There are no definitive laboratory tests that can be used to identify alcoholism. Alcohol abuse and dependency are primarily diagnosed by doctors through the use of screening surveys. These tools have been carefully put together and used in a variety of studies. They vary from a single question about the number of days a patient has drunk heavily in the past year (more than 5 drinks for men, 4 for women) to the 10 question AUDIT (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) and the 4 question CAGE. CAGE asks if a person has ever thought that they should Cut down on drinking, been Annoyed by others criticizing their drinking, felt Guilty about drinking, or had an Eye-opening drink in the morning to help alleviate a hangover.
Laboratory testing may be used to help detect chronic and/or relapse alcohol drinking in those who deny it and to help evaluate organ function. Tests include:
Gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT), a liver enzyme that is increased by heavy alcohol intake and by many other conditions that affect the liver
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), which measure the size of red blood cells; usually measured as part of a Complete Blood Count (CBC) test; the MCV may increase over time in those who are heavy drinkers but may also be affected by many other conditions
Carbohydrate-deficient form of transferrin (CDT), a molecule involved in iron transport in blood; CDT is a relatively new test that is sometimes used to help identify chronic heavy drinking.
This article was last reviewed on March 17, 2006.
This article was last modified on April 8, 2009.
The review date indicates when the article was last reviewed from beginning to end to ensure that it reflects the most current science. A review may not require any modifications to the article, so the two dates may not always agree.
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