How Alcohol Affects Your Body
Understanding the subtle immediate and long-term effects alcohol has on
the body is essential to maintaining a healthy, well-balanced life. Obviously,
the severity of these effects is directly related to the amount of alcohol
consumed by an individual, but considering that over 17 million adults
suffered from some form of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) in 2012, many may
not be aware of the specific ways their alcohol consumption is damaging
their bodies, brains, relationships, and lives.
Short-term
Alcohol interferes with the brain’s ability to communicate with the
body, which manifests generally in these symptoms sequentially:
- Decreased inhibition
- Slurred speech
- Difficulty with balance and coordination
- Numbness/tingling in the hands and feet
- Difficulty remembering the events of the evening, as alcohol affects your
brain’s ability to create long-term memories
- Noticeable impairment of motor functions and vision
- Lack of physical control and blurred vision
- Nausea
- Trouble with basic motor functions
- Serious impairment of motor functions
- General stupor
- Potential for coma
- Coma and potential for respiratory arrest and death
Long-term
BRAIN
- Reduction in brain size
- Frontal lobe reduction or damage is the most common long term. The frontal
lobe is responsible for emotional control, short-term memory, and decision-making.
Damage to this area will significantly impact an individual’s ability
to perform these functions
- Hallucinations
- Blackouts
- Slurred speech
- Behavior changes
- Dependence
- Difficulty with balance and coordination
**In extreme cases, chronic alcoholism and malnutrition can lead to the
development of Korsakoff syndrome. Bleeding in the thalamus and hypothalamus
causes double vision, a dropping upper lid, loss of muscle coordination,
hallucination, difficulty putting words together, and a confused mental
state. Eventually, it affects memory to the point where the brain is unable
to form new memories and gradually loses old ones.
HEART
Heart attack and heart failure are serious potential consequences of long-term
drinking. Other potential consequences include:
- Stroke
- Heartbeat irregularity
- Increased blood pressure
- Cardiomyopathy- stretching of the heart muscle
- Numbness in the extremities
- Poor circulation
**Women who drink are more likely to develop heart disease than men**
LIVER
The body depends on the liver to break down harmful substances. As prolonged
alcohol use causes more damage to the liver, it has difficulty performing
this function, leading to a dangerous feedback loop that leads to the
buildup of toxins and waste.
- Chronic liver inflammation
- Cirrhosis associated with chronic liver inflammation
- Liver disease
- Fibrosis
- Alcoholic hepatitis
**Women generally take longer to process and break down alcohol than men
do. Consequently, women exhibit liver damage more quickly than men do.**
IMMUNE SYSTEM
**Drinking excessively on a single occasion slows the body’s ability
to ward off infections for up to 24 hours**
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
- Throat cancer
- Lung infections
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
Excessive, long-term alcohol consumption causes abnormal activation of
digestive enzymes produced by the pancreas. It also damages the tissue
in the digestive tract, preventing the body from absorbing nutrients and
properly digesting food. Sometimes, this can lead to anemia and fatigue.
- Frequent diarrhea
- Stomach distress
- Pancreatitis- inflammation/infection of the pancreas
- Ulcers/hemorrhoids
REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
While the actual symptoms differ between men and women, prolonged alcohol
usage affects both’s ability to produce hormones related to intercourse
and reproduction. Alcohol inhibits testosterone secretion from the testes,
which can lead to diminished male physical characteristics, prostate problems,
a reduced sperm count, and altered sperm structure.
- Sexual dysfunction
- Infertility
- Birth defects
- Disruption of menstrual cycle
Withdrawal
Withdrawal from alcohol comes with potentially serious health risks as
well. Symptoms include:
- Anxiety
- Nervousness
- Nausea
- Tremors
- High Blood Pressure
- Irregular heartbeat
- Heavy sweating
In severe cases:
- Seizures
- Hallucinations
- Delirium
It is important that when an individual chooses to discontinue their alcohol
use, he or she is aware of these symptoms, and prepared to deal with them.
The safest way to break the body of its dependency on alcohol is medical
detoxification. Depending on the severity of withdrawal symptoms, detoxification
can be managed on an outpatient or inpatient basis.
SOURCES:
https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/alcohols-effects-body
https://americanaddictioncenters.org/alcoholism-treatment/body-effects/
https://www.healthline.com/health/alcohol/effects-on-body