Alcoholics - the nice people gone wrong

There are two alcoholics on the ward right now.
Naturally I don't hold this against them, however witnessing the state into which they have fallen can only make me wonder why people ever drink in the first place.

Now, I'm all up for a boozey night out, don't get me wrong. I think a few people would agree with me there! Alcohol is a wonderful thing... in moderation.
But to binge drink, to become an addict - a slave - to alcohol, well, that's where many people go wrong.
I think the most obvious issue is the eventual health defects you're gonna find yourself dealing with.
There's the rather serious point about liver damage and failure that comes with pumping your body to the brim with core-rotting toxins.
The constant craving for a cool, frothy, death-inducing pint to be gulped down your gullet. And one won't do - oh no - that one pint will only be followed by a million other types of drink. This will all concoct inside your stomach (which by the way is becoming gradually weaker with the constant wear and tear of alcohol abuse) creating a lovely cocktail of toxins for your body to deal with. Yum. Only problem is, your liver is getting a bit fed up with it all, and is finding it harder to remove all of this gruesome pile up.
In the end, your liver's gonna give up the fight, you'll have killer poisons floating round your body, your other organs will be affected, and you will die.
I'm sorry, but that's not the way I'd want to go.

Plus, alcohol rots the brain. It can often lead to drunken drug taking. Oh great, that's another addiction you're never going to kick. And another substance your body is gonna have to put up with for a while.

This, basically, is what is happening to these two patients.
One can barely speak; he can only mumble. The whites of his eyes are tainted yellow, and are bloodshot. He's so weak and scrawny, he can hardly stand. Hydrating him is like trying to turn the Sahara Desert into a swimming pool; it's difficult. He's in his sixties.
Our other patient is obese. He's Hepatitis C positive, with a history of drug taking. He's desperate to kick both habits, saying that he fell into the wrong crowd, but wants to better himself. He's in his fifties.
I must also mention - these guys are two of the nicest people on the ward.

I was told that most alcoholics are nice, and fairly pleasant to treat. My skeptical side wonders if they're just being nice because they know they'll get a decent bed and someone who has to care about them for a while. My caring, more people-loving side believes it.

It sort of saddens me in a way. I think of some of the people I know, and wonder just what damage they're doing to themselves, and how they're going to end up in 10 years time.
I'll probably be picking them up in my ambulance by then.