For several years alcohol addiction research has revealed the fact that there is strong correlation between alcohol dependency and serious health conditions.
For instance, in 2005, scientific investigation demonstrated the fact that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion on an annual basis. It may be noted that this enormous alcohol-related cash outlay 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 important to point out 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 investigation has shown that alcohol addiction can augment the risk for various forms of cancer, especially cancer of the voice box (larynx), esophagus, liver, rectum, colon, kidneys, and throat. Excessive and repetitive drinking can also lead to immune system problems and harm to the fetus during pregnancy.
Heavy and Excessive Drinking Weakens the Problem Drinker’s Systems and Organs
Furthermore, if alcohol dependency continues over a period of years, the person’s body organs will likely be affected in an unhealthy manner. For instance, chronic, abusive drinking is especially hurtful to the liver due to the fact that the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been ingested. Excessive amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and eradicates the ability of liver cells to regenerate. This medical circumstance results in a progressive inflammatory malfunction of the liver that can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a precarious and potentially terminal disease.
Abusive, long-term drinking not only can result in dangerous liver damage, but it can also result in damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this dangerous may be unalterable and may, in turn, result in serious ill health or premature death.
The Critical Nature of Alcohol Treatment
It is essential, therefore, to know how to recognize the different alcohol dependency symptoms and signs so that the alcohol addicted person can be given the opportunity to get the quality alcohol rehab he or she requires.
Alcoholism and Sophisticated Brain Research
Fortuitously, medical research is constantly generating new and significant information. Recent alcoholism research offers a first-rate illustration. More exactly, for roughly the last ten years, sophisticated brain-imaging scanning instruments have shown that continuous and recurring excessive drinking modifies the functionality of the brain to a great extent, as a consequence resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or perchance as long as the person lives.
Stated differently, medical examination has shown that individuals who have been drinking abusively for a substantial length of time increase their risk for developing long lasting and significant adaptations in the brain.
This type of damage may be indirectly associated with the drinker’s poor overall health or directly related to severe liver disease or to the alcohol’s effects on the brain.
Abusive Drinking, Malnutrition, and Mental Disorders
As a final example of diverse medical problems that are to a great extent related to alcohol addiction, take into consideration the fact that in accordance with scientific investigation, the abusive and repeated abuse of alcohol can result in erosive gastritis, a condition that decreases the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
This form of organ breakdown is correlated with malnutrition and to an assortment of severe mental and neurological syndromes including sleep disturbances, memory loss, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter health problem is a long-term debilitating health problem that is epitomized by recurring memory and learning problems.
Summary
It is plain to see that continued, excessive drinking is directly or indirectly linked to many dangerous medical conditions that can and do lead to dangerous ailments 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 abusive drinking while other individuals who have a drinking problem will get the quality treatment they require.