For a number of years alcoholism research has demonstrated the fact that there is strong relationship between alcoholism and life-threatening health conditions.
For example, in 2005, medical examination and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics showed that alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction cost the United States an estimated $220 billion annually. Interestingly, this considerable alcohol-related cash disbursement was substantially more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is important to emphasize these facts, it is also noteworthy to emphasize the point that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health conditions.
Stated another way, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly associated with obesity and with cancer.
Undeniably, substance abuse examination has revealed that alcohol addiction can augment the risk for different forms of cancer, especially cancer of the esophagus, kidneys, throat, rectum, liver, voice box (larynx), and the colon. Abusive and recurring drinking can also result in immune system difficulties and abnormality to the fetus during pregnancy.
Irresponsible and Heavy Drinking Destabilizes the Person’s Organs and Systems
Furthermore, if alcoholism continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will likely be affected in a harmful manner. As an illustration, chronic, hazardous drinking is especially detrimental 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 obliterates the ability of liver cells to redevelop. This medical condition results in a progressive inflammatory malfunction of the liver that can at the end of the day lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a dangerous and potentially fatal 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 severe may be unalterable and may, in turn, result in severe ill health or premature death.
The Relevance of Alcohol Counseling
It is vital, therefore, to know how to recognize the various alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol addicted individual can be given the opportunity to seek the professional alcohol counseling he or she requires.
Alcoholism and Sophisticated Brain Research
Fortuitously, medical exploration is constantly uncovering innovative and important information. Recent alcoholism research provides a high-quality example. More correctly, for roughly the past ten years, technologically advanced brain-imaging scanning instruments have shown that repetitive and chronic abusive drinking modifies the configuration of the brain to a significant extent, as a consequence resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or possibly as long as the individual exists.
More exactly, medical exploration has shown that individuals who have been drinking in an excessive manner for an extensive length of time increase their risk for developing long lasting and severe alterations 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.
Malnutrition, Hazardous Drinking, and Mental Disorders
As a final example of different medical problems that are to a great extent correlated to alcoholism, take into consideration the fact that according to scientific exploration, the hazardous and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a medical problem that limits the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
This type of organ breakdown is related to malnutrition and to an array of critical neurological and mental syndromes including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical problem is a long lasting incapacitating health problem that is typified by repetitive learning and memory complications.
Summary
It is plain to see that repetitive, hazardous drinking is directly or indirectly linked to a number of serious medical conditions that can and do result in dangerous diseases and premature death. Such information needs to be underlined and presented to everyone in our society so that a large number of people will be able to refrain from excessive drinking while other people who have a drinking problem will get the professional therapy they require.