What Health Problems Can Alcohol Cause?

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What health problems can alcohol cause? Regrettably, a number of both short-term and long-term drinking problems can be caused by alcohol abuse or by alcohol addiction.

Short-Term and Long-Term Health Problems Caused By Excessive Alcohol

image: woman depressed about her alcoholic husband Some alcohol-related drinking problems, such as interpersonal relationship issues, driving impairment, and negative interactions with medications can manifest themselves after drinking over a relatively short period of time. Other drinking problems, conversely, can develop more gradually over time and may become noticeable only after heavy drinking for an extended period of time.

These are the problems that represent the long-term effects of alcohol abuse and help answer the following question: what health problems can alcohol cause?

It is important to note that women may develop alcohol-related health problems after consuming less alcohol than men over a shorter time period.

Since alcohol affects many organs in the body, long-term excessive drinking puts a problem drinker at risk for developing serious health problems.

Stated differently, the long term effects of alcohol abuse can lead to a gradual breakdown of different organs and systems in the body that can result in serious, if not fatal, health problems and issues experienced by the person with a drinking problem.

Alcohol-Related Pancreatitis

The pancreas helps regulate the body's blood sugar levels by producing insulin. In addition, the pancreas is instrumental in digesting the food people eat. Long-term excessive drinking can lead to pancreatitis (that is, an inflammation of the pancreas). Pancreatitis is associated with excessive weight loss and severe abdominal pain and can lead to death.

Alcohol-Related Heart Disease

image: man in alcohol-induced rage One of the few verifiable positive aspects of drinking alcohol is that drinking in moderation can actually have positive effects on the heart, especially with individuals who are at the greatest risk for heart attacks, such as women after menopause and men over the age of 45.

Long-term excessive drinking, on the other hand, increases the risk for certain kinds of stroke, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

Alcohol-Related Cancer

Long-term heavy drinking increases the risk of developing certain types of cancer, especially cancer of the esophagus, mouth, throat, and the voice box. Research has shown, moreover, that women who drink two or more drinks per day slightly increases their risk for developing breast cancer. Excessive drinking may also increase the risk for developing cancer of the colon and of the rectum.

According to recent research, 62% of U.S. high school seniors reported that they have been drunk recently.

Alcohol-Related Liver Disease

image: doctor discussing treatment plan with chronic alcoholic More than 2 million U.S. problem drinkers suffer from alcohol-related liver disease. Some people with a drinking problem develop alcoholic hepatitis (that is, an inflammation of the liver) as a consequence of long-term heavy drinking.

The symptoms of alcoholic hepatitis include the following: fever, jaundice (an abnormal yellowing of the urine, skin, and the eyeballs), and abdominal pain. If the problem drinker persists in drinking, moreover, alcoholic hepatitis can be fatal. If the individual with the drinking problem stops drinking, however, alcoholic hepatitis is frequently reversible.

Approximately 10 to 20 % of the problem drinkers who drink excessively develop cirrhosis of the liver (that is, a scarring of the liver). Alcoholic cirrhosis can be fatal if the problem drinker continues to drink. Even though cirrhosis is irreversible, if the affected person stops drinking, his or her chances of survival can improve dramatically.

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Although some problem drinkers may eventually need a liver transplant as a last resort, numerous people with cirrhosis who abstain from drinking alcoholic beverages can receive treatment and may never require liver transplantation.

When person is addicted, he or she no longer takes alcohol or drugs to have fun or to get high. Rather, the addicted person needs the alcohol or the drugs in order to function on a daily basis. In fact, in many instances, the addicted person's everyday life centers around satisfying his or her need for the substance on which he or she is hooked.

Other Long Term Effects of Alcohol Abuse

In addition to the diseases outlined above, excessive drinking over time is also associated with the following drinking problems:

Loss of brain cells
Nerve damage
Irritated stomach lining and bleeding from stomach ulcers
Epilepsy

Excessive drinking has also been linked to the following:

Vitamin deficiency
Skin problems
Muscle disease
Infertility
Sexual problems
Obesity

In the United States during 2004, 16,694 deaths occurred as a result of alcohol-related motor-vehicle accidents. This amount was roughly 39% of all traffic fatalities. This amounts to one alcohol-related death every 31 minutes.

What Health Problems Can Alcohol Cause: Conclusion

Based on the information presented above, it can be concluded that chronic, excessive drinking can often result in physical damage, increase the risk of getting various diseases, and it can make other diseases worse. Stated differently, excessive and irresponsible drinking can and does result in serious drinking problems.

Earlier, we asked the following question: what health problems can alcohol cause? Now that you know the answer to this question, you are in a significantly better position to understand the basic, if not critical message of alcohol addiction: if you want to avoid the long term effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism such as unnecessary alcohol-related health problems later in life, drink in moderation or not at all.

In the United States, research has demonstrated that continued alcohol abuse is one of the major risk factors for violence in intimate relationships.

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Living in a dysfunctional environment, where family members feel as if they have to continuously "walk on egg shells" frequently leads to stress and anxiety. In fact, stress levels and feelings of anxiety increase in such unhealthy homes due to the rigid and inflexible norms, rules, and beliefs that are imposed on family members who are, in many respects, "held hostage" in the current
living arrangement.

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