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Addiction Is A Chronic Disease

“Persons with addictive disorders suffer from many of the same medical conditions as nonaddicted persons, but addiction can interfere with the disease or its management.” – Dr. Richard Saitz
Associate Director and Lead Investigator, Youth Alcohol Prevention Center, Boston University School of Public Health

For example:

Genetics play a role

The medical impact on the body is significant

Complications develop if the disease is untreated

Self-care is critical to success

Medication can help

Addiction is in accord with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention definition for chronic disorders:

They are prolonged, lasting for at least three months, do not resolve spontaneously, and are rarely cured completely.

That said, addiction treatment is less available than remedy for other diseases.  Most researchers say addiction may require lifelong management. One way to analyze addiction to alcohol and drugs is to measure it up against the attributes of other “real” chronic diseases. Scientific research  that addiction many shared characteristics with other major chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and asthma. [as stated in “Drug Dependence, a Chronic Medical Illness,” A. Thomas McLellan] he concluded, “Treatments for these illnesses are effective but heavily dependent on adherence to the medical regimen for that effectiveness.”