Alcoholism symptoms begin to appear in an alcoholic after consumption of alcohol over prolonged periods. To decide whether or not you are a chronic alcoholic you can ask yourself a few questions, like do you get offended when asked about your drinking, do you feel guilty about your drinking, have you tried to cut down on your drinking or do you need a drink first thing in the morning. If the answer to any or all of these is yes you need help as these are the signs of an alcoholic. Alcoholism symptoms can be divided into sub categories depending on the site of action or different symptoms. When we think of the sites that this poison works on, we realise that there isn't a single system or organ which is left unaffected. Let us begin at the very beginning, so we take the brain and the nervous system. The nervous system is affected in various ways, the commonest symptom of the nervous system affection is thiamine or b complex deficiency. Alcohol depletes the body of thiamine which is essential for the normal functioning of the nervous system, this leads to tingling and numbness in the extremities. Later these increase to psychosis, dementia and even stroke; blackouts are very common in alcoholics. Though the physical signs and symptoms are not given much importance the puffiness around the eyes or swelling on the face are all indicators of heavy drinking leading to water retention. The next in line is the heart which gets severely damaged due to alcoholism. Alcoholism symptoms like palpitations and throbbing are commonly reported, the reason being increased blood pressure. With raised blood pressure the heart starts getting larger; the cardiac muscles weaken and can lead to cardiac failure or angina. The stomach is said to be the centre of the body, when this central organ gets affected most of the other body functions go hay wire. The mucosa of the stomach that is the lining gets eroded due to the alcohol causing inflammation or gastritis ending in gastric ulcers. Alcoholism symptoms get serious when the liver gets involved; it gets inflamed and enlarges with fatty tissue and scar tissue. All the metabolic functions of the liver get affected and deranged, from bile production to clotting factor manufacture. This gives many symptoms from pain in abdomen, yellowish discoloration of skin and eyes, nausea, loss of appetite and diarrhoea. The end stage liver disease will give additional symptoms of cirrhosis like enlarged portal veins, capillary formations on the skin and abnormal or delayed blood clotting. The blood chemistry is also altered with reduction in the production of white blood cells the immune mechanism of the body is down, this makes the addict susceptible to most infections. The worst symptom is the mental psychosis, altered nature and extreme tendency towards violence. All these symptoms make alcoholism a collective packet of many different illnesses, which are brought on oneself by the conscious consumption of alcohol. The fact of the matter is that we can be saved from most of these illnesses if we just say no to alcohol.