Alcohol Treatment Center

Alcohol Abuse Treatment Center Oceanside, California

Alcohol addiction or alcoholism is a serious medical disease that requires professional treatment to overcome. The disease can be devastating to both the addict and family members. Alcoholism takes a serious physical toll on the body and causes changes in brain chemistry that makes it impossible for the alcoholic to control the urge to take the next drink. There are a number of risk factors associated with alcohol addiction, but the disease has been shown to strike people of all ages and from all socioeconomic levels.

Short-Term Effects of Alcohol

Alcohol can travel from the stomach to the brain within minutes, where it can have a number of effects on the body. These short-term effects include:

• Impaired brain function

• Balance and coordination problems

• Slurred speech

• Delayed reaction times

• Nausea and vomiting

• Loss of consciousness

Long-Term Effects of Alcohol

When too much alcohol is consumed over an extended period of time the toll on the body can be severe. Some of the long-term ways alcohol can affect the body include:

• Changes to mood and behavior

• Heart damage, including heart arrhythmias and stretching of the heart muscle

• Increased risk of heart attack and stroke

• Liver damage, including cirrhosis, hepatitis and a fatty liver

• Inflammation of the pancreas

• Increased risk of some types of cancer, including breast, throat and liver cancers

Continuous heavy drinking can also lead to an alcohol addiction, characterized by a need to drink more to get the same effect (tolerance). Alcoholics may also suffer withdrawal symptoms when they stop drinking alcohol, making it very difficult to quit drinking without professional help.

Addiction Signs

There are a number of signs that could indication you have an alcohol addiction:

• Regularly drinking more than you intend to drink

• Continued drinking even if it is causing personal or professional problems

• Inability to cut down or quit drinking, even if you want to

• Needing more alcohol to get the same effect from your drinking

• Experienced withdrawal symptoms when effects of alcohol wore off

• Significant time spent obtaining alcohol, drinking and recovery from effects of alcohol

• Withdrawal from family or friends to spend more time drinking

• Gotten into legal or financial trouble as a result of alcohol use

Treatment Center for Alcohol Addiction

The good news is that our treatment for alcohol addiction can help you successfully overcome your disease and discover a new life of sobriety. At West Coast Recovery Centers’ alcohol treatment center in California, we offer an integrated approach to addiction treatment that puts you on the road to a healthier, sober life. To learn more about our treatment programs, contact West Coast Recovery Centers at 1-855-927-2687.