When Irresponsible Drinking Leads to Serious Health Problems
For several years alcohol dependency exploration has revealed the fact that there is strong relationship between alcohol addiction and serious health conditions.
As an illustration, in 2005, scientific investigation and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics revealed that alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction cost the United States an estimated $220 billion on an annual basis. It may be noted that this enormous alcohol-related cost was substantially more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is relevant to put emphasis on these facts, it is also noteworthy to emphasize the point that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health issues.
More specifically, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly associated with obesity and with cancer.
Indeed, substance abuse research has revealed that alcohol addiction can amplify the risk for various kinds of cancer, especially cancer of the voice box (larynx), esophagus, liver, rectum, colon, kidneys, and throat. Heavy and repetitive drinking can also lead to immune system difficulties and impairment to the fetus during pregnancy.
Irresponsible and Heavy Drinking Destabilizes the Person’s Systems and Organs
What is more, if alcohol addiction continues over a period of years, the person’s body organs will likely be affected in a negative manner. For example, chronic, abusive drinking is especially detrimental to the liver since the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been consumed. Unwarranted amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and eradicates the ability of liver cells to regenerate. This medical condition leads to a progressive inflammatory disease of the liver that can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver, an acute and possibly incurable medical problem.Abusive, long-term drinking not only can lead to severe 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, lead to serious ill health or an untimely death.
The Relevance of Alcohol Counseling
It is critical, consequently, to know how to recognize the different alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol dependent person can be given the opportunity to get the quality alcohol treatment he or she requires.
Alcohol Addiction and Sophisticated Brain Research
Fortunately, medical examination is persistently uncovering new and important information. Recent alcoholism exploration provides a first-rate illustration. More correctly, for approximately the past ten years, complicated brain-imaging scanning instruments have confirmed that repetitive and recurring excessive drinking transforms the structure of the brain to a significant extent, as a consequence resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or conceivably as long as the individual lives.
More accurately, medical examination has shown that individuals who have been drinking abusively for a substantial length of time increase their risk for developing permanent and substantial alterations in the brain.
This type of damage may be indirectly associated with the drinker’s poor overall health or directly related to the alcohol’s effects on the brain or to severe liver disease.
Abusive Drinking, Malnutrition, and Mental Disorders
As a final example of various medical conditions that are substantially associated with alcohol dependency, take into consideration the fact that according to medical investigation, the hazardous and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a health problem that decreases the absorption of minerals, nutrients, and vitamins.
This type of organ breakdown is related to malnutrition and to a variety of severe mental and neurological syndromes including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter health problem is a lasting debilitating health problem that is characterized by incessant memory and learning difficulties.
Summary
It is clear that repetitive, hazardous drinking is directly or indirectly related to a variety of critical medical conditions that can and do result in dangerous illness and premature death. Such information needs to be underlined and presented to everyone in our society so that most individuals will be able to abstain from hazardous drinking while other people who have a drinking problem will get the quality therapy they require.
Related How To Articles:
- A Television Special About Alcohol Dependence Symptoms Leads to Some Troubled and Depressing Feelings About a Young Woman’s Drinking Problems
- How to Know When You Have a Drinking Problem
- Is Your Drinking Starting to Become a Problem?
- What I Learned About Alcohol and Drug Addiction in High School
- What I Learned About Drug Abuse and Alcoholism in High School
Tags: abusive drinking, alcohol abuse, alcohol addiction, alcohol dependency, alcohol treatment, alcoholism, heavy drinking, Self Improvement
