Why you should stop drinking alcohol?
Table of Contents
Introduction
Stop Drinking Alcohol
There are several reasons why you should stop drinking alcohol. If you continue drinking for long you will become alcoholic. Being alcoholic changes your behavior and also affects your health and immunity. If you try to stop drinking you cannot because you have what is called withdrawal symptoms.
Types of Alcoholism
Habit of drinking or Alcoholism is divided into two categories:
- Alcohol abuse &
- Alcohol dependence
What is alcohol abuse?
Alcohol abuse refers to the often hazardous overuse of alcohol. People who abuse alcohol tend to have problems with binge drinking (consuming six or more alcoholic drinks in one sitting), as well as engaging in risk-taking behavior such as drinking and driving.
What is alcohol dependence?
People who are dependent on alcohol lack the ability to voluntarily cut down or stop drinking are referred to as alcohol dependent. This is a serious condition. Their capacity to drink alcohol increases and they develop withdrawal symptoms when they do not drink.
What are the symptoms of alcoholism?
It is important that you stop drinking alcohol because it affects you and your health in many different ways. Quit drinking alcohol is one of the modifiable risk factor of heart disease. If you are drinking and also have a heart disease you have to take treatment for the other diseases that are caused by drinking such as liver disease and loss of immunity.
What are the symptoms of alcohol drinking?
The signs and symptoms of alcoholism are often individual but can include:
- Drinking alone or in secret
- Being unable to limit the amount of alcohol consumed in spite of desire or intentions to not drink, or to drink only a certain amount
- Feeling a compulsion to drink
- Insomnia
- Anxiety, depression, or irritability
- Frequent falls and bruises
- Blackouts (inability to remember what occurred while drinking)
In its later stages, alcoholism can contribute to medical conditions such as:
- Nerve damage
- Loss of immunity to infection, especially viral infection
- Pancreatitis
- Cirrhosis of the liver or liver damage
- Heart disease
- Seizures
- Confusion and hallucinations
- Malnutrition or depletion of nutrients like vitamins.
- Ulcers
How your body is affected due to drinking alcohol?
Drinking alcohol brings several changes in your body:
- Alcohol is directly absorbed in the blood and is burnt up to give energy. If incomplete oxidation takes place then a side product acetaldehyde is produced.
- Alcohol depletes several B-complex vitamins in the body, especially thiamine. Deficiency of thiamine results in nerve damage.
- It affects the functioning of your important organ, liver. It may even cause liver cirrhosis.
“Addiction to alcohol mainly affects the liver, which is a very important organ in the body. Learn more about liver here”
Summary
Why we need to stop drinking alcohol?
It is now evident to you why you should stop or quit drinking alcohol and improve your brain health, liver health and reduce your risk of heart disease. You can find the overview of stop drinking alcohol on this website.
Resources
- National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD)
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- DrugFree.org