title: The course of alcoholism among men in the Lundby Longitudinal Study, Sweden.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to describe the course of alcoholism among men in the Lundby community cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  A subset (N = 41) of initially nonalcoholic male subjects were diagnosed by a psychiatrist as first incidence alcoholics (alcohol abuse and/or dependence) during the period 1957-72, all of whom have been followed through four waves of investigation between 1947 and 1993.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The proportion of remission of the entire 41 former alcoholic subjects was 39%. Of the 23 survivors, 52% were remitted. The recovery started at age 30-39 and culminated at age 40-49.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this 40-year follow-up of former alcoholics, stable remissions were shown to occur at a rate of approximately 40% (50% in survivors). Critical variables were severity and the subjects' age at the time of recovery. The results are tentative because of the small number of individuals.
authors.affiliation: Magnus Huss Clinic, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ojesjö
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Hagnell
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Otterbeck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000401:mortality / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology