Alcohol consumption and rates of alcoholism in Greece.

It appears that the incidence of alcoholism is relatively low in Greece, in spite of high consumption of alcohol and absence of restrictive measures for its use. This may be related to the traditional integration of alcohol use in the social ritualistic structures and to family and social support of susceptible individuals in the small Greek communities. The differences between urban and rural areas support these assumptions but should perhaps be taken as a danger signal. In order to establish effective measures of prevention, epidemiological studies are needed to confirm the trends and identify the risk factors.