[Medically diagnosed alcoholic morbidity in wine-producing and mining cantons of Languedoc]

The aim of this study is to evaluate the severity of medically diagnosed alcoholic disease in two regions of France, the Hérault region (wine producing) and the Gard region (mining), by means of a questionnaire filled in by 84 p. cent of general practitioners with a very low loss rate (7%). This is not a study of incidence, but an analysis of the morbidity observed and diagnosed in a large population sample. The survey detected 2,4 p. cent and 2,7 p. cent of the male population and 0,2 and 0,3 p. cent of the female population. The morbidity varies with age and sex and alcohol abuse was found to occur earlier in the mining region than in the wine producing region. Although there is no correlation between age and the frequency of consultations, the proportion of patients consulting for an alcohol related disease decreases with increasing age. The more advanced the alcohol related disease, the more difficult it is for the doctor to distinguish between symptoms which are due to aging and those due to alcohol. The doctor does not relate hypertension to alcoholism.