Five Little Known Facts About Prolonged Alcohol Addiction

Few alcohol dependent individuals do not realize the dangers of high levels of alcohol consumption. In fact, many of us perceive ourselves as knowledgeable when it comes to the dangers of alcohol and the dynamics of addiction—even while we suffer from chemical dependency ourselves. However, for each premise we have absorbed, there are many facts about alcohol addiction that we may not have encountered.

Five Little Known Facts About Prolonged Alcohol Addiction

By educating yourself further in alcohol addiction, you can better position yourself—and loved ones—to seek lasting recovery.

• People Drink for a Reason
  Though much has been made of a genetic predisposition to alcohol addiction, the fact is that alcohol dependency has two components—the physical urge to drink and the psychological need to do so. Underneath each alcohol addiction is a root cause that leads drinking to become pleasurable—and for many, indispensable. For some, an underlying chemical imbalance may be creating a neurotransmitter deficiency in the brain. For others, buried abuse and trauma, long-held negative self-beliefs or life challenges they feel they cannot cope with have led them to self-medicate with alcohol. Once detox has been successfully achieved and the root cause of alcohol addiction has been remedied, the need to drink will disappear.
• Age of Alcohol Addiction
  While many people believe that middle-aged individuals make up the majority of the alcohol dependent population, statistics show that in actuality, the majority of alcohol addiction happens in adults under 30. In fact, the highest level of alcohol consumption and binge drinking occurs in adults ages 18 to 29. Furthermore, it’s estimated that in the United States alone, at least half of children as young as 12 have experimented with alcohol.
• Nutrients Factor Heavily Into Alcohol Addiction
  Studies show that as much as 80 percent of alcohol dependent individuals have a thiamine deficiency. In fact, some alcohol dependent individuals will develop a condition known as Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, an often enduring, serious condition that can affect motor skills, cause nerve paralysis, oculomotor disruptions, retrograde amnesia and even cognitive delays. This deficiency in thiamine (also known as B1) further contributes to the intense effects of alcohol addiction—and can be treated at a recovery center with qualified addiction specialists and nutritionists.
• Digestion Is Inhibited by Alcohol Addiction
  Many of us are familiar with alcohol’s effects on the heart, kidneys and liver, but our digestive systems pay the price for alcohol addiction as well. Alcohol consumption can lead to duodenal ulcers, acid reflux, and chronic diarrhea. In fact, many cases of malnutrition stem from alcohol addiction, as the body becomes unable to properly absorb nutrients and the immune system becomes heavily compromised.
• Alcohol Addiction Can Make You Obese
  In addition to the high number of calories in alcohol, alcohol addiction alters the body’s neurochemistry—leading it to affect the body’s metabolism. In fact, after prolonged alcohol addiction, the body increases fat content in the cardiovascular system, triggering a spike in triglyceride levels and promoting the production of fat in the body.

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