June 2, 2010
When Heavy And Excessive Drinking Leads To Serious Health Problems, Friendship And Relationship Difficulties And Conflicts, And Stress, Time, And Anger Management Predicaments
For more than a few years alcohol addiction research has revealed the fact that there is strong correlation between alcoholism and dangerous health conditions and mental health issues such as depression.
For instance, in 2005, scientific exploration and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics demonstrated the fact that that alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction cost the United States an estimated $220 billion on an annual basis. Interestingly, this gigantic alcohol-related cost was substantially more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is relevant to accentuate these facts, it is also important to point to the fact that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health problems.
Stated another way, chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism are also highly interrelated with obesity and with cancer.
Undeniably, substance abuse exploration has revealed that alcoholism can augment the risk for different types of cancer, especially cancer of the colon, voice box (larynx), liver, rectum, throat, kidneys, and the esophagus. Excessive and repetitive drinking can also result in immune system problems and damage to the fetus during pregnancy.
Heavy and Abusive Drinking Enfeebles the Individual’s Organs and Systems
Furthermore, if alcohol dependency continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will more likely than not be affected in an unhealthy manner. As an illustration, long-term, excessive drinking is especially hurtful to the liver since the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been ingested. Extreme amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and eradicates the ability of liver cells to redevelop. This condition leads to a progressive inflammatory disease of the liver that can sooner or later lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a critical and possibly deadly medical problem. Excessive, long-term drinking not only can lead to acute liver damage, but it can also lead to damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this serious may be irreversible and may, in turn, result in severe illness or an early death.
The Critical Nature of Alcohol Rehab
It is vital, then, to know how to identify the various alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol dependent individual can be given the opportunity to get the quality alcohol treatment he or she needs.
Alcohol Dependency and Technologically Advanced Brain Exploration
Fortuitously, medical examination is continuously unearthing innovative and significant information. Recent alcoholism exploration provides a high-quality example. More to the point, for roughly the past ten years, technologically advanced brain-imaging scanning instruments have verified that continuous and recurring hazardous drinking changes the configuration of the brain to a great extent, thusly resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or possibly as long as the person exists.
More to the point, medical investigation has revealed that individuals who have been drinking in an excessive manner for a substantial length of time increase their risk for developing lasting and significant 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 Abusive Drinking
As a final illustration of diverse medical conditions that are substantially associated with alcoholism, consider that according to medical investigation, the hazardous and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a health problem that limits the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
This kind of organ failure is related to malnutrition and to an assortment of severe neurological and mental disorders including memory loss, sleep disturbances, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical condition is an enduring incapacitating medical condition that is typified by repetitive memory and learning complications.
Irresponsible and Hazardous Drinking Also Results in Relationship and Friendship Difficulties and Conflicts and Stress, Time, and Anger Management Problems
In addition to major medical conditions, irresponsible drinking also results in friendship and relationship problems. For instance, people who engage in excessive drinking frequently suffer from sexuality problems, marital problems, divorce, and affairs, and they frequently experience time, anger, and stress management difficulties.
Summary: The Importance of Education
It is evident that continued, abusive drinking is directly or indirectly linked to a variety of acute medical problems that can and do result in serious ailments and premature death. Such information needs to be stressed and presented to everyone in our society, especially to all students, so that a massive amount of individuals will be able to refrain from excessive drinking while other people who have a drinking problem will get the professional treatment they need.
Let us look at this with a common sense perspective. Yes, alcohol rehab is important, but alcohol rehab is something that is typically done AFTER the fact. Education, from a different perspective, is something that is done BEFORE the problem materializes. Stated a different way, whereas alcohol rehabilitation is “reactive,” education is “proactive.” It is affirmed that both approaches are necessary when discussing alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency.
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