Quote:It's a sign that their liver is being constantly exposed to alcohol and is working overtime to cope. And it may mean they've gone beyond being a social drinker.
Which is usually called 'alcoholic'.
And 'alcoholism' is an illness, which must be treated.
[The conception of inveterate drunkenness as a disease appears to be rooted in antiquity. The Roman philosopher Seneca classified it as a form of insanity. The term alcoholism, however, appeared first in the classical essay "Alcoholismus Chronicus" (1849) by the Swedish physician Magnus Huss. The phrase chronic alcoholism rapidly became a medical term for the condition of habitual inebriety conceived as a disease; and the bearer of the disease was called an alcoholic or alcoholist (e.g., Italian alcoolisto, French alcoolique, German Alkoholiker, Spanish alcohólico, Swedish alkoholist).]