TYPES OF ALCOHOL BEVERAGES AND SWITCH OF ITS CONSUMPTION BY ALCOHOLIC PATIENTS
The problem of beer alcoholism (BA) raised in 2000-s as a reaction for the increase of manufacturing and consumption of beer which started after 1997.Conditional criterion to define BA from the Vodka-alcoholism (VA) is predominance of beer in the heavy drinking episodes during the year before the examination. The dominant beverage was recorded throughout the annual alcohol history corrected by age. The main choice was between vodka and beer yet some other beverages were recorded to. The 40 pairs of VA and BA were retrospectively analysed basing on the pair method (age and gender), each group consisted of 31 men and 9 women (Me=33).The half of adolescents in both groups abused alcohol before 18 years of age. The age related symptoms of BA and VA made no significant difference. For example, the onset of withdrawal syndrome (WS) fell on 25 years of age for BA and 26.5 years of age in VA (р=0,386). The choice of beverages was mixed for all patients with some preference of beer in BA and vodka in VA. After onset of alcoholism the switches from one beverage to another are typical (from 1 to 8 switches in analysed time). After the onset of WS the choice obtained more constancy, yet the switches could happen again, more likely in BA than in VA. The combined analysis of both groups showed the growing share of vodka with age and with progress of disorder, whilst beer and other beverages eliminate from the abuse spectrum.The problem of beer alcoholism raised in 2000-s to the governmental level appeared to be hollowed due to the typical for heavy drinkers mixed type of alcohol consumption and the common switches from one beverage to another through the history of drinking, all this makes impossible to define alcoholism by the preferable spectrum of beverages.