Helping patients who drink too much: an evidence-based guide for primary care clinicians. Am Fam Physician 80

early one third of U.S. adults drink enough to cause or place them at risk of adverse con-sequences.1 In 2000, excessive alcohol use led to 85,000 premature deaths in the United States.2 This was the third lead-ing cause of death from modifiable factors after tobacco use, and poor diet and physical inactivity. Almost one third of U.S. adults meet the criteria for an alcohol use disorder at some point in their life.3 The chances of developing an alcohol use disorder of abuse or depen-dence, or a physical illness such as liver dis-ease, increase the more a person drinks pe