Kamis, 01 Mei 2008

End stage Alcoholism

Alcoholism can be divided into three stages Early stage alcoholism, middle stage alcoholism and end stage alcoholism. Heavy use of alcohols and that too frequently will lead the drinker to end stage alcoholism. Consuming one or two drinks daily for a healthy man is considered as acceptable level of alcohol consumption. When the frequency or the amount of drinking increases, the early stage alcoholism occurs. If you continue to drink after this, it will lead to end stage alcoholism.

The third or final stage of alcoholism is a difficult stage. In this stage the drinker will lose control of drinking. Moral deterioration, impaired thinking, unexplained fears may be the symptoms of final stage alcoholism. Excessive binging on alcohol will lead the drinker to many problems including health issues.

In the end stage of alcoholism, the drinker is likely to consume alcohol almost with everything else. It will surely cause mental and physical issues. Too much alcohol consumption will damage all parts of the body and will reduce the disease resisting capacity of the body. Family relationship and work atmosphere will be severely collapsed. Sometimes financial and legal problems will also occur for an end stage alcoholic.

Most of the drinkers in this final stage will face the problem of malnutrition. Alcohol will disturb the digestion process in the body and will block the passage of nutrients from intestine to blood stream. Most of the severe drinkers will have the problem of liver dysfunction. Since the damages cells can not receive the essential nutrients, the damage continues to worse. The final stage in alcoholism will cause Vitamin deficiencies in the drinker's body. As a result loss of mental fitness, loss of appetite, fatigue, confusion and memory loss will happen. Finally death may occur in any ways like suicide, accidents like drowning, car crash or falling or severe health problems. Death will be the final outcome of end stage alcoholism.

The treatment to late stage alcoholism will be similar to any end stage disorders. However, heavy use of alcohol will lead to medical complications. In the final stage, damage to brain, heart, liver and other tissues will happen and that makes the treatment more complicated. Brain damage from excessive drinking for years together will be permanent. The dead cells in brain can not be regenerated. Such physical damages will be more difficult to treat.

End stage alcoholism is the most terrible way to die. Alcohol consumption will be cumulative in almost all parts of the body and thus damages the organs. The heart will be the most important suffering organ. The liver will stop functioning and thereby cause blood dysfunction. Hence hemorrhoids can get rupture suddenly that may lead to death.

Alcoholic consumption will shatter the brain's power to think and learn. As a result the person suffering from final stage alcoholism will face the problems of brain disorders like mental confusion, impaired coordination while walking, vision problem and memory loss. This will make the treatment impossible.

Living with Alcoholism

Living with alcoholism requires some changes in your life style. In order to manage your disease, you have to consult your doctor first who will help you in making some permanent changes in your life style. The following tips will help you deal with alcoholism:

1. Engage yourself in social activities without drinking.
2. Try to avoid going to bars.
3. Remove alcohol products from your home.
4. Always avoid people and situations that induce alcohol consumption.
5. Make new friends who do not have drinking habit.
6. Engage in some fun activities that do not involve drinking.
7. When you face some stressful situation, try to mange it without taking alcohol.
8. You can also attend counseling classes and group therapies.
9. Avoid any triggering situation that lead to alcohol consumption.
10. Learn some stress management skills like yoga, meditation, regular exercises etc. This will help you to avoid drinking habit. This is because many people indulge in alcohol consumption so as to get rid of stress only.
11. Take healthy diet.

Living with alcoholism is however very difficult. However if you diagnose the early signs of alcoholism then it will be possible to get rid of the problem with some medication and counseling. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings are held in various parts of United States. This will create an environment in which the drinker could stay tee total. However Alcoholics Anonymous meetings will not compel you in any ways to quit drinking. They will allow you to be there sharing your experience and listening other people's experiences.

Some life style changes required to living with alcoholism:

The first and foremost change required for an alcoholic is to stay away from drinkers. The person should avoid the bar where he used to go for drinking. The person can try new ways of living and engage himself fully in some other activities.

There are two aspects of alcoholism living with alcoholism within you or living with alcoholism in someone else. If the drinker understands the consequences of alcoholism, then he will surely try to quit drinking. This is possible in the early stage of alcoholism. He\she requires the help of others particularly the love and care of family members will help him\her to get out of alcoholism. Honesty is very essential to quit drinking. If the drinker continues to lie about the amount of alcohol consumption, then it is impossible to control alcoholism.

The best way to live with alcoholism is to avoid consuming alcohol completely. You should therefore avoid the places that will trigger the drinking habit. Spend your time with good friends. Surrounding yourself in the company of supportive friends will help you to avoid alcohol consumption. Focus your mind in some other good things. Whenever you have a craving for drinking, remember the harmful effects of alcohol and take some fresh fruit juices instead of alcohol. Also say to yourself that you are improving your health now. This will help you to avoid alcoholic consumption.

Definition of Alcoholism

There are many definitions of alcoholism. The most common definition of alcoholism is that" alcoholism is a horrible disease that affects the whole person. However this definition is applicable to cancer or other dreadful disease. Alcoholism can not be defined simply as a disease caused due to prolonged consumption of alcohol. The amount and frequency of drinking will determine alcoholism.

A correct definition of alcoholism is that it is a chronic disorder characterized by some loss of control over drinking. Drinking more frequently and at inappropriate times will indicate alcoholism. Alcoholism is a common term for two disorders. They are alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence.

The medical definition of alcoholism describes alcoholism as a disease caused due to continuous consumption of alcohol. The quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption required to develop alcoholism will vary from person to person.

Alcoholism is related with some other terms also. They include use, misuse, heavy use, abuse and dependence. Use is a term which simply refers to a person who drinks any alcoholic products. Misuse and heavy use do not have any standard definitions. Heavy use of alcohol will vary from person to person depending upon the age, alcohol brand and so on.

Alcohol abuse is one of the serious problems which will cause poor nutrition, memory loss, difficulty in walking and liver diseases. It will also lead to mental stress, depression, fatigue, employment problems, family problems etc. Alcohol abuse will also lead the drinker in some legal problems at some point in his life. The drinker will continue to drink at this stage irrespective of his health and family problems.

Addiction to alcohol will cause alcohol dependence. Alcohol dependence will cause social and work related problems. The drinker will experience the problems of shaking, sweating and nausea when he tries to stop drinking at this stage. Alcohol dependence will show some of the following symptoms:

1. Changes in tolerance level.
2. The drinker will take more alcohol to avoid withdrawal symptoms.
3. He will lose control over drinking.
4. He may spend more time in drinking and will recover from it only after long period of time.
5. He will lose interest in social and recreational activities.
6. He will continue to drink though he knows the adverse effects of drinking.

Definition of alcoholism explains the effects of this problem. Alcoholism will lead most of the alcoholics drinking heavily than the normal amount. Loss of control will happen in this stage. In fact loss of control is a clear symptom of alcoholism. As the drinker continues to drink, his body will get increased tolerance towards alcohol. Therefore the drinker will not get full content by consuming the regular amount of alcohol. He will require drinking more. Withdrawal symptoms like nausea, sweating and shaking will also appear.

Alcohol problems will vary from person to person. The severity of alcoholism will also vary from drinker to drinker. Some may experience life threatening problems. Liver dysfunction, brain disorders etc will also occur. Rightly said, alcoholism is a horrible disease. However it is possible to avoid the disease. The willingness of the drinker to quit drinking is a must for getting rid of alcoholism.

Effects of Alcoholism

When we talk of the effects of alcoholism, we got to divide them into physical and mental or psychological effects. Both these effects of alcohol are equally important, if one is leading to physical handicap the other is leading to a mental handicap. Effects of alcohol manifest at different times in different individuals, for example if one is affected after thirty years of alcohol abuse the other person may start getting affected only after three years. This is because every human body is different; some of us are more sensitive than others.

When analysing all the psychotic effects of alcohol we must understand at all times that the person is gravely ill, in the sense addiction of any kind is an illness in itself. The beginning of the mental illness will start with increased aggressiveness and agitation at any and all small things, which at one time did not bother the person that much. Then comes the abusive and violent part where in addition to the aggression there is violence, this is the reason many crimes are conducted under the influence of alcohol. There are other effects of alcoholism on the nervous system, depleting it of thiamine or b complex giving tingling and numbness of the extremities. Stroke is one of the extreme effects of alcoholism brought on by a combination of many different effects on the body like delayed clotting time and hypertension.

The effects of alcohol on the gastrointestinal track are manifold, beginning with gastric acidity and ending with bleeding piles. The gastric mucosa or covering gets eroded causing gastritis and ulcerations. The liver gets damaged and it cannot metabolism all the digestive material brought to it, bile production and excretion is affected. All this causes alcoholic hepatitis followed by fatty liver and finally cirrhosis or permanent scarring of liver.

When alcoholic pancreatitis begins, it manifests as severe pain in abdomen and affects the protein digestion of food. The pancrease makes enzymes essential for protein digestion, since no proteins can be digested this eventually leads to loss of muscle mass and protein energy malnutrition. This malnutrition is enhanced by the nausea and loss of appetite caused by the alcoholic hepatitis.

When all these effects are gripping the body simultaneously there are mental changes in the person, so the combined effect gives you a person with an altered appearance and sensitivity. Effects may occur singularly of as a combination, some people may have only liver involvement while others may have multi-systemic involvement. Again which organ is first to get affected will depend on the individual, each body is different and responds differently.

The heart is not spared and alcoholics have enlarged hearts with weak cardiac muscles and raised blood pressure. The lipid levels are also raised in these individuals, thus acting like a trigger for the heart disease. All this pressure on the heart can cause anything thing from angina to cardiac failure. As we can see the effects of alcoholism are many but the best part is, if detected on time the cure is simple and that is abstinence.

Alcoholism Withdrawal

With over fifty percent of the world population abusing alcohol the amount of research done on getting over this addiction is also vast. When an alcoholic wants to give up his addiction he has to undergo two steps in treatment. The first one is detoxification and the second one is psychological counselling.

To understand alcoholism withdrawal we must know what changes happen in the body under the influence of alcohol. The nervous system becomes dependent on alcohol this is a little complex. The brain secretes dopamine and serotonin under the influence of alcohol which give the sense of well being and euphoria. During alcoholism withdrawal the brain craves for dopamine and serotonin for the feeling of well being, this can happen only in the presence of alcohol. Since the addict is undergoing detoxification he is not consuming any alcohol thus the brain goes into depression which is a very important sign of alcoholism withdrawal.

The signs of alcoholism withdrawal depend on the severity of addiction. Mild withdrawal symptoms include body aches, tremors, diarrhoea, insomnia and excessive sweating. This is seen in people who have been under mild addiction for a short span of time. They generally have been consuming less quantity of alcohol for some time. In such cases there is no need for medication and patient compliance is good.

When discussing alcohol withdrawal patient counselling has to be given utmost importance, the mental balance of the patient is usually disturbed and calls for professional help. The counsellor will prepare the addict mentally for the detoxification treatment and the alcoholism withdrawal symptoms he is going to suffer. This may sound simple but most patients have at some point in time suffered from withdrawal and know the seriousness of the matter.

Serious withdrawal symptoms are experienced by chronic alcoholics who have been under the influence of the substance for prolonged periods. These have to be monitored since they can be life threatening, they also require medication. Serious alcoholism withdrawal symptoms include high fever, high blood pressure, increased heart rate, hallucinations and delirium tremens. A person suffering from delirium tremens has uncontrolled shaking, panic attacks and severe hallucinations. DT or delirium tremens begins within three to four days of the last drink and lasts up to a week. During this episode the patient must be monitored along with medication like sedatives to avoid life threatening consequences due to high blood pressure and increased heart rate

After the detoxification the body gets rid of all the toxins accumulated in the body due to alcohol. This is followed by the rehabilitation process which teaches the addict the reasons behind his abuse. Once he understands the reasons he can help overcome them but for this he needs the help of support groups and family members. One such group is the Alcoholics Anonymous where they have a 12 step model which helps the addict understand why and how to avoid going back to alcohol. There are drugs like disulfiram which help along with counselling and peer support, the drug alone cannot work.

Articles on Alcoholism

Articles on alcoholism provide in depth in formation about the causes, symptoms and treatment to alcoholism. Alcoholism is defined as a s disease in medical terms. However it is slightly different from other diseases since it is controllable if the drinker is ready to quit the habit.

Articles on alcoholism provide certain information. They describe alcoholism as the consumption of alcohol beverages to the maximum extent that this behavior disturbs the alcoholic's normal family and work life. Chronic alcoholism will lead to physical and mental disorders. Therefore alcoholism is becoming a serious problem nowadays. Though alcohol use triggers alcoholism, it is not compulsory that all the drinkers will develop alcoholism disorder. The quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption required to develop alcoholism will vary from person to person.

There are numerous articles on alcoholism. You can view them in the wikipedia also. These articles help you to understand the warning signs of alcoholism. Understanding the signs is the first step towards treatment to alcoholism. Causes and treatments of alcoholism are discussed in various articles. We can see the summary of such articles below:

The cause of alcoholism is not yet definite. However, some researches show that genetic reasons may lead to alcoholism. An individual with a family history of alcoholism will have more chances of developing the disease. The risk will increase if he\she is a novelty seeking personality.

Treatment for alcoholism may vary from person to person. Since alcoholism involves multiple factors that trigger the drinker to drink continuously the treatment will also differ depending upon the factor. However group therapy and psychotherapy can provide better results in treating alcoholism. There are several medication therapies available to control alcoholism. Benzodiazepines, vitamin supplements etc will be useful in reducing the withdrawal symptoms. Medication for long term use will be different. Antabuse will help in reducing the symptoms of hangover. Acamprosate is yet another medicine which proves effective in reducing the adverse effects of alcoholism. This medicine is approved by Food and drug administration.

Symptoms of alcoholism are clearly shown in various articles on alcoholism. Early signs of alcoholism include heavy drinking and drinking in dangerous situation like car driving. The drinker will start drinking in secret and will hide alcohol in secret places. He\she will feel irritated when alcohol is not available. The drinker will feel annoying when the family members and friends pass comments on their drinking habit. He\she will tart getting legal, financial and work related problems. He\she will continue to drink though he\she knows that problems arise due to his\her drinking habit only. The tolerance of body to alcohol will increase and so the drinker will not feel content by consuming the regular amount. This will increase the health problems. The person will get problems in family relationship also. Since he is drinking heavily and frequently, his health condition will continue to worse.

Articles on alcoholism describe the disease in identical twins. Since the psychological factors and social environment for identical twins will be similar, they may have the chance of getting alcoholism provided if one or both their parents have alcohol addiction problem.

Alcoholism Test

Alcoholism test is a test which will determine whether or not you are addicted to alcohol.
An alcoholic is a person who abuses alcohol; alcohol creates a sense of euphoria on consumption making a person want more of it. The problem is that the amount of alcohol needed to bring about the desired effect goes on increasing with regular abuse, thus increasing the amount consumed by the addict.

The Alcoholism test surely answers some of the questions an addict faces, like whether he or she falls in the safe social drinkers category or has become a compulsive addict. The MAST or the Michigan alcoholism screening test is a questionnaire designed to act as a screening test for all alcohol related problems. This Alcoholism test has 22 questions which have to be answered by the person taking the test. Once you fill these primary questions then you get the verdict, telling you whether you are an alcoholic or not.

The Alcoholism test asks questions like how much alcohol you consume, whether your family thinks you are an alcoholic and do you have memory lapses when you drink. It goes on to ask you if you have ever been convicted for crime in your drunken state or admitted to the psychiatric ward due to your drinking. The Alcoholism test or MAST asks you many more questions, if answered correctly the results will help in self assessment.

The questions about memory lapse and violence if answered with a yes make the addict dangerous for himself as well as for society. Most cases of domestic violence happen under the influence of alcohol. An addict can commit gruesome crimes under the influence of alcohol. Taking the MAST will not just tell us if the person is an addict but will also give us an idea of the extent of his or her addiction.

It is difficult for the addict to judge himself; this is where the MAST makes it easy for him. Most people are embarrassed to give the right answers; it is thus advisable to leave the person taking the test alone while he takes the test. Pre-counselling is very important to make the alcoholic realise the importance of giving truthful answers.

Since the test can be taken online there are chances of false or incorrect answers, in that case the only person you are fooling is yourself. The first step to be taken when you want to get cured of this disease called alcoholism is self acknowledgement. The MAST will only help you in confirming your doubts; the next step is getting professional help.

Alcoholism is a chronic disease which has affected the entire civilization; this disease destroys both the mind and the body. We all have to help those around us who have been affected by this deadly poison to come out of this addiction for a better society. The simplest way is to go online, and put MAST as a keyword in any of the search engines. Make your near and dear ones who you suspect have crossed the line between social and compulsive drinking take the test.