For a number of years alcohol addiction exploration has demonstrated the fact that there is strong relationship between alcoholism and dangerous health conditions.
For example, in 2005, scientific examination revealed that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion annually. It can be stressed that this considerable alcohol-related expense was significantly more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is pertinent to give emphasis to these facts, it is also noteworthy to point out that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health problems.
To be more precise, chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism are also highly interrelated with obesity and with cancer.
To be sure, substance abuse investigation has revealed that alcoholism can augment the risk for various forms of cancer, especially cancer of the voice box (larynx), esophagus, liver, rectum, colon, kidneys, and throat. Hazardous and recurring drinking can also result in immune system issues and impairment to the fetus during pregnancy.
Hazardous and Excessive Drinking Enfeebles the Individual’s Organs and Systems
Furthermore, if alcoholism continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will more likely than not be affected in an unhealthy manner. For instance, chronic, abusive drinking is particularly damaging to the liver due to the fact that the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been consumed. Excessive amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and eradicates the ability of liver cells to regenerate. This medical condition results in a progressive inflammatory disease of the liver that can in due course lead to cirrhosis of the liver, an acute and potentially lethal disease.
Excessive, long-term drinking not only can lead to critical liver damage, but it can also result in damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this critical may be irrepairable and may, in turn, result in severe disease or premature death.
The Relevance of Alcohol Treatment
It is important, consequently, to know how to recognize the various alcohol addiction signs and symptoms so that the alcohol addicted individual can be given the opportunity to seek the professional alcohol rehabilitation he or she needs.
Alcoholism and Technologically Advanced Brain Research
Fortunately, medical exploration is relentlessly discovering unique and important information. Recent alcoholism research supplies a first-rate illustration. More accurately, for roughly the last ten years, sophisticated brain-imaging scanning devices have demonstrated that repetitive and long-term hazardous drinking alters the makeup of the brain to a substantial extent, thusly resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or possibly as long as the individual lives.
More exactly, medical examination has shown that people who have been drinking in an irresponsible manner for a considerable length of time increase their risk for developing lasting and severe 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.
Excessive Drinking, Malnutrition, and Mental Disorders
As a final example of diverse health problems that are largely associated with alcohol addiction, take into consideration the fact that in accordance with medical examination, the hazardous and repeated abuse of alcohol can result in erosive gastritis, a health problem that reduces the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
This form of organ breakdown is related to malnutrition and to an assortment of serious neurological and mental disorders including sleep disturbances, memory loss, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical problem is a long-term debilitating condition that is exemplified by recurring learning and memory problems.
Conclusion
It is clear that repetitive, hazardous drinking is directly or indirectly related to a variety of dangerous medical conditions that can and do lead to dangerous ailments and premature death. Such information needs to be stressed and presented to everyone in our society so that most individuals will be able to abstain from irresponsible drinking while other people who have a drinking problem will get the quality rehab they require.