For more than a few years alcohol addiction research has demonstrated the fact that there is strong association between alcohol dependency and serious health conditions.
As an illustration, in 2005, medical exploration and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics revealed that alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction cost the United States an estimated $220 billion per year. It can be emphasized that this gigantic alcohol-related cash disbursement was substantially 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 highlight the fact that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health conditions.
That is to say, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency are also highly interrelated with obesity and with cancer.
To be sure, substance abuse examination has shown that alcohol dependency can increase the risk for various forms of cancer, particularly cancer of the liver, voice box (larynx), kidneys, colon, esophagus, rectum, and the throat. Excessive and repetitive drinking can also lead to immune system problems and injury to the fetus during pregnancy.
Heavy and Excessive Drinking Destabilizes the Drinker’s Organs and Systems
Furthermore, if alcoholism continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will likely be affected in an unsafe manner. As an illustration, chronic, excessive 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 consumed. Extreme 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 dangerous and potentially fatal medical problem.Excessive, long-term drinking not only can lead to serious liver damage, but it can also result in damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this serious may be unalterable and may, in turn, result in severe illness or an untimely death.
The Significance of Alcohol Treatment
It is critical, then, to know how to identify the different alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol dependent person can be given the opportunity to get the quality alcohol rehab he or she requires.
Alcohol Dependency and Technologically Advanced Brain Exploration
Fortuitously, medical examination is constantly uncovering new and important information. Recent alcoholism exploration offers a first-rate illustration. More exactly, for approximately the past ten years, complicated brain-imaging scanning instruments have demonstrated that repetitive and chronic abusive drinking transforms the makeup of the brain to a great extent, as a consequence resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or maybe as long as the person lives.
More accurately, medical examination has demonstrated that people who have been drinking abusively for a sizeable length of time increase their risk for developing long lasting and substantial 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.
Mental Disorders, Malnutrition, and Abusive Drinking
As a final example of different health problems that are to a large extent related to alcoholism, take into consideration the fact that in accordance with scientific exploration, the abusive and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a condition that decreases the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
This type of organ breakdown is associated with malnutrition and to an assortment of critical mental and neurological maladies including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical problem is a long-term incapacitating health problem that is typified by persistent memory and learning problems.
Conclusion
It is apparent that continued, hazardous drinking is directly or indirectly linked to many serious medical conditions that can and do result in dangerous illness and premature death. Such information needs to be emphasized and presented to everyone in our society so that a large number of people will be able to abstain from irresponsible drinking while others who have a drinking problem will get the quality rehabilitation they require.
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