2021 Is the Year to Quit Drinking

Woman with her head in her hands in front of lots of alcohol bottles

High alcohol intake significantly raises your risk of developing a wide range of health conditions including oral cancers, breast cancer, liver cirrhosis, strokes and heart disease in the long term. One way to reduce alcohol consumption if it has got the point where help is needed is to have alcohol addiction therapy. According to research, the excessive consumption of alcohol can impact your mental health, damage memory function and cause fertility problems. While the effects of alcohol on the liver are well known, do you know how it affects other organs?

Several studies have found that consuming alcohol in moderate levels can help prevent heart disease by increasing the levels of good cholesterol and preventing blood clots in the arteries.

Toxic

On the other hand, taking more than three drinks per day can have a direct and damaging effect on the heart. Drinking more than the recommended amounts, especially over time, can cause alcoholic cardiomyopathy, high blood pressure, stroke and congestive heart failure. High alcohol intake also increases the levels of fat circulating in the body.

Cancer Research UK says that there is a well-established link between alcohol and cancer. According to a recent study published in the BMJ, the consumption of alcohol accounts for at least 13,000 cancer cases in the UK each year. Of these cases, 9,000 are reported in men while 4,000 are reported in women.

It is reported that for every additional 10g of alcohol you consume per day, you increase your risk of breast cancer by about 7–12%.

According to previous studies, increasing your consumption of alcohol by 100g per week raises your risk of bowel cancer by 19% .

A report recently published in BioMed’s Central’s Immunology journal revealed that alcohol weakens the body’s immunity.

Research done on the effects of alcohol on fertility found that heavy drinking among men tends to lower the quality and quantity of sperms, while among women even light drinking can reduce their chances of conceiving.

The reason why alcohol has so many negative effects on our health is believed to be because of acetaldehyde. This is the product that alcohol is broken down into by the body. It is a toxic substance that has been found to damage DNA.

Dr KJ Patel, from Cambridge’s Medical Research Council’s Laboratory of Molecular Biology, recently concluded a study into alcohol’s toxic effects on mice.

The findings from the study suggest that one binge-drinking episode is enough to permanently damage a baby’s genome.

He states that fetal alcohol syndrome can potentially give rise to seriously damaged children with facial and head abnormalities and mental disabilities.

January Is When People Often Make New Year’s Resolutions to Quit Drinking

Even though their drinking behavior has always been an issue throughout the year, people often wait until January. Once they begin drinking again, it spirals from just one or two drinks during the weekends to a drink each day, bringing back chaos into their lives. Their productivity at work is impacted, and their families suffer the consequences of their drinking.

In case you have someone who has a drinking problem, simply making resolutions won’t make the problem go away.

Your loved one may be in need of professional help. My name is Peter Davies, and I am a Certified Addictions Therapist. I run a company known as Addiction Care based in Guildford. My specialty is assisting individuals to deal with their addiction. I make it my job to help them to get through the chaos and guide them through their long journey to sobriety. Personally, I’ve been sober for 19 years, and I fully understand what it is like to deal with a drinking problem. I can help you stop drinking and move forward with your life. I deal directly with my clients, one-on-one, ensuring total confidentiality.

I assist with all kinds of addictions, besides alcoholism, including, drugs, sex, gambling, co-dependency, internet, gaming, pornography, food, spending, relationships and internet.