
For more than a few years alcohol addiction exploration has demonstrated the fact that there is strong relationship between alcoholism and serious health conditions and mental health issues such as depression.
For example, in 2005, medical exploration 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 may be noted that this huge alcohol-related expense was substantially more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is appropriate to underline these facts, it is also noteworthy to emphasize the point that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health issues.
More exactly, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency are also highly correlated with obesity and with cancer.
Certainly, substance abuse investigation has revealed that alcohol addiction can augment the risk for different kinds of cancer, especially cancer of the esophagus, kidneys, throat, rectum, liver, voice box (larynx), and the colon. Heavy and repetitive drinking can also lead to immune system difficulties and impairment to the fetus during pregnancy.
Abusive and Heavy Drinking Destabilizes the Person’s Systems and Organs
What is more, if alcohol dependency continues over a period of years, the person’s body organs will more likely than not be affected in a harmful manner. For example, chronic, hazardous drinking is especially dangerous to the liver since the liver does most of the work of processing the alcohol that has been ingested. Excessive amounts of alcohol kills liver cells and obliterates the ability of liver cells to regenerate. This condition leads to a progressive inflammatory injury to the liver that can in due course lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a serious and possibly fatal medical problem. Abusive, 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 irreparable and may, in turn, result in severe illness or premature death.
The Significance of Alcohol Rehabilitation
It is imperative, then, to know how to recognize the different alcoholism symptoms and the “alcohol signs” so that the alcohol dependent person can be given the opportunity to seek the quality alcohol rehabilitation he or she requires.
Alcoholism and Sophisticated Brain Exploration
Fortuitously, scientific examination is continuously generating unique and significant information. Recent alcoholism research offers a first-rate illustration. More specifically, for roughly the last ten years, complex brain-imaging scanning instruments have verified that repetitive and long-term excessive drinking alters the structure of the brain to a substantial extent, therefore resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or perhaps as long as the person exists.
More specifically, medical investigation has revealed that individuals who have been drinking in an irresponsible manner for a substantial length of time increase their risk for developing long-term and severe transformations in the brain.
This type of damage may be directly related to the alcohol’s effects on the brain, to severe liver disease, or might be indirectly associated with the drinker’s poor overall health.
Mental Disorders, Malnutrition, and Abusive Drinking
As a final example of different medical conditions that are largely related to alcohol dependency, take into consideration the fact that according to scientific exploration, the hazardous and repeated abuse of alcohol can result in erosive gastritis, a condition that limits the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.
This type of organ failure is linked to malnutrition and to an array of severe mental and neurological syndromes 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 problems.
Excessive and Abusive Drinking Also Results in Friendship and Relationship Conflicts and Problems and Anger, Time, and Stress Management Difficulties
In addition to serious health problems, abusive drinking also leads to friendship and relationship issues. As an illustration, people who involve themselves in hazardous drinking routinely go through marital problems, divorce, affairs, and sexuality problems, and they frequently go through time, anger, and stress management predicaments.
Summary: The Significance of Education
It is obvious that continued, excessive drinking is directly or indirectly associated with a number of critical medical conditions that can and do lead to serious diseases and premature death. Such information needs to be stressed and presented to everyone in our society, especially to all students, so that a multitude of individuals will be able to refrain from excessive drinking while other individuals who have a drinking problem will get the quality rehabilitation they need.
Let us look at this rationally. Yes, alcohol therapy is significant, but alcohol therapy is something that is routinely done AFTER the fact. Education, from a different vantage point, is something that is done BEFORE the problem arises. Stated differently, whereas alcohol rehab is “reactive,” education is “proactive.” It is stressed that both approaches are needed when discussing alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction.
