What Are the Results of Alcohol Abuse?

Enjoying a drink on a hot summer afternoon or having a few drinks with friends on the weekend can be relaxing. Abuse of alcohol, however, can have serious consequences. Driving while intoxicated, just one time, could land a person in jail. Working while under the influence of alcohol will result in termination. Habitual drinking may mean that the choice to drink is no longer yours.

Abuse versus Addiction

• Domestic violence is prevalent in families of alcohol abusers.

  Poor coping skills and a sense of isolation can increase a person's desire to escape through alcohol. Abuse occurs from a habitual and excessive pattern of drinking. In addition, alcohol abuse and this pattern of excessive drinking can run in families, reports MayoClinic.com. This abuse can cost a person in terms of health, relationships and work life. With all these factors, alcohol abuse can lead to dependence, alcoholism and even death. Alcohol addiction, or alcoholism, is a chronic disease that damages the body as well as brain chemistry. This disease causes a reinforced need for alcohol as well as neurologic damage, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hidden Dangers

• Alcohol provides the body with a pleasure response. The more a person drinks, the greater the spread of opiate receptors. The stimulant effects of this chemical appear to weaken the nervous system. The peripheral nervous system cannot maintain muscle movements. This same chemical reaction alters the brain's thought processes in the central nervous system. Neural connections reduce other brain functions such as reasoning and self-preservation. As a reward for everyday accomplishments, the user justifies drinking despite the changes to his body. Alcohol dependence alters brain chemistry permanently. Even if the addict quits drinking, it would not undermine the chemical need for alcohol in the brain. The National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommends addicts at this stage seek treatment to strengthen their abstinence.

Alcohol Abuse and Health Problems

• Long-term alcohol abuse can cause alcoholic hepatitis or inflammation of the liver. Excessive drinking may lead to high blood pressure, heart attack or stroke. This chemical abuse also increases the risk of diabetes from alcohol sugar absorption in the pancreas. Long-term abuse can weaken and paralyze the eye muscles, notes MayoClinic.com. Alcohol abuse affects the nervous system, causing numbness in the hands and feet, dementia and short-term memory loss. Chronic alcohol abuse increases risk of mouth, throat, liver, breast and colon cancers.

Signs of Abuse

• Signs of alcohol abuse include drinking alone, lying about the amount or frequency, hiding alcohol and engaging in unpredictable behavior when drinking. Signs of serious risk for alcohol dependence include passing out from alcohol abuse, memory loss, risky behavior changes and social withdrawal. Signs of alcohol withdrawal, when a person who has been drinking alcohol heavily every day suddenly stops, include tremors, hallucinations, seizures, intense confusion and disorientation.