Malnutrition:
All alcoholics suffer from malnutrition to some degree.
A number of factors work together to make this condition
almost synonymous with alcoholism. Large amounts of alcohol
interfere with digestion and passage of nutrients from
the intestines into the bloodstream. The alcoholic’s
liver has a decreased ability to convert and release nutrients
and make them available throughout the body. Without adequate
nutrients, the cells, already weakened by long exposure
to alcohol’s toxic effects, are not able to create
bone, tissue, blood, or energy. The sick and injured cells
thus do not have the resources to repair themselves, and
damage continues unchecked.
Even the alcoholic’s earliest psychological and social problems stem from or are aggravated by nutritional deficiencies. For example, a thiamine deficiency (extremely common in alcoholics) can cause loss of mental alertness, easy fatigue, loss of appetite, irritability, and emotional instability. If the deficiency is allowed to continue, more severe mental confusion and loss of memory may develop.
In the later stages of alcoholism, the alcoholic is often so sick that he cannot eat, thus aggravating the already serious nutritional deficiencies. Massive vitamin or mineral deficiencies caused by long and heavy drinking may result in several unusual diseases of the central nervous system, including polyneuropathy (tingling sensations), Wernicke’s encephalopathy (headaches, tingling, double vision), Korsakoff’s psychosis (hallucinations), and amblyopia (blurred vision).
Secondary Diseases have been scientifically linked with late-stage alcoholism.
Heart:
Heart Failure is characterized by symptoms of cardiomyopathy
(disease of the heart muscle), cardiac arrhythmia (abnormal
variations of heart beat), and hypertension (high blood
pressure).
Liver:
Fatty Liver is characterized by enlarged, inflamed fatty
deposits. Symptoms include nausea, jaundice, and loss
of appetite.
Hepatitis, or alcoholic hepatitis, is characterized
by a liver which becomes inflamed, swollen, and extremely
tender.
Cirrhosis is characterized by a liver which is virtually
plugged with scar tissue, and which can no longer remove
poisons and toxins from the body’s blood supply.
Gastrointestinal Disorders:
Gastritis is an inflammation of the stomach lining severe
enough to cause bleeding, bloating, indigestion, nausea,
and headache.
Ulcers form in response to increased secretions of hydrochloric
acid in late-stage alcoholics.
Respiratory Tract Diseases:
In general, alcoholism causes damage to the lungs by interfering
with the body’s normal defense mechanisms and thereby
making the alcoholic susceptible to respiratory infection
and injury. This interference with normal functioning
can lead to:
- Tuberculosis
- Chronic Bronchitis
- Emphysema
- Lung Abscess
- Pneumonia
In addition, alcoholics appear to have an increased risk of head and neck, esophageal, lung, and liver cancers. In each of these cancers, alcohol probably acts in a different way, sometimes directly affecting the cells, other times indirectly increasing the cells’ susceptibility to cancer. Late-stage alcoholics also exhibit a higher risk for pancreatitis, an inflamed gland condition characterized by severe pain in the upper abdomen, nausea, vomiting, and constipation.
Death
If the alcoholic continues to drink, alcohol will kill
him one way or another. Estimates vary, but according
to one source, one-third of alcoholic deaths are from
suicides or accidents such as drownings, fires from passing
out with a lighted cigarette, head injuries from falling,
accidental poisoning, or car crashes. Those who survive
these hazards are destroyed by direct and massive damage
to body organs and systems.
Causes of Death in a Group of Alcoholics include: cardiovascular
disease (30%), cirrhosis (24%), upper gastrointestinal
& lung cancer (15%), alcoholism (14%), pneumonia (7%),
and other causes (14%).—from W. Schmidt and R.E.
Popham, unpublished data, "Deaths in 1823 Male Alcoholics,
Corrected for the Expected Mortality in Each Subgroup"
(1978).
