Laboratory test changes in young abstinent male alcoholics

Data collected over time from an abstaining young alcoholic population were analyzed together with data from a nonalcoholic population, which served as a reference group. The laboratory tests of the abstaining alcoholics were measured at baseline (zero weeks), three weeks, and six weeks, while those of the nonalcoholic group were measured once, at baseline. The analysis attempts to reveal how abstinence from beverage alcohol consumption in an alcoholic population affects 25 commonly ordered laboratory tests over time and whether cigarette smoking mediates any observed effects. The primary findings of this detailed examination of clinical chemistries in abstaining alcoholics indicate that drinking and smoking have independent effects and that the effects of drinking persist even after six weeks of abstinence.