Alcoholism At Large

New app to measure alcohol withdrawal

The most commonly used clinical sign of alcohol withdrawal is tremor, especially in the hands and arms. Judging tremor severity requires considerable medical expertise, and even experienced doctors’ estimates can vary widely. However, Narges Norouzi and Professors Bjug Borgundvaag and Parham Aarabi at the University of Toronto have developed the world’s first app to measure tremor strength, providing objective guidance to direct treatment decisions. “This gives clinicians a much easier way to assess patients using real data,” said Borgundvaag, who is also an emergency physician at Mount Sinai Hospital. “Our app may also be useful in assisting withdrawal management staff, who typically have no clinical training, and determining which patients should be transferred to the emergency department for medical treatment or assessment. We think our app has great potential to improve treatment for these patients overall.”