Amy Winehouse's father Mitch has suggested the singer may have died from alcohol withdrawal and not alcohol dependency. The claims have confused some fans of the singer, but the condition is documented in the American Family Physician Journal and 226,000 were hospitalized with the problem in 2000.
A close friend of the singer recently told the Sun newspaper, "Her father said doctors had told Amy to gradually reduce her intake of alcohol and to avoid binging at all costs. Amy told him she couldn't do that. It was all or nothing and she gave up completely. Mitch said the shock of giving up, after everything she had been through over a bad few years, was just too much for her to take". Although some commentators scoffed at the claims, the American Journal notes the most severe kind of withdrawal is called "delirium tremens" and can cause seizures and, in some cases, death. However, doctors claim "Most patients undergoing alcohol withdrawal can be treated safely and effectively as outpatients". Winehouse was found dead at her north London home on Saturday (23rd July 2011) - news that stunned the entertainment world. Close friends and family attended her funeral earlier this week and a post-mortem was undertaken but the results were not made public. It could be months before it is revealed whether Amy died of alcohol withdrawal.
It was recently reported the singer left behind a considerable amount of new material, which may be released posthumously in the form of a long-awaited third studio album.