Author: James Anderson

Why Does Alcohol Cause Bruising?

As a result, the number of RBC’s in the blood declines and patients develop anemia. Many patients also have some circulating RBC’s that contain ferritin granules called Pappenheimer bodies. The presence of these cells in the blood serves as an indicator of sideroblastic anemia and can prompt the physician to perform a bone marrow examination to confirm the diagnosis.

Bruises occur when blood vessels get damaged and burst under the skin, so the blood from them, spreading, causes a slight swelling of soft tissues. Usually, a black and blue mark pops up as the result of an injury. These effects can have serious medical consequences, such as an increased risk for strokes. Alcohol-related abnormalities in RBC production manifest themselves not only in the bone marrow but also through the presence of defective RBC’s in the blood. As a result, alcoholics frequently are diagnosed with anemia (figure 1).

Alcohol’s Effects on the Blood-Clotting System

Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems. This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism. If you’re concerned about your risk of cirrhosis, talk to your doctor. Life with cirrhosis can be challenging, but with the right information, the right medical team and the right treatment, there’s reason to be encouraged.

1. During a transplant, surgeons remove the damaged liver and replace it with a healthy working liver.
2. Moreover, long-term excessive alcohol consumption can interfere with various physiological, biochemical, and metabolic processes involving the blood cells.
3. To prevent such adverse reactions, health care professionals should proactively counsel patients who regularly consume alcohol about the proper choice and safe use of aspirin and other over-the-counter NSAID’s.
4. Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.
5. Genetic, psychological, social and environmental factors can impact how drinking alcohol affects your body and behavior.
6. The direct consequences of excessive alcohol consumption include toxic effects on the bone marrow; the blood cell precursors; and the mature red blood cells (RBC’s), white blood cells (WBC’s), and platelets.

In addition to differences in the quantity of alcohol consumed, inherited or acquired variations in an individual drinker’s biochemistry may account for these differences in susceptibility. But when you bruise, your vessels are literally injured or broken in a sense, and blood pools around those vessels and rises to the skin. The guidelines classify moderate drinking up to one drink a day for females, and up to two drinks for males, and only over the age of 21 years.

Signs and symptoms

Blood loss occurs primarily in the gastrointestinal tract (e.g., at the sites of peptic ulcers) and is increased in patients with reduced platelet numbers. Folic acid deficiency impairs RBC production and results from decreased ingestion, decreased absorption, and abnormal metabolism of folic acid. The exact mechanisms underlying alcohol-related thrombocytopenia remain unknown. Some researchers have suggested that alcohol intoxication itself, rather than alcohol-related nutritional deficiencies, causes the decrease in platelet numbers. The subjects’ platelet levels returned to normal when alcohol consumption was discontinued. Similarly, platelet counts can be reduced in well-nourished alcoholics who do not suffer from folic acid deficiency.

A biopsy may also be required to identify the severity, extent and cause of liver damage. In many patients with thrombocytopenia, rebounding platelet numbers even exceed normal values. This rebound thrombocytosis after cessation of alcohol consumption also occurs in the majority of patients whose platelet counts are normal at the time of hospitalization.

As a result, the concomitant use of alcohol and aspirin or NSAID’s greatly increases the patient’s risk for gastrointestinal bleeding. To prevent such adverse reactions, health care professionals should proactively counsel patients who regularly consume alcohol about the proper choice and safe use of aspirin and other over-the-counter NSAID’s. MAO is an enzyme that breaks down certain neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine and serotonin) that have been implicated in mediating various phenomena related to the risk of developing alcoholism (e.g., tolerance to alcohol’s effects).

To a lesser extent, vacuoles also develop in the granulocyte precursors of alcoholics. This finding is not specifically alcohol related, however, because other events that interfere with WBC production (e.g., infections) may induce similar structural changes in the granulocyte precursors. Treatment focuses on minimizing additional liver damage while addressing any complications that arise. Consuming too much alcohol can inhibit the breakdown of fats in the liver, causing fat accumulation.

Causes Of Bruises After Drinking

About 2% of American adults have liver disease, and therefore are at risk of developing cirrhosis. However, those who drink too much alcohol, those who are overweight and those with viral hepatitis are at a greater risk. A wide range of other conditions and diseases can cause cirrhosis as well. For example, iron absorption from the food in the gastrointestinal tract may be elevated in alcoholics. Iron levels also can rise from excessive ingestion of iron-containing alcoholic beverages, such as red wine. The increased iron levels can cause hemochromatosis, a condition characterized by the formation of iron deposits throughout the body (e.g., in the liver, pancreas, heart, joints, and gonads).

Alcohol and unexplained bruising could point to liver damage from drinking. Easy bruising and bleeding are signs of cirrhosis, which is a serious liver disorder. There are several causes of bruises after drinking; some of these causes are not particularly serious, whereas others could point to a health problem. Perhaps the most common cause of bruising from alcohol is that alcohol acts as a vasodilator, making blood vessels larger.

And, not for nothing, it really is true that alcohol can affect your motor skills, and even your memory.

Individual drinkers appear to differ in their susceptibility to alcohol-induced thrombocytopenia. Thus, clinicians have noted that some people who consume alcohol in excess repeatedly develop thrombocytopenia (often severely), whereas other drinkers maintain normal platelet levels. You can improve the health of your liver by abstaining from alcohol or only drinking in moderation, eating a healthy diet, and managing your weight. If you notice early signs of alcohol-related liver disease, be sure to follow up with your doctor. Some people with severe alcoholic hepatitis may need a liver transplant. When you drink more than your liver can effectively process, alcohol and its byproducts can damage your liver.