For more than a few years alcoholism exploration has revealed the fact that there is strong correlation between alcoholism and critical health conditions.
For instance, in 2005, medical examination and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics showed that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion annually. It can be emphasized that this massive alcohol-related cash disbursement was substantially more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is relevant to call attention to these facts, it is also noteworthy to point to the fact that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health conditions.
To be exact, chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism are also highly associated with obesity and with cancer.
Without a doubt, substance abuse examination has shown that alcoholism can increase the risk for different types of cancer, particularly cancer of the liver, voice box (larynx), kidneys, colon, esophagus, rectum, and the throat. Hazardous and repetitive drinking can also result in immune system difficulties and injury to the fetus during pregnancy.
Abusive and Hazardous Drinking Breaks Down the Drinker’s Systems and Organs
Additionally, if alcoholism continues over a period of years, the person’s body organs will probably be affected in an unsafe manner. As an illustration, long-term, abusive drinking is particularly harmful 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 condition results in a progressive inflammatory disease of the liver that can sooner or later lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a critical and possibly fatal medical problem.Abusive, 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, result in severe ill health or premature death.
The Significance of Alcohol Counseling
It is essential, therefore, to know how to recognize the different alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol dependent individual can be given the opportunity to seek the professional alcohol counseling he or she requires.
Alcoholism and Technologically Advanced Brain Exploration
Fortunately, medical examination is constantly generating novel and significant information. Recent alcoholism research supplies a first-rate example. More exactly, for approximately the past ten years, complicated brain-imaging scanning devices have confirmed that continuous and long lasting irresponsible 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 person exists.
Stated differently, medical research has shown that people who have been drinking in an irresponsible manner for an extensive length of time increase their risk for developing long lasting and serious adaptations 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.
Malnutrition, Excessive Drinking, and Mental Disorders
As a final example of different health problems that are largely related to alcohol dependency, consider that according to scientific exploration, the hazardous and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a condition that decreases the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
This kind of organ failure is related to malnutrition and to a number of serious neurological and mental disorders including sleep disturbances, memory loss, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter health problem is a long lasting debilitating health problem that is characterized by incessant memory and learning complications.
The Relevance of Education and the Hope for Recovery, Personal Happiness, and Self Esteem That Result From Alcohol Rehabilitation
It is clear that continued, abusive drinking is directly or indirectly associated with a variety of acute medical problems that can and do result in serious 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 excessive drinking while other people who have a drinking problem develop a positive attitude and get motivated to seek the quality treatment they require. For without professional counseling, most people who drink in an abusive and irresponsible manner will not start the healing process and experience recovery, personal happiness, and self esteem that commonly results from sobriety.