What Health Problems Can Alcohol Cause?

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What health problems can alcohol cause? Unfortunately, a variety of both short-term and long-term problems can be caused by alcohol abuse or by alcoholism.

Short Term and Long Term Alcohol-Related Problems

Some alcohol-related 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.

image: man upset with bad news about his alcoholic father Other 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 person 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.

Alcohol-Related Heart Disease

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 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.

It is estimated that 30% of all Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident sometime during
their lives.

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 studies, it has been discovered that approximately 53% of adults in the United States have reported that one or more of their close relatives has a drinking problem.

Alcohol-Related Liver Disease

image: doctor checking on patient with alcohol-related liver disease More than 2 million Americans suffer from alcohol-related liver disease. Some drinkers 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 individual persists in drinking, moreover, alcoholic hepatitis can be fatal. If the individual stops drinking, however, alcoholic hepatitis is frequently reversible.

Studies have shown that inpatient detoxification programs are more effective and longer lasting than outpatient detox programs. The important issue here, however, is the following: the more severe the alcohol-related withdrawal symptoms, the more likely that inpatient detox programs should be used.

image: couple upset because their son has alcoholic cirrhosis Approximately 10 to 20 % of the people who drink excessively develop cirrhosis of the liver (that is, a scarring of the liver). Alcoholic cirrhosis can be fatal if the individual continues to drink. Even though cirrhosis is irreversible, if the affected person stops drinking, his or her chances of survival can improve dramatically.

Although some people 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

image: doctor administering meds for alcohol rehab patient In addition to the diseases outlined above, excessive drinking over time is also associated with the following:

nerve damage
epilepsy
irritated stomach lining and bleeding from stomach ulcers
loss of brain cells
Excessive drinking has also been linked to the following:
vitamin deficiency
muscle disease
obesity
sexual problems
infertility
skin problems

In 1998 in the United States, 1,668 drivers from the ages of 16 to 20 were involved in alcohol-related fatal motor vehicle crashes. Another 21,000 were involved in alcohol-related accidents that resulted in injury.

What Health Problems Can Alcohol Cause: Conclusion

Based on the above, it can be concluded that excessive drinking over time can frequently result in physical damage, it can increase the risk of getting various diseases, and it can make other diseases worse. 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 better position to understand the moral of the story: if you want to avoid the long term effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism such as unnecessary health problems later in life, drink in moderation or not at all.

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A wide variety of different techniques exist for treating alcohol withdrawal. While some of these treatments use medications (drugs), many, however, do not. In case of point, according to current research studies, the safest way to treat mild withdrawal symptoms is without medications. Such types of non-drug detoxification use screening and extensive social support throughout the entire withdrawal process. Other non-drug detoxification programs, additionally, use proper nutrition and vitamin therapy (especially thiamin) in treating mild withdrawal symptoms.

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