Alcohol Abuse Health Dangers
For a number of years alcoholism exploration has demonstrated the fact that there is strong relationship between alcohol addiction and dangerous health conditions.
For example, in 2005, scientific research showed that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion annually. It can be emphasized that this huge alcohol-related cash disbursement was substantially more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is pertinent to underline these facts, it is also noteworthy to point to the fact that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health issues.
That is to say, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly associated with obesity and with cancer.
Without a doubt, substance abuse research has revealed that alcoholism can increase the risk for various kinds of cancer, particularly cancer of the kidneys, rectum, colon, voice box (larynx), esophagus, throat, and the liver. Heavy and recurring drinking can also result in immune system problems and damage to the fetus during pregnancy.
Excessive Deteriorates the Problem Drinker's Organs
Furthermore, if alcohol dependency continues over a period of years, the individual s body organs will more likely than not be affected in an unsafe manner. For example, long-term, 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 ingested. Extreme amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and obliterates the ability of liver cells to regenerate. This medical condition leads to a progressive inflammatory malfunction of the liver that can ultimately lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a precarious and possibly terminal disease.
Heavy, long-term drinking not only can lead to serious liver damage, but it can also lead to damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this critical may be irrepairable and may, in turn, result in severe ill health or premature death.
The Critical Nature of Alcohol Treatment
It is essential, as a result, to know how to identify the various alcohol dependency symptoms and signs so that the alcohol dependent individual can be given the opportunity to seek the quality alcohol counseling he or she needs.
Alcohol Addiction's Effects On Brain
Fortunately, scientific examination is continuously uncovering unique and important information. Recent alcoholism research supplies a high-quality example. Stated differently, for approximately the past ten years, complex brain-imaging scanning instruments have shown that continuous and chronic abusive drinking transforms the constitution of the brain to a significant extent, consequently resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or conceivably as long as the person lives.
More exactly, medical examination has demonstrated that individuals who have been drinking in an irresponsible manner for an extensive length of time increase their risk for developing long-term and serious 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.
Mental Disorders, Malnutrition, and Hazardous Drinking
As a final illustration of various health problems that are substantially related to alcohol addiction, take into consideration the fact that according to medical exploration, the hazardous and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a condition that limits the absorption of minerals, nutrients, and vitamins.
This type of organ breakdown is related to malnutrition and to an assortment of severe mental and neurological maladies including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff s syndrome. This latter health problem is a long lasting incapacitating health problem that is exemplified by repetitive learning and memory complications.
Summary
It is evident that repetitive, hazardous drinking is directly or indirectly linked to many acute medical problems that can and do result in dangerous diseases and premature death. Such information needs to be highlighted and presented to everyone in our society so that most individuals will be able to abstain from irresponsible drinking while others who have a drinking problem will get the professional rehabilitation they require.
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Tags: abuse, Addiction, alcohol, alcoholism, brain, cancer, chronic abuse, damage, Health, obesity, problems
September 24th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Baby-Parenting.co.uk – Alcohol and Pregnancy…
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