Alcoholism: Encyclopedia II - Alcoholism - Effects

Alcoholism - Effects

Today, alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence are major public health problems in North America, costing the region's inhabitants an estimated US$170 billion annually. Alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence are life-threatening problems that sometimes end in death, particularly through liver, pancreatic, or kidney disease, internal bleeding, brain deterioration, alcohol poisoning, and suicide. Heavy alcohol consumption by a pregnant mother can also lead to fetal alcohol syndrome, an uncurable and damaging condition.

Additionally, alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence are major contributing factors for head injuries, motor vehicle accidents (MVA), violence and assaults, neurological, and other medical problems (cirrhosis, etc.).

Of the one half of the North American population who consume alcohol, it has been estimated by some that 10% are alcohol abusers and alcohol dependents, and 6% consume more than half of all alcohol.

Stereotypes of alcohol abusers and alcohol dependents are often found in fiction and popular culture: for example the "town drunk," or the stereotype of Russians and the Irish as alcoholics. In modern times, the recovery movement has led to more realistic portraits of abusers and dependents and their problems, such as in Charles R. Jackson's The Lost Weekend, or the films Days of Wine and Roses, and My Name is Bill W or the extreme "Leaving Las Vegas". Charles Bukowski describes honestly his alcohol addiction in the movie Barfly and in his other writings. Alcohol dependence can be harder to break and significantly more damaging than dependence on most other addictive substances. The physical symptoms when withdrawing from alcohol can be quite severe and dangerous, with death reported in extreme cases.

The alcoholic personality can exhibit a radical change when they drink, from passive when sober to aggressive when drunk, though the reverse can also be true.

An alcoholic does not have to be someone who is drunk every night, and a functional alcoholic can have largely normal work and family relationships. However, alcohol represents a major or the major focus of their lives.

Alcoholism - Long-term

The long-term effects of high quantity alcohol use can include:

• pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas (but the acute and chronic form)
• heart disease, including dilated cardiomyopathy
• polyneuropathy, or damage to the nerves leading to poor sensation or pain
• cirrhosis of the liver, a chronic disease characterized by destruction of liver cells and loss of liver function, and its numerous complications, including bleeding from esophageal varices
• depression, insomnia, anxiety, and suicide
• hypertension (high blood pressure)
• increased incidence of many types of cancer, including breast cancer, head and neck cancer, esophageal cancer and colorectal cancer
• nutritional deficiency of folic acid, thiamine (vitamin B1) and several others
• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a neuropsychiatric disorder caused by thiamine deficiency that results from poor nutrition in alcoholics
• personality changes toward others, especially those who are close
• significant damage to occupational, social, and interpersonal areas, including sexual dysfunction

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Effects", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki