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When Irresponsible and Excessive Drinking Leads to Serious Health Problems

12 October 2009 No Comment

For a number of years alcoholism research has demonstrated the fact that there is strong association between alcoholism and serious health conditions.

For example, in 2005, scientific exploration and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics showed that alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction cost the United States an estimated $220 billion on an annual basis. Interestingly, this considerable alcohol-related cash outlay was substantially more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is pertinent to underline these facts, it is also noteworthy to emphasize the point that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health problems.

More correctly, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly interrelated with obesity and with cancer.

Definitely, substance abuse investigation has shown that alcohol dependency can boost the risk for different kinds of cancer, especially cancer of the esophagus, kidneys, throat, rectum, liver, voice box (larynx), and the colon. Abusive and recurring drinking can also lead to immune system problems and harm to the fetus during pregnancy.

Hazardous Drinking Deteriorates the Individual’s Systems and Organs

What is more, if alcohol dependency continues over a period of years, the person’s body organs will likely be affected in an unhealthy manner. For example, long-term, hazardous drinking is especially damaging to the liver since the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been ingested. Excessive amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and obliterates the ability of liver cells to redevelop. This medical condition leads to a progressive inflammatory disease of the liver that can in the end lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a precarious and possibly fatal disease.Heavy, long-term drinking not only can lead to acute 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 an untimely death.

The Critical Nature of Alcohol Counseling

It is critical, therefore, to know how to recognize the different alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol addicted person can be given the opportunity to get the professional alcohol rehab he or she requires.

Alcohol Addiction and Sophisticated Brain Exploration

Fortunately, medical investigation is relentlessly uncovering unique and significant information. Recent alcoholism exploration provides a good illustration. Stated differently, for approximately the last ten years, complex brain-imaging scanning devices have verified that continuous and recurring excessive drinking changes the makeup of the brain to a significant extent, consequently resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or perchance as long as the individual lives.

Stated differently, medical research has demonstrated that people who have been drinking in a hazardous manner for a substantial length of time increase their risk for developing permanent and serious 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.

Malnutrition, Abusive Drinking, and Mental Disorders

As a final illustration of diverse medical problems that are to a great extent correlated to alcohol addiction, take into account the fact that in accordance with scientific investigation, the hazardous and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a medical condition that limits the absorption of minerals, nutrients, and vitamins.

This kind of organ malfunctioning is associated with malnutrition and to a number of acute neurological and mental maladies including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical problem is a lasting debilitating condition that is exemplified by recurring memory and learning difficulties.

Summary

It is evident that repetitive, abusive drinking is directly or indirectly correlated with a number of acute medical problems that can and do result in dangerous diseases and premature death. Such information needs to be emphasized and presented to everyone in our society so that most individuals will be able to abstain from hazardous drinking while others who have a drinking problem will get the quality therapy they need.

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