How Long Do Heavy Drinkers Live?

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Heavy drinking significantly impacts life expectancy, often leading to a shorter life expectancy compared to the general population. The effects of excessive alcohol consumption contribute to a wide range of life-threatening health conditions, including liver disease, cardiovascular disease, and types of cancer.

Key Factors Impacting Life Expectancy

1. Liver Disease and Cirrhosis: Chronic alcohol use can cause fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, and eventually cirrhosis or liver failure, which are major contributors to mortality rates among heavy drinkers.

2. Cardiovascular Risks: Heavy drinkers face a higher risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attacks, and even heart failure, further reducing life expectancy.

3. Weakened Immune System: The impact of alcohol weakens the immune system, making the body more susceptible to infections and other health consequences.

4. Mental Health Disorders and Accidents: Many heavy drinkers also struggle with alcohol use disorder (AUD) or mental health disorders, increasing the likelihood of accidents, injuries, and suicide.

Average Life Expectancy for Heavy Drinkers

Studies suggest that the life expectancy of alcoholics can be reduced by 10-15 years compared to the average life expectancy of moderate drinkers or non-drinkers. This reduced life expectancy is directly linked to the health effects of alcohol dependence and related medical conditions.

Improving Outcomes

Seeking help through treatment programs and addiction treatment centers can significantly improve health outcomes. Early intervention, medical care for conditions like withdrawal symptoms, and a commitment to sobriety can help reverse some health effects of alcohol dependence, enhancing overall well-being and physical health.

For heavy drinkers, addressing alcohol addiction through treatment centers and prioritizing healthcare is critical to reducing the risk of life-threatening conditions and improving life expectancy.

How Alcohol Consumption Can Impact Your Quality of Life

Consuming any amount of alcohol may have a negative impact on your lifespan. This is because alcohol is considered a carcinogen based on the byproducts created as its processed through your body. In addition to an elevated cancer risk, you’re also at an increased risk of getting into a car accident or taking other actions that could impact your health. Of course, the more you drink, the more likely you are to shorten your lifespan no matter how conservative you might otherwise be.

Alcohol Isn’t Healthy

On a basic level, drinking alcohol can shorten your life because it means that you’re consuming empty calories on a regular basis. Even a light beer can be 200 calories or more per serving, which is approximately 12 ounces. If you’re consuming three, six or nine beers a day, you consume the equivalent to nearly your entire recommended caloric intake.

Ultimately, you can experience significant weight gain and other issues related to obesity such as diabetes or sleep apnea. These health problems can both reduce the number of years that you’ll live as well as reduce the quality of your life.

Other Secondary Health Issues Caused by Excessive Drinking

Drinking heavily can cause damage to organs such as your liver or kidneys. Liver damage may make it difficult or impossible to filter out other toxins in your body that may be produced by sources other than alcohol. In fact, it could render most common pain relief options obsolete as your liver is responsible for breaking down the ingredients in aspirin or similar alternatives. Essentially, you won’t get any relief because your liver won’t be able to process the ingredients responsible for providing it.

Alcoholism can lead to neuropathy, which means that you lose feeling in your hands, feet or other body parts. This means that you could step on a piece of glass or cut your hand with a sharp object and not even know it. A lack of timely medical care could result in bleeding out or allowing a foreign object to remain in your body. The foreign object could be the source of an infection that could cause serious pain, the need to remove body parts or even death.

How Alcoholism Impacts Your Mental Health

Alcohol is considered to be a depressant, which means that you have the potential to feel anxious or depressed while or after using it. Over a period of several weeks, months or years, excess alcohol consumption can lead to full-blown anxiety or depression. This may result in an increased risk of self-harm or even attempting to take your own life.

However, mental health issues can impact your life in a number of ways that could shorten your lifespan even if you don’t consider suicide. For instance, you might be more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior or take other actions that unnecessarily put yourself in danger such as driving recklessly or gambling. Gambling can be dangerous as owing money to the wrong people can put you or your family in peril until the debt is repaid.

In many cases, alcoholism is an attempt to self-medicate issues that already exist. Of course, drinking can cause mental health issues in those who were previously healthy, and drinking to excess may also cause changes to the brain that can increase your risk of dementia.

What You Can Do to Manage Your Condition

Fortunately, there are steps that you can take to manage the physical and mental health issues related to alcoholism. First, your doctor should be able to recommend medication or other products that you can use to manage nerve pain or other symptoms caused by your alcohol consumption.

A therapist may also be able to help determine what the root causes of your drinking are. In some cases, it may actually be the physical pain caused by nerve damage or other issues associated with alcohol abuse. It’s also possible that you started drinking because of pain associated with years of physically demanding work or because you were hurt in a car crash.

Whatever the reason may be, understanding your triggers is one of the first steps toward no longer needing to drink. Reducing or eliminating your alcohol consumption can then make it easier to manage the damage already done to your body.

Physical and mental health providers are available through most inpatient programs, and you should also be able to find the names of service providers connected to outpatient programs as well. Typically, inpatient programs are best for those who are trying to detox for the first time or who have recently relapsed and need more help to regain their sobriety. They often last for 30 days and can be extended for as long as necessary.

Outpatient programs typically consist of meetings as well as doctor appointments to receive medication. These types of programs are designed for people who simply need structure to maintain their sobriety that doesn’t involve someone looking over their shoulder on a 24/7 basis.

Conclusion

How long do heavy drinkers live is probably something that you’ve asked yourself if you’re an addict or the loved one of an addict. Although drinking does have the potential to cut your life short, the exact impact depends on your own circumstances. Ideally, you will seek treatment from the professionals at Live Free Recovery Services. Feel free to get in touch with us today to learn more about our services and how you can get started in one of our programs today.