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Alcohol affects every body system, so it can cause health problems throughout the body. Around 88,000 people in the U.S die from alcohol-related causes every year. When the amount of alcohol in the blood exceeds a certain level, this can lead to alcohol toxicity, or poisoning. No amount of alcohol consumption can be considered safe during pregnancy. Alcohol is known to be harmful to developing brains, from before birth to adolescence.
Although there is no single risk factor that is dominant, the more vulnerabilities a person has, the more likely the person is to develop alcohol-related problems as a result of alcohol consumption. Poorer individuals experience greater health and social harms from alcohol consumption than more affluent individuals. Drinking too much alcohol puts you at risk of several neurological issues, for multiple reasons.
Folate deficiency, as can occur with heavy alcohol use, can cause changes in genes that may lead to cancer. Alcohol also increases estrogen levels, which fuel the growth of certain breast cancer cells. An adequate intake of folate, at least 400 micrograms a day, when taking at least 1 drink of alcohol daily appears to lessen this increased risk. These powerful chemicals manage everything from your sex drive to how fast you digest food. To keep it all going smoothly, you need them in the right balance.
Alcohol interacts in potentially dangerous ways with a variety of medications, including acetaminophen, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, painkillers, and sedatives. It is also addictive, especially for people with a family history of alcoholism. Alcohol is metabolized by the liver, where an enzyme known as alcohol dehydrogenase breaks it down. Because of the burden of processing on this organ, consuming alcohol in excess can result in many liver problems.
Why Shouldn’t I Drink?
For example, some studies suggest that moderate alcohol drinking can affect fertility for some women. Research also shows that heavy drinking by men may lower testosterone levels and affect the making of sperm. The report included 135 studies and was reviewed by health care professionals, researchers, experts, and the public. Teen drinkers are more likely to get fat or have health problems, too.
But your liver may not be able to keep up if you drink too much too fast. Alcohol can kill liver cells, and lead to scarring called cirrhosis. Long-term heavy use of alcohol also may give you alcoholic fatty liver disease, a sign that your liver doesn’t work as well as it should.
Your bones get thinner and more fragile, a condition called osteoporosis. Alcohol also limits blood flow to your muscles and gets in the way of the proteins that build them up. Daily drinking can have serious consequences for a person’s health, both in the short- and long-term. Many of the effects of drinking every day can be reversed through early intervention. If you or a loved one live with alcoholism or are struggling to quit using alcohol, consider seeking professional help. Excessive, long-term drinking is linked to chronic inflammation throughout the body.
Alcohol
Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Always read the label and package insert of any medication you are taking, whether it has been prescribed by your doctor or purchased over-the-counter. If you are not sure if it is safe to drink alcohol while you are taking medication, call a local pharmacy or talk to your doctor about the potential interactions. If you take a blood thinner, even an occasional drink can increase your risk of internal bleeding.
If the person stops drinking, they will experience withdrawal symptoms. Over time, heavy drinking makes the organ fatty and lets thicker, fibrous tissue build up. That limits blood flow, so liver cells don’t get what they need to survive.
And that’ll have big effects on your ability to think, learn, and remember things. It can also make it harder to keep a steady body temperature and control your movements. Heavy drinking means eight or more drinks a week for women and 15 or more for men. While cirrhosis scars from excessive drinking are irreversible, quitting alcohol and leading a healthier lifestyle can help your liver heal from alcohol-related liver disease. There are long-term effects of alcohol use, including damage to the brain, endocrine system, immune system, and musculoskeletal system. Prolonged and excessive alcohol use can interfere with how the brain functions, as well as how it’s structured.
- Intoxication impairs judgment and can result in inappropriate and illegal behaviors such as sexual promiscuity, disorderly conduct, driving while intoxicated and acts of violence.
- As it relates to alcohol, this addiction is known as alcohol use disorder, “which includes a level that’s sometimes called alcoholism,” explains the Mayo Clinic.
- In some cases, mixing alcohol with medications can lead to an overdose or alcohol poisoning—both of which are potentially life-threatening medical emergencies.
- The Mayo Clinic notes that excessive drinking may lead to heart muscle damage leading to heart failure.
Unfortunately they only offer services in Swedish and Finnish. On this page you will find more information and useful links regarding mental health. Even if you feel like you’ve sobered up, you may still have alcohol in your system that can affect your reaction time. Certain factors may increase your chances of experiencing alcohol use disorder. With these conditions, you’ll only notice symptoms during alcohol intoxication or withdrawal. These symptoms typically improve quickly when alcohol use stops.
While there are many potential scenarios that could cause injury or bodily harm while drinking excessively, falling, risky sexual behaviors, violence, and car accidents are the most common. Alcohol can have a serious effect on the developing brain, from fetal development to the end of adolescence. If a woman consumes alcohol during pregnancy, the child may be born with fetal alcohol syndrome . In 2015, this was believed to affect between 2 and 7 newborns in every 1,000. If blood alcohol concentration is higher than 0.4, there is a 50 percent chance of death.
Side Effects Of Alcohol Abuse
A thiamin deficiency can result in other brain changes, such as irreversible dementia, if not promptly treated. Alcohol interferes with the release of glucose from your liver and can increase the risk of low blood sugar . This is dangerous if you have diabetes and are already taking insulin or some other diabetes medications to lower your blood sugar level.
In pregnant women, alcohol exposure can impact the brains of unborn babies, resulting in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. There is also some evidence that genes influence how alcohol affects the cardiovascular system. An enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase helps metabolize alcohol. One variant of this enzyme, called alcohol dehydrogenase type 1C , comes in two “flavors.” One quickly breaks down alcohol, the other does it more slowly.
If your pancreas and liver don’t function properly due to pancreatitis or liver disease, you could experience low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. Alcohol-related liver disease is a potentially life threatening condition that leads to toxins and waste buildup in your body. Many people assume the occasional beer or glass of wine at mealtimes or special occasions doesn’t pose much cause for concern.
During the course of treatment program, patients learn about how to handle triggers, prevent urges to drink and other tools to help maintain sobriety. Get professional help from an addiction and mental health counselor from BetterHelp by phone, video, or live-chat. FASDs can cause a child to be born with physical and developmental problems that last a lifetime. Heavy drinking can cause men to have difficulty maintaining an erection . Heavy drinking can result in inflammation of the stomach lining , as well as stomach and esophageal ulcers.
You can also have periods why are addiction relapse rates so high in early recovery “blackouts,” where you don’t remember events. Very high blood alcohol levels can lead to coma, permanent brain damage or even death. So if alcohol is a natural product, why do teens need to be concerned about drinking it? When people drink alcohol, it’s absorbed into their bloodstream. From there, it affects the central nervous system , which controls virtually all body functions. Because experts now know that the human brain is still developing during our teens, scientists are researching the effects drinking alcohol can have on the teen brain.
And because your liver was so busy processing your drinks, it didn’t release enough sugar into your blood, bringing on weakness and the shakes. Your brain helps your body stay well-hydrated by producing a hormone that keeps your kidneys from making too much urine. But when alcohol swings into action, it tells your brain to hold off on making that hormone.
This deficiency causes neurological conditions known as Wernicke’s encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s psychosis. Together, they’re referred to as Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. This syndrome causes a severe state of mental confusion and muscle incoordination, as well as trouble learning and remembering new information. For example, some people have a genetic condition in which they suffer from acute alcohol sensitivity, often getting a stuffy nose and flushed skin soon after drinking. Thisrare genetic conditionis most likely to affect those of Asian descent. Alcohol abuse can quickly derail someone’s goals and dreams for the future.
Unhealthy alcohol use includes any alcohol use that puts your health or safety at risk or causes other alcohol-related problems. It also includes binge drinking — a pattern of drinking where a male has five or more drinks within two hours or a female has at least four drinks within two hours. If you have a medical condition that puts you at risk for developing a blood clot, your doctor might prescribe anticoagulant medications to “thin” your blood. While these drugs make it less likely your body will form blood clots, they also make you bleed more easily. Medicines are usually used with talk therapy and support groups to treat alcohol use disorder.