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How
it Affects You: Your Body
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| Long-term
Effects |
 Moderate and occasional
use of alcohol in a healthy person is unlikely to cause health problems.
The possible benefits of alcohol consumption have also been studied.
One or two drinks a day has been shown to have a protective effect
against heart disease, at least in men over the age of 40 years and
postmenopausal women. Because heavy drinking is harmful to health
and can lead to violence and accidents, encouraging alcohol consumption
seems a poor preventive health measure. Safer alternatives include
eating sensibly, exercising regularly, and quitting smoking.The harmful
physical and psychological effects of long-term excessive use are
many and can be fatal. (Women are more susceptible to these effects
than are men.) They can result from the direct toxic effects of alcohol
or be secondary to the lack of nutrition, use of other drugs, and
other lifestyle factors.
The effects of long-term alcohol use on the various organs and tissues
of the body depend on the amount consumed and the number of years
excess drinking has occurred. Diet and health care also have an effect.
People vary greatly in how much alcohol they can tolerate before physical
damage occurs.
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Appearance
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Alcohol is a carbohydrate with
non-nutritional calories that quickly add up. It has so little
in the way of nutrition and vitamins that it could never replace
food in the human diet. When you abuse alcohol you tend to be
undernourished - making your hair dry, giving you cracked lips,
aggravating acne, making your eyes look glassy, and giving your
skin a puffy, broken vein look. According to researchers, more
than one or two drinks a week promotes aging. |
Nervous system |
Research findings show youth who drink can
have a significant reduction in learning and memory. The brain
goes through dynamic change during adolescence, and alcohol
can seriously damage long- and short-term growth processes.
Frontal lobe development and the refinement of pathways and
connections continue until age 16, and a high rate of energy
is used as the brain matures until age 20. Damage from alcohol
at this time can be long-term and irreversible. In addition,
short-term or moderate drinking impairs
learning and memory far more in youth than adults. Adolescents
need only drink half as much to suffer the same negative effects.
Alcohol abuse can also seriously disrupt sleep and cause movement
disorders, damage to peripheral nerves, and an increased risk
of serious complications following head injury. |
Gastrointestinal
tract & Digestive system
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Serious disease of the liver and pancreas,
and damage to the stomach and intestines can result from excessive
use of alcohol.
Chronic alcohol abuse is the single most frequent cause of illness
and death from liver disease. Fat builds up in the liver, blocking
liver cells from functioning (detoxifying blood). Eventually
scar tissue can develop and cirrhosis - an irreversible and
fatal condition whereby liver tissue degenerates and dies. A
severe bout of heavy drinking (alcoholic hepatitis) can also
cause the death of liver cells.
Pancreatic disease and the onset of diabetes may occur. Alcohol's
irritation of the stomach, increases acidity; this excess acid
burns through the protective mucous lining causing ulcers on
the stomach and intestinal walls. Bleeding from the stomach,
from enlarged veins around the esophagus, diarrhea and malabsorption
of food can all occur in heavy drinkers. |
Cardiovascular system |
Alcohol is linked to an increased risk of
high blood pressure, abnormal heartbeat rhythms, deterioration
of the heart muscle and heart disease. Anemia is common in people
who abuse alcohol. |
Reproductive system, other
Hormonal and
Metabolic effects |
In men, chronic ingestion of excess alcohol
may lead to impotence, sterility, atrophy of the testes, and
enlargement of the breasts. Early menopause and menstrual irregularities
are common in women who drink excessively. Excess output of
hormones from the adrenal gland can occur and low levels of
sex hormones can lead to premature bone loss (osteoporosis).
Acute alcohol abuse can cause low blood sugar, which is of particular
concern for diabetic patients. Ketoacidosis, a condition where
the blood in the body becomes too acidic, can also be caused
by excess alcohol use. |
Immune system and Cancer-producing effects
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Depression of the immune system by chronic
alcohol abuse results in a predisposition to infections such
as pneumonia and tuberculosis, and to cancer. In addition, increased
risk of infection could occur if loss of judgment and inhibitions
during intoxication resulted in unsafe sexual practices and
in drug users sharing needles.
Cancer of the throat, voice box (larynx), mouth and esophagus,
and liver are most frequently associated with excessive use
of alcohol. Less conclusive evidence of increased cancer exists
for the stomach, large bowel, pancreas, lung, urinary tract,
and breast. |
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