy resulted in the decline of death rates from cirrhosis and alcoholism. In 2005 alcohol dependence and abuse was estimated to cost the US economy approximately 220 billion dollars per year, more than cancer and obesity.