Letter: Alcoholics need intervention

They even make fun of the alcoholic as a comic character on television sitcoms or a pathetic character in a cartoon or short story. However, the real story is told in the in the destruction of the alcoholic, his relationship with others, primarily his or her family and friends. The behavior of an alcoholic can be directly traced to the damage alcohol does to the brain through both a direct attack on the central nervous system and the results of malnutrition.

Scientists long ago identified the Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome, two disorders that may occur independently or together. In one, the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous systems are damaged. In the other, impairment of memory and cognitive skills occur. Whatever the result, it has been found that the damage is permanent and progressively gets worse, leading to conditions not dissimilar from Alzheimer's disease.

For those of us who care, it is essential that early intervention occur. True friends do not let their friends pursue this inevitable road to early and permanent destruction.

RAYMOND HARBERT

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