Symptoms of Alcohol Dependence and Abuse - Essay Example

How excessive consumption of alcohol harms your health

Alcohol is almost as old as humans and even primitive Stone Age people were known to consume intoxicating brews as a part of religious rites. Alcohol in its various forms such as mead, wine, whiskey, rum, gin, and many other names, has been consumed across the ages. It was regarded as the main cause for drunken fights, financial ruins, and other social ills. Since the past few decades, research is available on the bad effects of alcohol on the human body and information is available about the effects of excessive alcohol on different parts of the body such as brain, kidneys, liver, heart, and other parts. This paper argues for the thesis statement that excessive use of alcohol can cause mental and physical changes that could ultimately lead to serious defects, or even death.

B. Symptoms of alcohol dependence and abuse

Alcohol addiction and abuse create several symptoms from the early stages, and these later increase their intensity. The addict shows less attention to work and other activities, and suffers from hangover. The abuser faces several memory losses and blackouts, becomes increasingly hostile, and shows hostile behavior without provocation. Initially, hands and fingers show tremors and these increase their intensity. Such people often fall sick, they cannot concentrate, feel sweaty, shaky, and suffer from severe depression and anxiety. Normal office tasks, and studies are affected, and there is a marked reduction in performance, the person is shabby, males do not shave, they do not wash and smell of alcohol, eyes are bloodshot, and the gait is unsteady (Narconon).

As the addiction progresses the alcoholic shows full blown symptoms. His skin takes an unhealthy pallor, he has trouble eating, and normal body functions are disrupted. He may feel severe pains in the head, stomach, and the liver areas. He becomes very thin, or he may put on a lot of weight. The alcoholic finds it difficult to walk up stairs or for a longer distance, and he has difficulty breathing. Hands and legs may start shuddering involuntarily. He would always want to sleep when he is not drinking. All the activities are directed to finding and consuming more and more alcohol. The alcohol addict finds methods to go out during the day and consume alcohol. Initially, the drinker may start with expensive brands. However, as the addiction advances and money becomes a problem, the person may switch over to a low value brand. He may hock or sell personal and household items to drink. After a few years, alcohol would take over and he would become a social outcaste, a wife beater and abuser, he may commit petty crimes to quench his craving for alcohol (Narconon).

C. Short and long term effects on social relations and mental ability

Short term effects of alcohol refer to the effects caused after binge drinking. The effects last for a couple of days, and gradually the person becomes normal. Some of the symptoms include severe hangover with headache, inability to sleep, body ache and stomach ache. There would be a burning sensation in the eyes and limbs. The drunk cannot eat anything and vomits any food or drink. Immediately after binge drinking, there is a loss of motor controls. The person cannot walk straight without staggering, speech is blurred, and incoherent. If such a person drives, then there is a high probability of an accident (NIH).

A report by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism discusses the effects of alcohol on different parts of the body. These are short term and long term effects on the body, and they are discussed as follows (NIH).

Brain: Excessive alcohol interferes with brain neurons, brain cells, and the communication pathway. The interference can disrupt the pathway, lead to degradation of neural networks, leading to impaired thinking, less clarity, and gradually the brain loses the power to function normally. Short term effects are the 'high' that alcohol gives, causing a reduction of motor functions, leading to staggered gait, and accidents.

Heart: Drinking excessively over a long period or in one session causes damage to the heart. It can lead to stretching of the heart muscles causing a loss in elasticity, an ailment called as Cardiomyopathy. It can cause spikes in heart blood pressure, leading to stroke and can cause irregular heartbeat, an ailment called as Arrhythmias.

Liver: Excessive drinking can cause irreversible damage to the liver such as liver inflammation and cause fatty liver or steatosis. Alcohol can also cause hepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis.

Pancreas: Excessive alcohol makes the pancreases the produce toxic acids to dissolve the alcohol that can remain in the pancreas causing pancreatitis. This is a dangerous inflation that makes the blood vessels of the gland to swell and impairs digestion.

Cancer: Excessive consumption of alcohol can increase the probability of developing cancers of different parts of the body. Some parts that are affected include mouth, Esophagus, Throat, Liver, and Breast.

Immune System: Prolonged excessive alcohol consumption can reside the ability of the immune substances to resist diseases. Habitual drinkers and alcohol addicts fall prey to diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, and even Aids. Short term effects include infections, and the ability to resist diseases.

D. Overall effects on the body.

According to a recent report by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA 4) excessive consumption of alcohol causes successive failure of body organs. This means that when the liver fails, the kidneys start degrading, causing an excess buildup of toxins in the body. This leads to further complications of the stomach, heart, and the blood regeneration capacity of the body. When fresh blood or contaminated blood reaches the brain, the main organ starts reducing in its capacity to send signals to other parts of the body. Small injuries do not heal, and since RBCs are reduced. Lungs do not get sufficient fresh blood to refresh the oxygen that is inhaled. This causes impure blood to flow through the body. The cycle is repeated causing a breakdown of tissues and formation of ulcers that do not heal. The body loses its ability to fight infection, and as a result, the alcoholic falls ill frequently, medication does not take effect, and the health further deteriorates (20).

The brain has trillions of nerve cells that pick up signals from the external environment and the body, process the signals and the brain sends commands to the limbs or internal organs through neurotransmitters. Therefore, while driving, the brain sends automatic commands to the hands to steer the wheel, apply brakes, slow down, and so on. Alcohol has chemicals that suppress or intensify the body responses. Therefore, while driving, the brain sends the signals slowly, leading to crashes. Single sessions of intense alcohol consumption can cause temporary impairment of the senses. Daily and continuous binge drinking causes constant interference of the signals. Hence, the body loses its ability to fight infection, throw out toxic chemicals, and the body builds up the toxin levels. Many subsystems of the brain such as the cerebellum, limbic system, and cerebral cortex lose their capacity to function (5).

Heavy alcohol consumption damages the soft tissues of the brain, stomach, liver, kidney, the stomach lining, and other parts. The brain mass shrinks and a number of abilities such as motor coordination, mood, learning and memory, temperature regulation, sleep, digestion and other processes are disturbed permanently. Liver functions to break down toxic elements in food, and flush it out of the system. However, constant consumption of alcohol breaks down the liver cells, and chemical such as ammonia, manganese, travel to the brain, leading to fatal brain disorders such as hepatic encephalopathy. The combined chemicals and body toxins weaken the heart muscles, and the heart cannot pump sufficient blood to the brain, lungs, and other organs (8). The heart is particularly susceptible to alcohol abuse. Some of the problems are atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia, strokes, hypertension, and other problems. These disorders can severally disable a person from performing his daily tasks, and eventually kill him (10).

Pancreas is another organ that suffers from excessive alcohol. The pancreas help in food digestion, secretes insulin and glucagon, and in breaking down fats and carbohydrates. The result is that the glands are inflamed and do not function effectively, releasing a number of toxins such as acetaldehyde into the body. Uncontrolled secretion of these enzymes causes inflammation of blood and tissues (17). All these disorders have a severe impact on the body, leading to increased heart rate, ulcers, loose motions, vomiting blood, loss of appetite, severe migraines and eventually death.

E. Conclusion

The paper discussed the bad effects of excessive alcohol consumption. As seen in the previous section, it is clear that excessive alcohol consumption cause mental and physical changes in the health of a person. Many of these changes damage the brain, liver, heart, kidneys, pancreas, and other body parts, and the changes are irreversible. The argument proves the thesis statement that excessive use of alcohol can cause mental and physical changes that could ultimately lead to serious defects, or even death.