Make no mistake about it, when you are a slave to alcohol abuse, you are essentially flooding your entire being with toxic substances on a regular basis. Your body then has to keep working hard in an attempt to purify itself and get rid of them.
This negative cycle is completely taxing on both your brain and your body. Don’t you think it is time to let go of this damaging habit? We at Asheville Detox want you to know that no matter how strong your addiction to alcohol is, with our help you can overcome it. Let’s take a look at some of the many health reasons why becoming sober should be priority number one in your life.
Dependency on Alcohol
Logically, the first thing that happens to someone who drinks heavily for a long period of time is that they may develop a physical and emotional dependency on alcohol. When you become an alcoholic and can admit that you have a problem, your wisest choice to break the addiction is to seek medical detoxification in order to become sober.
Trying to detox on your own may be something too difficult for you to navigate alone, as the symptoms you will experience may be quite severe. During your withdrawal period, you can expect to feel anxious, nervous, and nauseated. You may have an irregular heartbeat, experience tremors, high blood pressure, and sweat a lot. In severe cases of withdrawal, people experience hallucinations and even seizures.
Long-Term Effects of Alcoholism on the Brain
It is easy to see how alcohol affects the brain right after it is consumed. Drinking too much alcohol causes slurred speech, makes it hard for you to walk straight, slows down your reaction time, and makes you forget, to name a few. However, many people don’t realize the damaging effects that alcohol has on the brain long after you sober up.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, people who drink alcohol heavily, long-term “run the risk of developing serious and persistent changes in the brain.” For example, permanent brain damage can occur, if one contracts Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which is a brain disorder that affects memory. Frontal lobe damage can also occur over time, which is the part of the brain that handles emotional control, judgment, and short-term memory.
Long-Term Effects of Alcoholism on the Body
Alcoholism has a long list of negative long-term effects on your body. To begin with, it jeopardizes your heart as it can cause stretching and drooping of the heart muscle, an irregular heartbeat, stroke, or high blood pressure.
You may already be aware of the damage that alcohol does to your liver. It is your liver’s job to remove toxins from your body, including alcohol. Drinking too much alcohol causes scarring of the liver, or cirrhosis. The more the liver becomes scarred, the harder it becomes for it to remove toxins out of your system.
When you drink too much alcohol long-term, it can also damage your pancreas. This happens when your pancreas produces too many digestive enzymes and it becomes inflamed. This leads to a condition called pancreatitis, which can cause serious complications.
The list goes on and on. Alcoholism can cause sexual dysfunction in men, infertility in women, stomach distress, fatigue, frequent muscle cramping, and more.
Embrace Sobriety With the Help of Asheville Detox
As you can see, without treatment, alcoholism is a dead-end street. There is nothing about it that involves living your best life. Allow our team of friendly and compassionate professionals to walk you through this challenging time, and come out the other side a fresh, new you.
We at Asheville Detox are ready and equipped to keep you as comfortable as possible during your detox period. Call us today to learn how we can help.
