'My Mom's An Alcoholic'

Q: Would you be able to send me info on what alchoholism does to the female body. my mom's an alchoholic.

A: Alcohol affects every organ in the body. It is a central nervous system depressant. Alcohol is metabolized in the liver by enzymes, however, the liver can only metabolize a small amount of alcohol at a time, leaving the excess alcohol to circulate throughout the body. I see patients in the hospital everyday who have alcohol related issues. The most common severe illnesses related to alcohol that I see are end stage liver disease, alcholic cardiomyopathy (heart failure from changes in the heart due to too much alcohol consumption), pancreatitis, stomache bleeds in which people can bleed to death, and injuries related to car accidents while drinking. Excessive drinking both in the form of heavy drinking or binge drinking, is associated with numerous health problems, including but not limited to:
1. Chronic diseases such as liver cirrhosis (damage to liver cells)and an increased risk of liver cancer especially if a person has hepatitis C
When a person's liver is not working properly (as what can happen in liver cirrhosis after years of heavy drinking) they can appear yellow, confused, have belly infections, stomache and esophagus bleeds so they vomit up blood and then have trouble stopping the bleeding because they're clotting factors are not working.
2. pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
3. various cancers, including liver, mouth, throat, larynx (the voice box), and esophagus, high blood pressure, and psychological disorders.
4. Unintentional injuries such as motor-vehicle traffic crashes, falls, drowning, burns and firearm injuries.
5. Violence such as child maltreatment, homicide and suicide increase.
6. Remember about fetal alcohol syndrome- alcohol while pregnant can cause harm to a developing fetus.
7. Alcohol abuse or dependence.
8. Seizures related to alcohol withdrawal. These can be life threatening.
This is a summary but the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has an excellent web site to get more information. Best of luck. I hope you can convey the message how serious alcoholism really is.
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/handout.htm