Detoxification is medically supervised withdrawal. Alcohol and many drugs have a characteristic withdrawal syndrome – i.e. – a characteristic set of signs and symptoms – that develop when the substance is taken away. Withdrawal symptoms can range from uncomfortable to life threatening. In medical detoxification, a drug that is the same or similar to the one being abused is started at a high milligram dose, then gradually tapered down to
What Is Addiction Medicine?
Addiction Medicine is a medical specialty that deals with the treatment of drug and alcohol addictions. The specialty entails a mix of general medicine, medical detoxification (medically supervised withdrawal), psychology, psychiatry, and social work. There are two routes to specialization in addiction medicine. Physicians from other specialties, usually internal medicine or family medicine, do a one or two year fellowship. The remaining minority of physicians are from other specialties such