7. Permanent Damage
Drinking is a lot like smoking in the sense that you are likely to get away with it for many years before it begins to impact you in a significant way. Health problems that result from heavy drinking have a nasty way of sneaking up on people and many of them are surprised when they are diagnosed with a serious condition like cirrhosis. While we live in a time where cutting-edge medical techniques can give people a new heart, kidney or liver, those treatments often aren’t available when needed, leaving people praying for a miracle as their only hope for survival.