What Are the Long Term Effects of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism?

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What Are the Long Term Effects of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism? According to the research literature, hazardous and abusive drinking often results in long term alcohol effects on the body and the mind such as physical and mental damage, substantially increases the risk of getting various diseases, and significantly makes existing diseases more serious.

Not only this, but the following are frequent alcohol abuse effects: poor work performance, legal issues (such as multiple DWIs), financial difficulties, health issues, and relationship problems.

As a result, if you want to avoid the more dangerous AND preventable alcohol short term effects and long term alcohol effects on the body and the mind that are the result of chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism, such as alcohol-related health problems later in life, drink in moderation or quit drinking alcohol altogether.

Short and Long Term Effects of Alcohol Abuse

Short Term Alcohol Effects on the Body. Some problems, such as interpersonal relationship difficulties, negative interactions with prescribed medications, and driving impairment can reveal themselves after drinking over a relatively short time frame.

image: young lady holding head from painful hangover In a word, these are some of the short term effects of alcohol abuse.

Long Term Alcohol Effects on the Body. Other problems, however, can develop more slowly over the years and may become observable only after excessive drinking has taken place over an extended period of time.

These are the problems that represent the long term effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism.

It is also worthy of emphasizing the fact that women may develop alcohol-related health problems after consuming less alcohol than men over a shorter period of time.

In any event, since alcohol affects many organs in the body, long-term drinking abuse puts an individual at risk for developing serious, if not fatal, health problems.

In sum, the effects of alcohol abuse, especially those that are long-term, can result in a gradual breakdown of the body's systems and organs, thus leading to serious, if not fatal, health consequences.

Now that you know this and if drinking is causing a host of serious problems in your life, it might be a good time to ask yourself why you don't simply quit drinking alcohol.

Effects of Alcohol Abuse: Liver Disease

Long Term Alcohol Effects on the Body: Liver Disease. More than 2 million American people experience alcohol-related liver disease. This is obviously one of the more critical alcohol abuse effects that requires immediate medical attention.

For instance, some drinkers develop alcoholic hepatitis (i.e., inflammation of the liver) as a consequence of long-term heavy drinking.

The symptoms of alcoholic hepatitis include the following: fever, jaundice (abnormal yellowing of the skin, the eyeballs, and the urine), and abdominal pain.

If an individual continues drinking, unfortunately, alcoholic hepatitis can be fatal. If the individual stops drinking, conversely, alcoholic hepatitis is frequently reversible.

About 10% to 20% of drinkers who abuse alcohol develop cirrhosis of the liver (that is, scarring of the liver). Moreover, alcoholic cirrhosis can be deadly if the individual continues to drink.

Although cirrhosis is irreversible, if the affected individual stops drinking, his or her chances of survival can improve dramatically.

While some individuals may eventually need a liver transplant as a last resort, many individuals with cirrhosis who quit drinking alcohol can receive treatment and may not require a liver transplant.

A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, abuse, or misbehavior, by individual family members takes place on a continuing basis, leading other members of the family to perpetuate, enable, and reinforce such behaviors. Often, children grow up in dysfunctional families with the belief that such behaviors and ways of relating are "normal." This type of behavior is especially noticeable in families where the effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism are pronounced.

Alcohol Abuse Effects: Pancreatitis

Long Term Alcohol Effects on the Body: Pancreatitis. The pancreas helps regulate the body's blood sugar levels by producing insulin. Moreover, the pancreas is essential for the proper digesting of the food that people eat.

Long-term chronic drinking can result in pancreatitis (that is, the inflammation of the pancreas). Pancreatitis results in excessive weight loss, severe abdominal pain, and can lead to death. In short, pancreatitis is one of the alcohol abuse effects that can result in a fatality.

image: alcohol and drug rehab ad

Effects of Alcohol Abuse: Cancer

Long Term Alcohol Effects on the Body: Cancer. Chronic and habitual heavy drinking increases the risk of developing various types of cancer, particularly cancer of the colon, voice box, kidneys, mouth, liver, throat, rectum, and the esophagus.

Moreover, women who drink two or more drinks per day slightly increase their risk for developing breast cancer.

Due to the fact that so many people at some point in their lives has cancer, alcohol-related cancer is one of the more serious alcohol abuse effects that people should try to prevent before it ever becomes an issue.

Alcohol Short Term Effects and Long Term Effects of Alcohol. Current research suggests that children are less likely to drink when their parents spend time and interact in a positive way with them and when they and their parents report feeling close to each other.

Effects of Alcohol Abuse: Heart Disease

Drinking in moderation can actually have beneficial effects on the heart, especially with individuals who are at the greatest risk for heart attacks, such as men over the age of 45 and women who have gone though menopause. This statistic, fortunately, applies to both alcohol short term effects as well as the long term effects of alcohol.

Long Term Alcohol Effects on the Body: Heart Disease. Continuous and hazardous drinking, unfortunately, increases the risk for some heart disease, strokes, and high blood pressure. In a word, circulatory diseases such as strokes and heart disease can be added to the list of critical illnesses that are chronic alcohol abuse effects.

Alcohol Short Term Effects and Long Term Effects of Alcohol. Studies have shown that inpatient detoxification programs are more effective and longer lasting than outpatient detox programs. The important issue here, however, is the following: the more severe the alcohol-related withdrawal symptoms, the more likely that inpatient detox programs should be used.

Other Alcohol Abuse Effects

In addition to the diseases listed above, abusive and excessive drinking that is repeated and continuous is also related with the following long term alcohol effects:

epilepsy
irritated stomach lining and bleeding from stomach ulcers
nerve damage
loss of brain cells

image: doctor checking status of alcohol detox patient Excessive, chronic drinking has also been associated with the following long term alcohol effects:

muscle disease
obesity
sexual problems

Alcohol Short Term Effects and Long Term Effects of Alcohol. There are higher rates of alcoholism in the unemployed, laborers, those of lower socioeconomic status, those that drop out of high school, those who entered college but failed to earn a degree, and those under more stress.

skin problems
vitamin deficiency
infertility

The Effects of Alcohol Abuse: Conclusion

What Are the Long Term Effects of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism? Based on an evaluation of the research findings listed above, it can be determined that chronic, excessive drinking frequently leads to long term alcohol effects on the body and on the mind, it considerably increases the risk of developing various diseases and medical conditions, and it notably increase the probability that existing illnesses and diseases become even more severe.

Additionally, repeated hazardous and abusive drinking usually leads to legal problems, financial issues, employment difficulties, school problems, and relationship issues.

Effects of Alcohol. The overriding plan of action when experiencing a possible alcohol overdose situation is this: Do not take chances when someone's life is at stake. If you suspect that a person has alcohol poisoning or is overdosing on alcohol, get immediate medical assistance, even if the person is underage.

In a word, alcoholism and alcohol abuse effects need to be addressed before they become life-changing problems. Question. With all of the unhealthy, dangerous, and debilitating consequences of excessive drinking, why don't more problem drinkers bite the bullet and either drink responsibly and in moderation or quit drinking alcohol altogether?

The message is clear: if you want to avoid needless long term alcohol effects on the body and the mind such as alcohol-related disease, medical illnesses, and health problems later in life, drink in moderation or quit drinking alcohol entirely.

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Short and Long Term Alcohol Effects. If drinking alcohol is going to affect your ability to have children, not to mention the negative health consequences that alcohol presents to the woman who will be having the child, why not simply abstain from drinking alcohol while you are trying to have a child, while the mother is carrying the child, and while the mother is breast feeding the child. Why risk negative alcohol effects on the body and the mind of your unborn child?

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