For a number of years alcohol dependency research has demonstrated the fact that there is strong correlation between alcohol dependency and dangerous health conditions.

For example, in 2005, scientific examination and alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics demonstrated the fact that that alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction cost the United States an estimated $220 billion per year. It can be emphasized that this very large alcohol-related cash disbursement was substantially more than the cost linked with cancer ($196 billion) or with obesity ($133 billion). While it is appropriate to call attention to these facts, it is also noteworthy to emphasize the point that an interrelationship exists between all three of these health problems.

More exactly, chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol dependency are also highly associated with obesity and with cancer.

Indeed, substance abuse research has shown that alcohol addiction can augment the risk for various types of cancer, particularly cancer of the voice box (larynx), esophagus, liver, rectum, colon, kidneys, and throat. Abusive and recurring drinking can also result in immune system problems and harm to the fetus during pregnancy.

Excessive and Abusive Drinking Weakens the Problem Drinker’s Systems and Organs

What is more, if alcoholism continues over a period of years, the person’s body organs will more likely than not be affected in a harmful manner. For instance, chronic, hazardous drinking is especially harmful to the liver due to the fact that 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 redevelop. This medical condition results in a progressive inflammatory malfunction of the liver that can sooner or later lead to cirrhosis of the liver, a precarious and potentially lethal medical problem.Heavy, long-term drinking not only can lead to dangerous liver damage, but it can also result in damage to the heart and to the brain. Physical damage this severe may be irreparable and may, in turn, result in severe ill health or an early death.

The Critical Nature of Alcohol Rehab

It is critical, consequently, 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.

Alcoholism and Sophisticated Brain Exploration

Fortuitously, scientific research is continuously unearthing new and important information. Recent alcoholism exploration provides a good illustration. More correctly, for roughly the last ten years, sophisticated brain-imaging scanning instruments have verified that continuous and recurring hazardous drinking changes the makeup of the brain to a substantial extent, consequently resulting in brain disease that can last months, years, or maybe as long as the individual exists.

Stated another way, medical research has shown that individuals who have been drinking in a hazardous manner for a sizeable length of time increase their risk for developing lasting and substantial modifications 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.

Excessive Drinking, Malnutrition, and Mental Disorders

As a final illustration of various health problems that are considerably related to alcohol dependency, take into consideration the fact that in accordance with medical research, the excessive and repeated abuse of alcohol can lead to erosive gastritis, a medical problem that lessens the absorption of minerals, nutrients, and vitamins.

This form of organ breakdown is correlated with malnutrition and to a variety of acute neurological and mental maladies including sleep disturbances, memory loss, and psychosis such as Wernicke’s Encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome. This latter medical condition is a long-term debilitating medical condition that is exemplified by continual memory and learning problems.

Summary

It is apparent that repetitive, excessive drinking is directly or indirectly correlated with numerous severe medical conditions 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 massive amount of people will be able to abstain from abusive drinking while other people who have a drinking problem will get the professional therapy they require.