Alcoholism

Alcohol consumption is not unhealthy when taking one or even two drinks of hard liquor per day.  Taken this way, alcoholic beverages can serve as a relaxant and have beneficial effects on health.  However, excessive consumption of alcohol is poisonous to the body and is considered a drug, producing a chronic condition known as alcoholism.

Excessive alcohol intake is a serious problem that affects individuals in every age group, gender, race and socioeconomic class.  Current estimates indicate that alcoholism affects 14 million people in the United States, which suggests that one every three adults has alcohol problems.

Over 200,000 Americans die each year as a result of alcohol abuse, making it one of the most serious  health problems today.  Alcohol is involved in more than half of the U.S. homicides, suicides and car accidents.  However, the amount of people affected either directly and indirectly is much larger when taking into account the disruption of family life, domestic problems, spouse and child abuse, job absenteeism, auto accidents, etc.

Alcohol should be avoided when suffering from certain disorders such as epilepsy, liver disorders such as hepatitis and stomach or duodenal ulcers.

Acute alcoholism is experienced by anyone who takes too many drinks regardless if he or she is or is not a habitual drinker of alcohol.  The immediate physical effects depend upon the amount of alcohol in the system and they range from mild mood changes to complete loss of muscular coordination, vision, balance and speech.  Extreme cases of acute alcohol poisoning can be fatal.  The symptoms usually disappear in a matter of hours after the person stops drinking, and usually will experience the effects of a hangover which include headache, nausea and dehydration.

On average, the lifespan of alcoholics is approximately 13 years shorter than a non-alcoholic person as a result of the devastating effects that alcohol has on the body.  Some alcoholics take other types of substances in conjunction with alcohol, leading sometimes to fatal combinations.