More people seek treatment for alcohol overconsumption than for any other substance. Currently, nearly 6% of adults ages 18 and older have alcohol use disorder (AUD); 2.5% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 have AUD. Only 7% of these adults and 5% of these youth have received treatment in the last year, according to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Patients often feel shame and guilt, and don’t discuss this problem with family members or medical staff, making it difficult to properly diagnose and treat.
Because alcohol consumption can lead to specific recognizable epigenetic chemical changes, the impacts of alcohol abuse remains in DNA for days, weeks, months – or even longer.
Much more accurate than a breathalyzer – providing results that analyze alcohol consumption over time instead of the past several hours – Alcohol Signature technology from Behavioral Diagnostics can measure the exact level of DNA methylation – modification of a gene without changing the sequence – caused by alcohol consumption to accurately determine the exact amount of alcohol consumed by a patient.
The Alcohol Signature™ test is extremely accurate and can quantify alcohol consumption in all types of substance abusers. Even if alcohol hasn’t been consumed in several days, modifications to genes can be documented in the test and can’t be masked by any type of drug or tampering. Attempted interference or contamination of any Alcohol Signature test sample is easily detected.