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Despite a scarcity of formal addiction treatment, more than one in three people who have been dependent on alcohol in their lifetime are now in recovery, WedMD reported Jan. 19.

Researchers from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) drew their conclusions from a review of data on 43,000 American adults who took part in the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions, conducted in 2001-2002. "Many people can and do recover from alcoholism," says NIAAA director Ting-Kai Li, M.D.

NIAAA researcher Deborah Dawson and colleagues looked at survey participants who had met the criteria for alcohol dependence and found that 35.9 percent were either completely abstinent or had become "low-risk" drinkers as defined by the American Psychological Association. About 18 percent were completely abstinent.

One in four people surveyed remained dependent on alcohol, while about a third were in "partial remission," still showing signs of alcohol misuse or dependence.

Only about one in four survey participants had ever received formal treatment for their drinking, but abstainers were the most likely (49 percent) to have received treatment. Most of the study group had started drinking between the ages of 18 and 24.