The Holidays and the Alcoholic

Since the dawn of civilization, people have been brewing and fermenting alcoholic drinks and consuming them. With the holday season upon us, many folks will be going to parties where alcohol is served and most of these people will not have a problem with it. For the alcoholic, however, this can be a very dangerous time of year.

When consumed in excess, alcohol is poisonous to the human body. It is estimated that between 12 and 14 million adults in the US abuse alcohol or are chronic alcoholics. Nearly 100,000 Americans die each year as a result of  alcohol abuse.

The immediate physical effects of drinking alcohol range from mild mood changes to complete loss of coordination, vision, balance and speech - any of which can signal that the person involved is in a state of temporary systemic poisoning known as acute alcohol poisoning. In a matter of hours these effects usually wear off after a person stops drinking.

Chronic alcoholism is a progressive and potentially fatal desease, but it is 100% treatable and persons suffering from this disease can make a full recovery once they admit that their life has become unmanagable when it comes to alcohol use and they are ready to abstain from alcohol consumption on a permanent basis.

One of the characteristics of the desease of alcohlism is an incessant craving for alcohol, increased tolerance to alcohol, physical dependence on alcohol, and conplete loss of control over drinking alcohol. Physical dependence on alcohol may or may not be obvious to other people. While some chronic alcoholics get very drunk, others excercise enough control to give the appearence of coping with everyday affairs in a near-normal way. Alcohol abuse can lead to a number of other physical problems such as hypoglycemia, high blood pressure, brain, liver, and heart damage. Another physical sign of the alcoholic is enlarged blood vessels in the skin. Still further damage from alcoholism comes in the form of chronic gastritis and pancreatitis.