August 31, 2009
When Irresponsible Drinking Leads to Serious Health Problems
For several years alcohol addiction exploration has demonstrated the fact that there is strong relationship between alcohol addiction and serious health conditions.
As an illustration, in 2005, scientific research demonstrated the fact that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion annually. Interestingly, this massive alcohol-related expense was significantly more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is appropriate to call attention to these facts, it is also noteworthy to highlight the fact that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health conditions.
More to the point, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly correlated with obesity and with cancer.
Without a doubt, substance abuse examination has revealed that alcoholism can amplify the risk for different types of cancer, especially cancer of the kidneys, rectum, colon, voice box (larynx), esophagus, throat, and the liver. Hazardous and repetitive drinking can also lead to immune system issues and damage to the fetus during pregnancy.
Irresponsible Drinking Weakens the Problem Drinker’s Systems and Organs
What is more, if alcohol addiction continues over a period of years, the person’s body organs will more likely than not be affected in a negative manner. For instance, repeated, excessive drinking is especially detrimental 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 obliterates the ability of liver cells to redevelop. This medical condition results in a progressive inflammatory malfunction of the liver that can ultimately lead to cirrhosis of the liver, an acute and potentially lethal disease.
Heavy, long-term drinking not only can lead to severe liver damage, but it can also result in damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this severe may be irrepairable and may, in turn, lead to serious ill health or an untimely death.
The Significance of Alcohol Treatment
It is essential, then, to know how to recognize the various alcohol addiction symptoms and signs so that the alcoholic can be given the opportunity to get the quality alcohol therapy he or she needs.
Alcohol Dependency and Sophisticated Brain Research
Fortuitously, medical examination is relentlessly finding new and significant information. Recent alcoholism research provides a first-rate example. More precisely, for roughly the last ten years, technologically advanced brain-imaging scanning instruments have demonstrated that continuous and long-term abusive drinking alters the functionality of the brain to a substantial extent, as a consequence resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or perchance as long as the individual exists.
More exactly, medical exploration has demonstrated that individuals who have been drinking in an excessive manner for an extensive length of time increase their risk for developing lasting and serious alterations 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.
Excessive Drinking, Malnutrition, and Mental Disorders
As a final example of diverse medical problems that are significantly correlated to alcoholism, consider that in accordance with scientific exploration, the excessive and repeated abuse of alcohol can result in erosive gastritis, a condition that limits the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
This form of organ malfunctioning is correlated with malnutrition and to a variety of severe neurological and mental syndromes including sleep disturbances, memory loss, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical condition is an enduring debilitating medical condition that is epitomized by continual memory and learning complications.
Conclusion
It is evident that repetitive, abusive drinking is directly or indirectly correlated with a variety of dangerous medical conditions that can and do lead to serious ailments and premature death. Such information needs to be emphasized and presented to everyone in our society so that a massive amount of people will be able to abstain from abusive drinking while other people who have a drinking problem will get the professional rehabilitation they need.
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