Have you ever heard of alcohol addiction? The fact of the matter is that alcohol is actually a type of drug and just like any other drug, it has addictive properties when taken regularly and especially at exceedingly large amounts.
In fact, as a drug, alcohol directly affects the central nervous system and has been medically-proven to increase tension in the veins and arteries. Taken in moderate amounts, however, alcohol has actually been known to provide some actual therapeutic effects for people suffering from cardiovascular ailments and conditions.
In any case, it is quite easy to fall into alcohol dependence after only a few weeks or even days of exposure to extremely large amounts of alcohol. To add to this, alcohol addiction might actually be the least of your worries if you regularly ingest large amounts of alcohol.
Alcohol is a very dangerous substance when taken excessively within a large amount of time. This is because of the danger of alcohol poisoning or acute alcohol intoxication, a short-term effect of alcohol that can prove to be quite lethal.
In fact, it is recommended that all levels of users should be well-aware of the symptoms of alcohol poisoning. Timely action during the onset of alcohol poisoning could help to save a life.
Alcoholism is actually a complex cycle that can take up to ten years to fully develop. The problem with alcoholism is that without outside professional medical help in an alcohol detoxification program, there is very little chance that the individual will be able to fight off the addiction on his own.
This is not a mere question of willpower but the fact that alcohol directly affects the way the individual thinks as well as having definite physical effects on the body in case of deprivation if the body has become physically dependent on alcohol. The condition known as alcohol withdrawal syndrome is a direct result of the sudden stoppage of alcohol intake.