Irresponsible and Abusive Drinking Leads to Serious Health Issues

By Denny Mitchell

For more than a few years the alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse research literature has demonstrated the fact that alcohol addiction and serious health problems are highly correlated. For example, a U.S. research project undertaken in 2005 revealed that alcoholism and alcohol abuse cost the U.S. around $220 billion every year. It may be highlighted that these alcohol-related costs were substantially more than the cost connected with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion).

While this information is important, it is noteworthy to emphasize the interconnection that is present between all three of these health conditions. Stated another way, alcohol addiction and chronic alcohol abuse are also highly correlated with obesity and with cancer.

From a different outlook, medical research and alcohol dependency investigations have documented the fact that chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism considerably increase a persons risk for diverse types of cancer such as cancer of the throat, liver, voice box (larynx), colon, kidneys, rectum, and cancer of the esophagus. Not only this, but heavy drinking over an extended period of time can also result in abnormalities of the fetus during pregnancy and immune system problems.

In a similar way, the longer an individual drinks in an excessive and hazardous manner the stronger the probability that his or her organs will be affected in an unhealthy and negative way. As an illustration, long term, heavy drinking is particularly injurious to the liver due to the livers importance in metabolizing the alcohol that has been ingested. In point of fact, extremely large amounts of alcohol not only inhibit the ability of the liver to regenerate but it also kills liver cells. The consequence of this is a progressive inflammatory malfunction of the liver that can ultimately result in cirrhosis of the liver, a damaging and potentially fatal disease.

Long term, hazardous and excessive drinking not only can lead to critical liver damage, but it can also result in impairment to the individuals heart and to his or her brain. Physical damage this severe may be irreparable and may ultimately result in devastating health conditions or an untimely and premature death.

It is therefore essential to know how to identify the various signs and symptoms of alcoholism so that the problem drinker can be given the opportunity to seek the professional alcohol rehab he or she requires.

It is indeed fortuitous that medical science is continuously seeking and finding novel and relevant alcohol-related facts and information. For example, for roughly the past nine or ten years, technologically advanced brain-imaging scanning instruments have demonstrated that heavy, chronic drinking modifies the inner functioning of the brain to such a significant degree that the resulting brain damage can last months, years, or maybe as long as the problem drinker exists.

Stated another way, scientific research has demonstrated that individuals who have been drinking in an excessive and hazardous manner for a relatively long period of time significantly increase their risk for serious brain damage. Damage of this type can be directly associated with serious liver disease or to the alcohols effects on the individuals brain or can be indirectly linked to a persons poor overall health.

As a final illustration of various health issues that are highly correlated with alcoholism, it needs to be emphasized that heavy, excessive drinking can result in erosive gastritis, a medical condition that decreases the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and essential nutrients. Erosive gastritis, in turn, can lead to organ malfunctioning that is linked to malnutrition and to a number of serious neurological and mental disorders such as memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Korsakoff's syndrome and Wernicke's Encephalopathy.

It is apparent that repetitive, heavy drinking is directly or indirectly linked to a number of serious medical problems that can and do result in critical illnesses and premature death. It is also clear that this information needs to be emphasized and presented to every person in our society so that scores of people will be able to refrain from hazardous and careless drinking while other people who have a drinking problem can get the quality treatment they require.

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