COVID-19 means long stretch of stormy weather for people with alcohol and substance use disorders

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National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism on 7/14/2020

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has created an environment that is particularly problematic for individuals with alcohol and substance use disorders (ASUD), according to physician scientists at the National Institutes of Health.  In a commentary now online in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the researchers liken the global coronavirus emergency to a “perfect storm,” with dire consequences for ASUD prevention and treatment that may endure after the pandemic.

“ASUD patients face unique vulnerability factors during this dramatic global health crisis,” says George Koob, Ph.D., Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

In the new commentary, senior author Lorenzo Leggio, M.D., Ph.D., physician and Senior Investigator at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and his NIH co-authors – Drs. Primavera Spagnolo and Chiara Montemitro – describe these vulnerabilities.

 

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