Alcoholism is difficult to overcome but when your health is becoming a concern it makes it even more urgent that you do overcome your alcohol abuse. Alcoholism has a lot of serious effects on health including increased risk of heart disease, increase risk of cancer, liver and kidney disease, mental illness and a heap of other problems. Although giving up drinking may be tough, these health problems can be even tougher. If you can overcome your drinking problem then you can avoid these health problems.
When you drink a lot of alcohol you can find that you overeat or perhaps even under-eat. Alcohol takes up space in your stomach making you feel fuller and you don’t eat as much and therefore are not receiving the required nutrition each day. This can actually lead to malnutrition as your body thinks that it has met its daily food requirement, when in fact it is just the alcohol that is making you feel full. Your body can suffer with this lack of nutrition which can lead to serious health issues.
Gouty arthritis is one condition that can be caused by alcohol abuse. This is a very painful rheumatic disease that leaves deposits of spiny, needle-like crystals of uric acid.
If one drinks while pregnant it can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome in the baby. This can have many long-term negative effects on the baby’s health including mental and physical growth delays, physical disabilities, deformities and developmental delays.
Alcoholism puts you at higher risk of heart and cardiovascular disease and also stroke. There is also an increased risk of high blood pressure problems that can arise from alcohol abuse.
Alcoholism can also affect your blood sugar levels in a negative way. Diabetes, hyperglycaemia and hypoglycaemia are all quite common in alcoholics.
Another health risk is kidney disease where the kidneys can become enlarged and this alters the hormone function. This can lead to kidney failure and possible death.
Liver disease is also very common in alcoholics, in particular alcoholic hepatitis or alcoholic cirrhosis. Alcoholic hepatitis can be successfully treated so is the less serious of the two, but cirrhosis is irreversible and the only treatment is a possible liver transplant.
Neuropathy is another health risk associated with alcoholism which causes a numbness and tingling. This can be very painful and is associated with nerve damage.
Dementia is also another problem that alcoholics are at a higher risk of developing.
Another risk is obesity and in itself brings along another whole range of health risks.
Then there are also the mental conditions that are very common in alcoholics such as depression, anxiety and insomnia.
If you have had a drinking problem for a while you may have some damage already occurring in your body but it isn’t too late to stop and let your body heal. If you have less severe problems or the beginning stages of illnesses then your body can heal from them if you stop drinking. Even some of the problems that have lifelong repercussions can be lived with if you stop before they get too severe. There are many benefits if you stop drinking and they certainly outweigh the risks of continued alcohol abuse. Don’t put yourself at any further risk but seek treatment today for your alcoholism.
