One is to ask them questions or use some screening questionnaire.
Screen instruments can help, but people are not always entirely truthful.
That’s where a blood alcohol test can come in handy.
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What Constitutes Heavy Drinking?
What Is a CDT Blood Test?
As the name suggests, CDT blood testing measures the level of CDT in the bloodstream.
Therefore, this increase is a biomarker of excessive alcohol use.
Some CDT tests use a cutoff of less than 1.7%.
The CDT test is highly accurate in detecting heavy drinking.
When a person stops drinking, CDT levels go back to normal after two to four weeks.
Likewise, if they resume drinking, the levels once again increase after a few days.
The greater the misuse, the more likely the person willdeny heavy alcohol consumption.
Medical Conditions
Alcohol consumption is contraindicated for many medical conditions.
People with diabetes, high blood pressure, hepatitis C, or liver disease should not drink heavily.
Drug Interactions
Patients who takecertain prescription and over-the-counter medicationscan experience harmful effects if they drink alcohol.
In a medical emergency, CDT testing could uncover alcohol use that’s reacting with medications and causing problems.
The earliest CDT tests returned false positives due to these factors.
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