Physical Effects of Alcohol Addiction
An addiction to alcohol will cause serious physical ailments over time. Alcohol is a depressant that has a profound effect on the central nervous system. In addition to lowering your inhibitions, alcohol impairs judgment, speech and muscular coordination. Certain areas of the brain can become depressed by alcohol addiction, resulting in memory loss and fatigue. Other physical effects from alcohol addiction occur in the liver, digestive tract and other parts of the body.
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Effect on the liver
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Alcohol addiction can cause the live to become inflamed by a disease called alcoholic hepatitis. This swelling can result in scar tissue and over time can develop into an cirrhosis. The liver loses healthy tissue to scarring until it can no longer function. Some of the physical symptoms of these diseases include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, jaundice and mental confusion.
Digestive problems
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When alcohol inflames the stomach lining it causes a condition called gastritis. This problem has the ability to prevent the absorption of vitamins such as folic acid and thiamine which are necessary for good health. When alcohol addiction damages the pancreas, it can no longer manufacture certain enzymes that are important in digesting proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Your metabolism is also affected when the pancreas is damaged by heavy drinking.
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Diabetes
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People that suffer from diabetes can be greatly affected by alcohol addiction. Alcohol will keep glucose that exists in the liver from being released into the bloodstream. This in turn will heighten the chances of developing low blood sugar, also called hypoglycemia. Diabetics with high blood sugar usually take insulin to lower their blood sugar. The added strain of alcohol's effects may push blood sugar levels too far down.
Effects on other organs
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High blood pressure and damage to heart muscle can be precipitated by alcoholism. This puts you at risk of suffering a stroke or having a heart attack. Strokes can cause serious brain damage when the brain is deprived of blood. Kidney disease has been known to develop in people that consume excess amounts of alcohol.
Other effects
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Erectile dysfunction in males and interruptions in women's menstrual cycle have been associated with the effects of alcohol. Pregnant women who are addicted to alcohol risk miscarriage and take risk their children being born with fetal alcohol syndrome. Alcohol can also effect bone mass, causing thinning their bones so that fractures are much more likely to occur. Numbness in the feet and hands, dementia, and an increased prospect of developing cancers such as cancer of the liver, throat, and colon are other possible physical effects of an alcohol addiction.
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