Back to homepage

What alcohol biomarkers reveal about drinking behaviour during alcohol detoxification in ambulant settings

First published: 10 May 2019 | Last updated: 20 May 2019

Beating the Breathalyser: What alcohol biomarkers reveal about drinking behaviour during alcohol detoxification in ambulant settings

Report Author

Dr Iain Smith

Dr Iain Smith


I have been a NHS Consultant in addiction psychiatry for 24 years. I am involved with training on alcohol-related topics for both medical students and postgraduate doctors and other health professionals. I chair the education committee of the Medical Council on Alcohol and serve on the MCA Executive Committee.

One longstanding research interest has been in the area of alcohol-related brain damage. I helped to highlight the apparent increase in alcohol-related brain damage in Scotland in the last three decades and supported the development of services in Glasgow to deal with ARBD.

I serve on the executive of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP).

I have close links with the Centre for History of Medicine at the University of Glasgow. I was awarded a Wellcome Clinician Short-Term Fellowship to study the history of Scottish Inebriate Reformatories. I am expanding this into a historical M.D. on the treatment of alcoholism in Scotland.

Read Full Biography