When Abusive And Heavy Drinking Results In Serious Health Problems And Affairs, Sexuality Problems, Marital Problems, And Divorce
For more than a few years alcohol addiction exploration has demonstrated the fact that there is strong association between alcoholism and critical health conditions and mental health issues such as depression.
For example, in 2005, scientific examination and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics revealed that alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency cost the United States an estimated $220 billion on an annual basis. It can be emphasized that this massive alcohol-related cash disbursement was significantly more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is important to accentuate these facts, it is also noteworthy to point out that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health problems.
More exactly, chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism are also highly associated with obesity and with cancer.
Certainly, substance abuse investigation has shown that alcohol dependency can augment the risk for different kinds of cancer, especially cancer of the voice box (larynx), esophagus, liver, rectum, colon, kidneys, and throat. Excessive and recurring drinking can also lead to immune system problems and impairment to the fetus during pregnancy.
Irresponsible and Hazardous Drinking Breaks Down the Problem Drinker’s Organs and Systems
Additionally, if alcohol dependency continues over a period of years, the person’s body organs will more likely than not be affected in an unsafe manner. For instance, long-term, excessive drinking is especially hurtful to the liver due to the fact that the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been ingested. Extreme amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and obliterates the ability of liver cells to regenerate. This medical circumstance leads to a progressive inflammatory malfunction of the liver that can in the end lead to cirrhosis of the liver, an acute and potentially lethal disease. Abusive, long-term drinking not only can lead to critical liver damage, but it can also result in damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this serious may be irreversible and may, in turn, result in serious illness or an untimely death.
The Relevance of Alcohol Therapy
It is imperative, therefore, to know how to identify the various alcoholism symptoms and the "alcohol signs" so that the alcohol dependent person can be given the opportunity to get the quality alcohol therapy he or she needs.
Alcohol Addiction and Sophisticated Brain Research
Fortuitously, medical exploration is continuously unearthing innovative and important information. Recent alcoholism research offers a high-quality example. Stated another way, for roughly the past ten years, technologically advanced brain-imaging scanning instruments have verified that repetitive and chronic irresponsible drinking transforms the constitution of the brain to a great extent, as a consequence resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or possibly as long as the person exists.
More explicitly, medical investigation has shown that people who have been drinking in an excessive manner for a considerable length of time increase their risk for developing lasting and serious adaptations in the brain.
This type of damage may be directly related to severe liver disease, to the alcohol’s effects on the brain, or might be indirectly associated with the drinker’s poor overall health.
Mental Disorders, Malnutrition, and Hazardous Drinking
As a final example of different medical problems that are largely correlated to alcohol addiction, take into consideration the fact that in accordance with scientific exploration, the abusive and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a medical problem that decreases the absorption of vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.
This form of organ failure is correlated with malnutrition and to a variety of severe mental and neurological 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 incapacitating medical condition that is epitomized by continual memory and learning problems.
Excessive Drinking Also Leads to in Friendship and Relationship Issues
In addition to serious medical conditions, hazardous and abusive drinking also leads to relationship and friendship problems. For instance, people who engage in heavy drinking many times suffer from affairs, sexuality issues, divorce, and marital difficulties.
Summary: The Relevance of Education
It is clear that continued, abusive drinking is directly or indirectly linked to a number of acute medical conditions that can and do result in dangerous ailments and premature death. Such information needs to be highlighted and presented to everyone in our society, especially to all students, so that a large number of people will be able to refrain from abusive drinking while other individuals who have a drinking problem will get the quality rehab they need.
Let us look at this pragmatically. Yes, alcohol rehab is important, but alcohol counseling is something that is typically done AFTER the fact. Education, then again, is something that is done BEFORE the problem manifests itself. Stated a different way, whereas alcohol counseling is "reactive," education is "proactive." It is declared that both approaches are necessary when discussing alcohol addiction and alcohol abuse.
