Alcoholism as a diseaseUnfortunately, alcohol carries a risk of many diseases. “Recent evidence indicates that a wide variety of diseases are caused by a substance that coats the body's red blood cells, causing them to stick together in clumps. These clumps, sometimes called "sludge," can be created by the ingestion of alcohol" (Burgess, p.130). Alcohol has disastrous effects on all organs of the body, the main one being the brain. "At the dead, the brain of the addicted drinker or alcoholic will invariably reveal an enormous number of small areas of atrophy in which the brain cells have been destroyed" (Burgess, p. 131). The brain begins to shrink under the influence of alcohol. This means that the space occupied by a brain cell is now gone because the cell has been destroyed. "In extreme cases, most of what is left [of the brain] may be just connective tissue. and structural. The neurons themselves, the cells that do the work of the brain, have been destroyed" (Burgess, p. 132). If drinkers, whether occasional or heavy, knew more about alcohol and the effects of this drug on the brain, the number of drinkers would probably drop to a very low number Unfortunately, this type of material is not accessible to many people, unless people suddenly become interested in the effects of alcohol on the body. There is another type of disease that people don't know about called DT This disease is body seizures. This disease is often confused with epilepsy, but it is caused by alcohol. people who try to stop drinking. The body is suddenly stripped of its sedative and experiences withdrawals. Withdrawals are seizures that also kill brain cells. Why increase death when a person can try to prevent it? : Burgess, Louise Bailey “Alcohol and your health” 1973. Denzin, Norman K. The Recovering Alcoholic New York: Sage Publications, 1987. Works consulted: Berger, Gilda. Alcoholism and the family. New York: Franking Watts, 1993. Graeber, Laurel. Are you dying of alcohol? : Adolescents and alcohol abuse. New York: Julian Messner, 1992. Kowalski, Kathiann. Current Health, February 2, 1998: 6-7. Ridder Journal from December 23, 1997. CD-ROM.