For a number of years alcoholism research has demonstrated the fact that there is strong relationship between alcohol addiction and life-threatening health conditions.

For example, in 2005, medical investigation showed that alcohol abuse and alcoholism cost the United States an estimated $220 billion annually. It may be noted that this considerable alcohol-related expense was substantially more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is appropriate to emphasize these facts, it is also important to point out that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health problems.

More explicitly, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction are also highly associated with obesity and with cancer.

Indeed, substance abuse examination has demonstrated the fact that alcoholism can boost the risk for various kinds of cancer, particularly cancer of the colon, voice box (larynx), liver, rectum, throat, kidneys, and the esophagus. Excessive and repetitive drinking can also lead to immune system difficulties and harm to the fetus during pregnancy.

Excessive and Abusive Drinking Weakens the Individual’s Systems and Organs

Furthermore, if alcohol addiction continues over a period of years, the individual’s body organs will more likely than not be affected in a harmful manner. For instance, repeated, abusive 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 destroys the ability of liver cells to reproduce. This condition results in a progressive inflammatory disease of the liver that can in the end lead to cirrhosis of the liver, an acute and potentially terminal disease.

Excessive, long-term drinking not only can result in critical liver damage, but it can also lead to damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this severe may be unalterable and may, in turn, result in serious llness or an untimely death.

The Importance of Alcohol Treatment

It is critical, as a result, to know how to recognize the different alcohol addiction symptoms and signs so that the alcohol addicted person can be given the opportunity to get the quality alcohol therapy he or she needs.

Alcohol Dependency and Sophisticated Brain Exploration

Fortuitously, scientific investigation is relentlessly uncovering unique and important information. Recent alcoholism exploration offers an excellent illustration. More to the point, for approximately the past ten years, sophisticated brain-imaging scanning instruments have shown that continuous and chronic abusive drinking modifies the makeup of the brain to a substantial extent, thereby resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or perhaps as long as the individual lives.

More specifically, medical investigation has revealed that individuals who have been drinking in an excessive manner for a substantial length of time increase their risk for developing long-term and serious alterations 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 Excessive Drinking

As a final illustration of diverse medical problems that are significantly correlated to alcohol dependency, consider that according to medical investigation, the abusive and repeated abuse of alcohol can result in erosive gastritis, a condition that diminishes the absorption of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals.

This type of organ failure is linked to malnutrition and to an array of serious mental and neurological syndromes including sleep disturbances, memory loss, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical condition is a long lasting debilitating medical condition that is epitomized by continual learning and memory difficulties.

Conclusion

It is evident that continued, hazardous drinking is directly or indirectly linked to a variety of acute medical problems that can and do result in dangerous ailments 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 refrain from abusive drinking while other individuals who have a drinking problem will get the professional treatment they need.