When Abusive Drinking Results in Serious Health Problems
For a number of years alcohol dependency research has demonstrated the fact that there is strong relationship between alcohol addiction and critical health conditions.
As an illustration, in 2005, medical examination and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics demonstrated the fact that that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion annually. It can be emphasized that this massive alcohol-related expenditure was substantially more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is pertinent to emphasize these facts, it is also noteworthy to highlight the fact that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health issues.
More accurately, chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism are also highly correlated with obesity and with cancer.
Indeed, substance abuse research has shown that alcohol addiction can augment the risk for various types of cancer, particularly cancer of the kidneys, rectum, colon, voice box (larynx), esophagus, throat, and the liver. Abusive and recurring drinking can also result in immune system difficulties and impairment to the fetus during pregnancy.
Irresponsible and Heavy Drinking Destabilizes the Person’s Systems and Organs
Additionally, if alcoholism continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will more likely than not be affected in an unhealthy manner. As an illustration, chronic, hazardous drinking is particularly harmful to the liver since the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been consumed. Extreme amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and eradicates the ability of liver cells to regenerate. This medical circumstance leads to a progressive inflammatory malfunction of the liver that can ultimately lead to cirrhosis of the liver, an acute and potentially terminal medical problem.Excessive, long-term drinking not only can result in critical liver damage, but it can also result in damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this severe may be unalterable and may, in turn, lead to serious illness or premature death.
The Importance of Alcohol Therapy
It is important, consequently, to know how to recognize the various alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol addicted person can be given the opportunity to get the quality alcohol treatment he or she requires.
Alcohol Dependency and Technologically Advanced Brain Research
Fortuitously, scientific examination is persistently uncovering original and important information. Recent alcoholism research supplies a good illustration. More specifically, for approximately the past ten years, technologically advanced brain-imaging scanning instruments have confirmed that repetitive and chronic hazardous drinking changes the functionality of the brain to a great extent, therefore resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or conceivably as long as the person lives.
More explicitly, medical research has demonstrated that people who have been drinking in a hazardous manner for an extensive length of time increase their risk for developing long lasting and significant adaptations in the brain.
This type of damage may be directly related to the alcohol’s effects on the brain, to severe liver disease, or might be indirectly associated with the drinker’s poor overall health.
Mental Disorders, Malnutrition, and Hazardous Drinking
As a final illustration of different medical conditions that are considerably associated with alcohol dependency, consider that in accordance with scientific investigation, the abusive and repeated abuse of alcohol can result in erosive gastritis, a medical problem that decreases the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
This type of organ malfunctioning is linked to malnutrition and to a number of severe mental and neurological maladies including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical problem is an enduring debilitating health problem that is characterized by incessant learning and memory difficulties.
Summary
It is obvious that repetitive, hazardous drinking is directly or indirectly correlated with a number of acute medical conditions that can and do result in serious illness and premature death. Such information needs to be highlighted and presented to everyone in our society so that a large number of people will be able to refrain from excessive drinking while other individuals who have a drinking problem will get the quality rehab they require.
Tags: Health, nutrition, exercise
