In the general population, even if problem drinkers reduce the amount of alcohol they consume over a period of years, they are unlikely on their own to lower their consumption to the level of the average adult, according to a November 2010 study at the University of California San Francisco.

“Most heavy drinkers maintain a steady level of heavy alcohol consumption over time,” said lead researcher Kevin L. Delucchi, Ph.D., Professor of Biostatistics in Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco. “It’s pretty toxic, but somehow they manage to keep drinking at a fairly sustained level.”

Given that heavy drinkers usually don’t become “normal” drinkers on their own, the study’s takeaway message for clinicians and family members is to help connect a problem drinker to a community social service agency or Alcoholics Anonymous. Simply telling someone that they had a drinking problem did not seem to be helpful in this study, but being specific about how to get help did.

The researchers say their study is one of the first to examine heavy alcohol use in the general population. Most studies have focused on those who were already in a treatment program, said Delucchi.

“Not everyone who has an alcohol problem is in treatment or is in a program,” said Delucchi. “People are out there on their own.”