For several years alcoholism exploration has demonstrated the fact that there is strong linkage between alcoholism and critical health conditions and mental health issues such as depression.
For example, in 2005, scientific research and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics revealed that alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency cost the United States an estimated $220 billion annually. It can be emphasized that this considerable alcohol-related cash outlay was substantially more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is pertinent to put emphasis on these facts, it is also important to point to the fact that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health problems.
That is to say, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency are also highly correlated with obesity and with cancer.
Certainly, substance abuse examination has shown that alcohol addiction can augment the risk for different forms of cancer, particularly cancer of the colon, voice box (larynx), liver, rectum, throat, kidneys, and the esophagus. Heavy and repetitive drinking can also result in immune system difficulties and impairment to the fetus during pregnancy.
Abusive and Heavy Drinking Weakens the Drinker’s Systems and Organs
What is more, if alcoholism continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will probably be affected in a negative manner. For instance, chronic, hazardous drinking is especially detrimental 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 eradicates the ability of liver cells to regenerate. This medical condition results in a progressive inflammatory disease of the liver that can sooner or later lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a serious and potentially incurable disease. Excessive, 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 serious may be unalterable and may, in turn, lead to severe illness or an early death.
The Significance of Alcohol Rehab and Alcohol Detoxification
It is imperative, therefore, to know how to identify the different alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol addicted individual can be given the opportunity to seek the professional alcohol therapy and the alcohol detox he or she needs.
Alcohol Addiction and Technologically Advanced Brain Research
Fortuitously, scientific research is continuously generating new and important information. Recent alcoholism exploration provides an excellent illustration. Stated differently, for roughly the last ten years, technologically advanced brain-imaging scanning instruments have verified that repetitive and long-term hazardous drinking changes the constitution of the brain to a significant extent, thusly resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or maybe as long as the individual exists.
More accurately, medical research has demonstrated that people who have been drinking in a hazardous manner for an extensive length of time increase their risk for developing long-term and substantial alterations 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 assorted health problems that are significantly associated with alcohol dependency, take into consideration the fact that according to scientific research, the hazardous and repeated abuse of alcohol can result in erosive gastritis, a condition that limits the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
This type of organ malfunctioning 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 problem is an enduring incapacitating health problem that is epitomized by recurring learning and memory complications.
Hazardous Drinking Also Results in Relationship and Friendship Conflicts and Problems
In addition to major health issues, irresponsible drinking also leads to friendship and relationship difficulties. For example, people who engage in abusive drinking typically go through affairs, marital issues, sexuality problems, and divorce.
Summary: The Importance of Education
It is plain to see that repetitive, abusive drinking is directly or indirectly correlated with many critical medical conditions that can and do result in serious diseases and premature death. Such information needs to be emphasized and presented to everyone in our society, especially to all students, so that a multitude of people will be able to abstain from hazardous drinking while others who have a drinking problem will get the quality therapy they need.
Let us look at this realistically. Yes, alcohol treatment is significant, but alcohol rehab is something that is frequently done AFTER the fact. Education, from a different perspective, is something that is done BEFORE the problem materializes. Stated another way, whereas alcohol counseling is “reactive,” education is “proactive.” It is asserted that both approaches are needed when discussing alcohol abuse and alcoholism.
