When Irresponsible Drinking Results in Serious Health Problems
For a number of years alcoholism research has demonstrated the fact that there is strong linkage between alcohol addiction and life-threatening health conditions.
For example, in 2005, medical exploration and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics revealed that alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency cost the United States an estimated $220 billion on an annual basis. It can be stressed that this massive alcohol-related cash outlay was substantially more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is relevant to accentuate these facts, it is also noteworthy to point to the fact that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health problems.
Stated another way, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly interrelated with obesity and with cancer.
Undeniably, substance abuse examination has shown that alcohol dependency can increase the risk for different forms of cancer, particularly cancer of the colon, voice box (larynx), liver, rectum, throat, kidneys, and the esophagus. Heavy and repetitive drinking can also lead to immune system problems and damage to the fetus during pregnancy.
Excessive Drinking Enfeebles the Problem Drinker’s Systems and Organs
Additionally, if alcohol dependency continues over a period of years, the person’s body organs will likely be affected in a harmful manner. As an illustration, repeated, excessive drinking is especially damaging 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 destroys the ability of liver cells to redevelop. This medical condition results in a progressive inflammatory injury to the liver that can in the end lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a grave and potentially lethal medical problem.Abusive, long-term drinking not only can result in critical liver damage, but it can also lead to damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this serious may be unalterable and may, in turn, result in severe disease or an untimely death.
The Critical Nature of Alcohol Treatment
It is essential, therefore, to know how to identify the various alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcoholic can be given the opportunity to seek the professional alcohol therapy he or she requires.
Alcohol Addiction and Sophisticated Brain Research
Fortuitously, scientific investigation is continuously unearthing original and significant information. Recent alcoholism exploration provides an excellent example. More specifically, for roughly the last ten years, complex brain-imaging scanning instruments have demonstrated that repetitive and long lasting irresponsible drinking alters the functionality of the brain to a significant extent, thusly resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or possibly as long as the individual lives.
More accurately, medical exploration has revealed that individuals who have been drinking in an excessive manner for a substantial length of time increase their risk for developing long-term and substantial changes 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 Excessive Drinking
As a final illustration of different health problems that are substantially related to alcohol addiction, take into account the fact that in accordance with scientific exploration, the excessive and repeated abuse of alcohol can result in erosive gastritis, a condition that reduces the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
This kind of organ malfunctioning is correlated with malnutrition and to a variety of acute neurological and mental problems including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter health problem is a long lasting debilitating health problem that is characterized by repetitive memory and learning problems.
Summary
It is plain to see that repetitive, excessive drinking is directly or indirectly associated with many acute medical problems that can and do result in serious illness and premature death. Such information needs to be stressed and presented to everyone in our society so that most individuals will be able to refrain from hazardous drinking while other people who have a drinking problem will get the quality treatment they require.
Tags: nutrition, exercise, Health
