Author: James Anderson

Effects of Alcohol on the Body

The side effects often only appear after the damage has happened. It could be that it messes with the part of your brain that processes sound. Or it might damage the nerves and tiny hairs in your inner ear that help you hear. However it happens, drinking means you need a sound to be louder so you can hear it.

Experts recommend avoiding excessive amounts of alcohol if you have diabetes or hypoglycemia. Alcohol use can also lead to more lasting concerns that extend beyond your own mood and health.

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After more analysis of the research, that doesn’t seem to be the case. In general, a healthy diet and physical activity have much greater health benefits than alcohol and have been more extensively studied. People who binge drink or drink heavily may notice more health effects sooner, but alcohol also poses some risks for people who drink in moderation. One night of binge drinking can jumble the electrical signals that keep your heart’s rhythm steady.

Drinking heavily for a long time has been linked to hearing loss. Alcohol irritates the lining of your stomach and makes your digestive juices flow. If enough acid and alcohol build up, you get nauseated and you may throw up. Years of heavy drinking can cause painful sores called ulcers. It can also lead to irritation of the lining of the stomach, called gastritis. Unfortunately, more and more research suggests there is no one “safe” level of alcohol consumption.

Alcohol’s Effects on the Body

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. As they die off, the liver gets scars and stops working as well, a disease called cirrhosis.

1. Binge drinking is behavior that raises blood alcohol levels to 0.08%.
2. Drinking alcohol on a regular basis can also lead to dependence, which means your body and brain have grown used to alcohol’s effects.
3. But when alcohol swings into action, it tells your brain to hold off on making that hormone.
4. That means you have to go more often, which can leave you dehydrated.
5. Since those effects don’t last long, you might not worry much about them, especially if you don’t drink often.

Your stomach wants to get rid of the toxins and acid that alcohol churns up, which gives you nausea and vomiting. 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. Normally, this organ makes insulin and other chemicals that help your intestines break down food. Along with toxins from alcohol, they can cause inflammation in the organ over time, which can lead to serious damage. After years, that means you won’t be able to make the insulin you need, which can lead to diabetes.

Mayo Clinic Q and A: Is daily drinking problem drinking?

As alcohol causes oxidative stress which damages the DNA of our cells, it can also increase the risk of skin cancer, he adds, pointing to research by Paris-Saclay University. Alcohol famously changes how we think and behave – just look at how you feel after a glass of wine after a stressful day. Relaxed, calm, and perhaps with a better outlook on the situation. But as anyone who’s woken up after one too many with a dose of ‘beer fear’ will know, it can also change the way we behave for the worse. Drinking more than the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommended limits puts you in the category of “at-risk” drinking.

“This improves its function and reduces the risk of liver-related diseases.” For more information about alcohol’s effects on the body, please visit the Interactive Body feature on NIAAA’s College Drinking Prevention website. Long-term alcohol use can affect bone density, leading to thinner bones and increasing your risk of fractures if you fall. Over time, alcohol can cause damage to your central nervous system. You might notice numbness and tingling in your feet and hands. A damaged pancreas can also prevent your body from producing enough insulin to use sugar.

We know that alcohol impacts the liver more than some other organs in the body as this is where alcohol is metabolised, explains Dr Chun Tang, GP and medical director at Pall Mall Medical. “Chronic alcohol consumption can lead to liver damage, including fatty liver [disease], alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis.” Although not drinking to the point of becoming drunk is a common way people gauge how much they should drink, it can be inaccurate. Regular drinking can also affect overall mental health and well-being, in part because alcohol may worsen symptoms of certain mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Along with the hormone changes that alcohol triggers, that can keep your body from building new bone.

It makes your body release stress hormones that narrow blood vessels, so your heart has to pump harder to push blood through. If you drink alcohol every day, you’ll likely find it very difficult to fall asleep at the same time every night and get the best quality sleep. While it might not sound like a big deal, having a regular sleep schedule is essential for maintaining our wellbeing – from simply staying awake and being able to concentrate to keeping our gut healthy.