When Excessive Drinking Leads to Serious Health Problems
For more than a few years alcohol addiction research has demonstrated the fact that there is strong correlation between alcohol addiction and critical health conditions.
As an illustration, in 2005, medical research and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics showed that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion per year. Interestingly, this huge 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 underline these facts, it is also noteworthy to emphasize the point that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health issues.
To be exact, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly correlated with obesity and with cancer.
Certainly, substance abuse examination has demonstrated the fact that alcoholism can increase the risk for various types of cancer, particularly cancer of the esophagus, kidneys, throat, rectum, liver, voice box (larynx), and the colon. Hazardous and repetitive drinking can also lead to immune system problems and injury to the fetus during pregnancy.
Hazardous and Irresponsible Drinking Breaks Down the Individual’s Systems and Organs
Furthermore, if alcohol dependency continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will more likely than not be affected in a harmful manner. For example, chronic, hazardous drinking is particularly detrimental to the liver due to the fact that the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been ingested. Unwarranted amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and obliterates the ability of liver cells to reproduce. This medical condition leads to a progressive inflammatory disease of the liver that can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a precarious and potentially incurable medical problem.Excessive, long-term drinking not only can result in acute liver damage, but it can also lead to damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this dangerous may be unalterable and may, in turn, lead to serious ill health or an untimely death.
The Importance of Alcohol Rehab
It is essential, as a result, to know how to identify the different alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcoholic can be given the opportunity to seek the professional alcohol rehab he or she requires.
Alcoholism and Sophisticated Brain Exploration
Fortunately, medical investigation is relentlessly unearthing novel and important information. Recent alcoholism research offers a high-quality illustration. Stated differently, for roughly the past ten years, complicated brain-imaging scanning devices have confirmed that repetitive and recurring excessive drinking changes the structure of the brain to a significant extent, therefore resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or perchance as long as the person lives.
More specifically, medical research has shown that individuals who have been drinking excessively for a considerable length of time increase their risk for developing long lasting and significant modifications in the brain.
This type of damage may be directly related to severe liver disease, to the alcohol’s effects on the brain, or might be indirectly associated with the drinker’s poor overall health.
Malnutrition, Abusive Drinking, and Mental Disorders
As a final illustration of different medical conditions that are considerably related to alcohol dependency, consider that in accordance with scientific exploration, the excessive and repeated abuse of alcohol can result in erosive gastritis, a health problem that decreases the absorption of minerals, nutrients, and vitamins.
This type of organ failure is linked to malnutrition and to a number of serious mental and neurological disorders including sleep disturbances, memory loss, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical condition is a long-term debilitating condition that is exemplified by persistent learning and memory difficulties.
Conclusion
It is clear that continued, abusive drinking is directly or indirectly correlated with many acute medical conditions that can and do lead to dangerous illness and premature death. Such information needs to be emphasized and presented to everyone in our society so that most individuals will be able to refrain from irresponsible drinking while other individuals who have a drinking problem will get the professional rehab they need.
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