When Irresponsible Drinking Results in Serious Health Problems
For several years alcoholism exploration has revealed the fact that there is strong association between alcohol dependency and serious health conditions.
For example, in 2005, medical exploration and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics revealed that alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction cost the United States an estimated $220 billion annually. It can be stressed that this huge alcohol-related expense was substantially more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is pertinent to stress these facts, it is also noteworthy to emphasize the point that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health conditions.
More accurately, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly correlated with obesity and with cancer.
Certainly, substance abuse exploration has demonstrated the fact that alcohol dependency can increase the risk for various forms of cancer, particularly cancer of the kidneys, rectum, colon, voice box (larynx), esophagus, throat, and the liver. Abusive and repetitive drinking can also result in immune system problems and damage to the fetus during pregnancy.
Abusive and Excessive Drinking Deteriorates the Person’s Systems and Organs
Furthermore, if alcohol dependency continues over a period of years, the person’s body organs will likely be affected in an unsafe manner. As an illustration, repeated, excessive drinking is especially hurtful to the liver since the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been consumed. Excessive amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and eradicates the ability of liver cells to reproduce. This condition leads to a progressive inflammatory malfunction of the liver that can in the end lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a serious and potentially incurable medical problem.Heavy, long-term drinking not only can result in serious liver damage, but it can also lead to damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this critical may be irreparable and may, in turn, result in severe illness or an early death.
The Critical Nature of Alcohol Treatment
It is imperative, as a result, to know how to identify the various alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol addicted individual can be given the opportunity to seek the quality alcohol counseling he or she requires.
Alcohol Dependency and Sophisticated Brain Research
Fortunately, medical investigation is persistently unearthing novel and important information. Recent alcoholism research supplies a high-quality example. More accurately, for roughly the last ten years, complex brain-imaging scanning instruments have shown that continuous and long-term abusive drinking alters the configuration of the brain to a substantial extent, thusly resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or maybe as long as the individual lives.
Stated differently, medical investigation has shown that people who have been drinking in a hazardous manner for a considerable length of time increase their risk for developing long lasting and severe modifications 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 assorted health problems that are to a large extent related to alcohol dependency, take into account the fact that according to medical research, the abusive and repeated abuse of alcohol can result in erosive gastritis, a medical problem that decreases the absorption of minerals, nutrients, and vitamins.
This type of organ malfunctioning is associated with malnutrition and to an assortment of acute mental and neurological syndromes including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical condition is a long lasting incapacitating health problem that is exemplified by persistent learning and memory problems.
Conclusion
It is clear that continued, excessive drinking is directly or indirectly linked to numerous severe medical problems that can and do result in serious diseases and premature death. Such information needs to be stressed and presented to everyone in our society so that a massive amount of individuals will be able to abstain from abusive drinking while other individuals who have a drinking problem will get the quality rehab they need.
Tags: exercise, nutrition, Health
