How Alcohol Affects Your Body

We know the subjective effects of alcohol appear to be greatest in men and women with higher personality trait inhibitedness. We also know that drinking too much alcohol on a single occasion or over time can have serious health consequences. Most people are aware that drinking too much can lead to nausea, blackouts, accidents and even alcohol dependence, but alcohol use is also likely to damage your organs, weaken your immune system and it may also contribute to the onset of certain cancers.

Can alcohol harm your brain?

Alcohol affects the way the brain looks and works. Alcohol slows the pace of communication between neurotransmitters in the brain, which can change your mood and behavior. It can make it more difficult to think clearly and move with coordination. The scientific evidence shows that heavy drinking shrinks the brain, which is linked to problems with motor coordination, temperature regulation, sleep and memory.

Heart problems from alcohol abuse:

Your heart beats approximately 100,000 times per day. That is the equivalent of 2,000 gallons of blood throughout your body. Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart. Long-term heavy drinking can weaken the heart muscle causing a condition known as alcoholic cardiomyopathy. In fact, drinking can cause a host of health problems including:

• Cardiomyopathy – Stretching and drooping of heart muscle
• Arrhythmias – Irregular heart beat
• Stroke
• High blood pressure

Can alcohol ruin your liver?

Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including:

• Steatosis – fatty liver
• Alcoholic hepatitis
• Fibrosis
• Cirrhosis

Can alcohol harm your pancreas?

Habitual drinking damages the pancreas. Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to a medical condition called pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.

Each year, more than 200,000 people go to the hospital for acute pancreatitis. Most are heavy drinkers.

Can alcohol cause cancer?

Drinking too much alcohol is one lifestyle habit that can increase your risk of developing certain cancers, including cancers of the:

• Mouth
• Esophagus
• Pharynx
• Larynx
• Liver
• Breast

At least 7 out of 10 people with mouth cancer drink heavily.

Can alcohol suppress your immune system?

Germs and bacteria surround us everywhere. Luckily our immune system is designed to protect our bodies from these foreign substances, medically referred to as antigens. Unfortunately, drinking too much can weaken our immune system, making our body a much easier target for disease.  Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much.  Drinking a lot on a single occasion can slow your body’s ability to ward off infections.