For several years alcohol addiction exploration has demonstrated the fact that there is strong correlation between alcohol dependency and serious health conditions.
As an illustration, in 2005, scientific exploration revealed that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion annually. It may be noted that this gigantic alcohol-related expense was substantially more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is relevant to emphasize these facts, it is also important to highlight the fact that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health conditions.
More specifically, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly interrelated with obesity and with cancer.
To be sure, substance abuse examination has revealed that alcoholism can boost the risk for different kinds of cancer, especially cancer of the colon, voice box (larynx), liver, rectum, throat, kidneys, and the esophagus. Heavy and recurring drinking can also lead to immune system difficulties and impairment to the fetus during pregnancy.
Excessive Drinking Breaks Down the Problem Drinker’s Organs and Systems
Additionally, if alcohol addiction continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will likely be affected in an unsafe manner. For instance, chronic, excessive drinking is especially damaging 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 destroys the ability of liver cells to regenerate. This medical condition leads to a progressive inflammatory malfunction of the liver that can at the end of the day lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a precarious and potentially incurable disease.
Abusive, 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 severe may be irreversible and may, in turn, result in severe disease or an early death.
The Critical Nature of Alcohol Treatment
It is imperative, consequently, to know how to recognize the different alcoholism signs and symptoms so that the alcohol dependent individual can be given the opportunity to get the quality alcohol counseling he or she needs.
Alcohol Addiction and Technologically Advanced Brain Exploration
Fortunately, scientific research is continuously unearthing original and significant information. Recent alcoholism exploration offers a good illustration. More precisely, for roughly the past ten years, sophisticated brain-imaging scanning instruments have confirmed that repetitive and long-term hazardous drinking transforms the functionality of the brain to a significant extent, thereby resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or conceivably as long as the individual exists.
Stated another way, medical investigation has revealed that individuals who have been drinking in an irresponsible manner for a substantial length of time increase their risk for developing permanent and serious changes 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.
Excessive Drinking, Malnutrition, and Mental Disorders
As a final illustration of diverse medical conditions that are to a great extent associated with alcohol addiction, take into consideration the fact that in accordance with scientific exploration, the excessive and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a medical condition that diminishes the absorption of minerals, nutrients, and vitamins.
This kind of organ failure is linked to malnutrition and to a variety of severe mental and neurological disorders 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 exemplified by persistent learning and memory complications.
Summary
It is plain to see that repetitive, hazardous drinking is directly or indirectly related to a variety of severe medical problems that can and do lead to serious ailments and premature death. Such information needs to be underlined and presented to everyone in our society so that a massive amount of individuals will be able to refrain from abusive drinking while others who have a drinking problem will get the professional rehabilitation they need.