When Irresponsible Drinking Leads To Serious Health Problems, Relationship And Friendship Problems And Conflicts, And Grief And Loss Issues
For several years alcohol addiction exploration has demonstrated the fact that there is strong linkage between alcoholism and serious health conditions and mental health issues such as depression.
For instance, in 2005, scientific research and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics showed that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion annually. It can be stressed that this considerable alcohol-related expense was significantly more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is appropriate to underline these facts, it is also important to point to the fact that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health issues.
That is to say, chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism are also highly correlated with obesity and with cancer.
Without a doubt, substance abuse investigation has demonstrated the fact that alcohol dependency can augment the risk for different forms of cancer, particularly cancer of the voice box (larynx), esophagus, liver, rectum, colon, kidneys, and throat. Abusive and repetitive drinking can also result in immune system problems and harm to the fetus during pregnancy.
Heavy and Abusive Drinking Destabilizes the Individual’s Organs and Systems
Furthermore, if alcoholism continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will likely be affected in a negative manner. For example, long-term, hazardous drinking is particularly damaging 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 regenerate. 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 precarious and possibly fatal medical problem. Heavy, long-term drinking not only can result in dangerous liver damage, but it can also lead to damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this critical may be irreparable and may, in turn, result in severe illness or premature death.
The Relevance of Alcohol Therapy
It is essential, consequently, to know how to recognize the various alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol dependent person can be given the opportunity to seek the quality alcohol therapy he or she needs.
Alcoholism and Technologically Advanced Brain Exploration
Fortuitously, medical investigation is persistently unearthing new and important information. Recent alcoholism exploration supplies a high-quality illustration. More precisely, for roughly the last ten years, complex brain-imaging scanning instruments have confirmed that repetitive and recurring excessive drinking transforms the structure of the brain to a significant extent, thusly resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or maybe as long as the individual lives.
More explicitly, medical research has shown that individuals who have been drinking excessively for a considerable length of time increase their risk for developing long lasting and serious transformations 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 Hazardous Drinking
As a final illustration of diverse health problems that are to a large extent associated with alcohol addiction, take into consideration the fact that in accordance with scientific exploration, the hazardous and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a medical condition that reduces the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
This type of organ breakdown is correlated with malnutrition and to an array of acute neurological and mental maladies including sleep disturbances, memory loss, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical problem is a lasting incapacitating medical condition that is epitomized by continual learning and memory problems.
Irresponsible and Abusive Drinking Also Results in Relationship and Friendship Problems and Conflicts and Grief and Loss Difficulties
In addition to serious medical conditions, excessive and abusive drinking also results in relationship and friendship issues. For instance, people who involve themselves in excessive drinking routinely go through sexuality problems, divorce, affairs, and marital difficulties, and they commonly experience grief and loss difficulties.
Conclusion: The Significance of Education
It is apparent that repetitive, hazardous drinking is directly or indirectly associated with numerous serious medical conditions that can and do result in serious illness and premature death. Such information needs to be emphasized and presented to everyone in our society, especially to all students, so that most people will be able to refrain from excessive drinking while others who have a drinking problem will get the professional rehabilitation they need.
Let us look at this realistically. Yes, alcohol rehabilitation is important, but alcohol treatment is something that is frequently done AFTER the fact. Education, to the contrary, is something that is done BEFORE the problem becomes obvious. Stated a different way, whereas alcohol rehabilitation is “reactive,” education is “proactive.” It is declared that both approaches are required when discussing alcohol problems.
