So for 24 hours after drinking too much, you’re more likely to get sick. Long-term heavy drinkers are much more likely to get illnesses like pneumonia and tuberculosis. Alcohol makes you dehydrated and makes blood vessels in your body and brain expand.

A Note on Gender and Sex Terminology

All information provided in featured rehab listings is verified by the facility officials. The details are kept up to date to help people with addiction treatment needs get the most full and precise facts about the rehabilitation facility. The support of effects of alcohol on the body friends and family is important in the journey to recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD).

Under the influence: The effects of alcohol on the body

Time and again history has proven that this fatal addiction could make the life of those who consume it terrible. Also, the lives of the dear ones of alcoholic people are affected as alcohol not only affects those who consume them but also kin and friends. Various research studies conducted over many years clearly show the association of prolonged alcohol intake in the causation, aggravation, worsening, and deterioration of the health of its consumers. Moreover, chronic alcohol intake single-handedly is one of the major etiological factors in various serious diseases. Excessive amounts of alcohol in the body can be more than the liver is able to handle, causing damage to its cells. This may result in alcoholic hepatitis, alcoholic fatty liver disease, or alcoholic cirrhosis.

Find support on reducing your alcohol consumption:

• Over time, it causes heart muscles to droop and stretch, like an old rubber band.
• Lowered inhibitions can also lead to poor decision-making and increase the risk of engaging in risky behaviors.
• People who drink heavily over a long period of time are also more likely to develop pneumonia or tuberculosis than the general population.
• Serious symptoms of withdrawal that require assistance from medical professionals occur in heavy drinkers.
• Only trained and licensed medical professionals can provide such services.

That’s one major reason why you should never drive after drinking. 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. That means you have to go more often, which can leave you dehydrated.

Most of the remaining 80 percent is absorbed through the small intestine. Around 5 percent of the alcohol consumed leaves through the lungs, kidneys and the skin. Since alcohol is a depressant, it can slow breathing, leading to a lack of oxygen to the brain. When the amount of alcohol in the blood exceeds a certain level, this can lead to alcohol toxicity, or poisoning.

• These disruptions can change mood and behavior and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.
• It can also lead to irritation of the lining of the stomach, called gastritis.
• A young person who drinks alcohol is also more likely to experiment with other drugs, and to run the risk of becoming addicted to them.
• In low to moderate alcohol consumption, antioxidants may provide some cardiovascular benefits.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) says alcohol contributes to more than 200 different types of diseases and injury.
• That’s because your body already has processes in place that allow it to store excess proteins, carbohydrates and fats.

Because alcohol is a depressant, it can also contribute to mental health conditions, like anxiety and depression. Research indicates that heavy alcohol use can also increase the risk of suicide. Drinking large amounts of alcohol for many years will take its toll on many of the body’s organs and may cause organ damage. Organs known to be damaged by long-term alcohol misuse include the brain and nervous system, heart, liver and pancreas.

Kidney Damage

Research shows that women who drink more alcohol than is recommended on a regular basis tend to develop liver disease, cardiomyopathy and nerve damage after fewer years than men who do the same. If you are drinking heavily or are worried you may be dependent on alcohol, reach out to a healthcare provider before you start reducing your alcohol consumption to determine the safest way to make changes. Whether you’re a light, moderate, or heavy drinker, alcohol can reduce bone mass.

Alcohol use suppresses the central nervous system and destroys neurons. This can lead to conditions like stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS). The pancreas is essential for breaking down enzymes and starches (like those in alcohol). When the pancreas becomes irritated and inflamed, you can develop pancreatitis. Your liver produces enzymes that break down alcohol, but your liver can only handle so much alcohol at one time (approximately 1 ounce per hour). Over time, alcohol can cause damage to your central nervous system.

Gene therapy may hold the newest strategy to treat alcohol use disorder

People facing anxiety and depression drink intentionally to reduce stress and improve their mood. While drinking may provide a few hours of relief, it may worsen your overall mental health over time. Eating before and while drinking can help slow down the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream. This reduces the short-term effects alcohol can have and may help prevent some symptoms, like nausea and vomiting. Whether you want to cut back or quit entirely because of a growing alcohol dependency, talk to your doctor about developing a personalized plan. They can assess your drinking habits, discuss potential health risks and provide support and guidance.

This slows the communication between brain cells and has a calming effect on the mind and body. This is why you might feel relaxed and as though your stress and tension are melting away when drinking alcohol. It’s also why alcohol can make you feel sleepy or drowsy, especially as your blood alcohol concentration rises. Drinking any amount or type of alcohol has a wide range of short- and long-term effects on your physical and mental health. As a central nervous system depressant, alcohol slows the body’s systems and leads to noticeable changes in cognitive and physical functions.

Chronic alcoholism is found to have a very strong relationship with both acute pancreatitis and chronic pancreatitis. Chronic alcohol intake impairs the drug addiction treatment repair ability of the structures of the exocrine pancreas, thereby leading to pancreatic dysfunctioning 14. Most of the patients diagnosed with pancreatitis have a strong history of chronic intake of alcohol. Liver diseases related to alcohol intake are known to humankind from the very beginning and probably are one of the oldest known forms of injury to the liver 15. In liver diseases linked with alcohol, liver cirrhosis is a major concern. Statistics show that liver cirrhosis is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide and this in itself indicates the severity of the same 16.