Excessive alcohol consumption is poison. The effects of alcohol abuse can be both (theoretically not very serious) anemia, but also life-threatening cancer. Drinking too much alcohol can also lead to mental he alth problems such as alcohol psychosis. Ethanol is harmful not only to the drinker - pregnant women who drink alcohol expose their child to long-term consequences of alcohol exposure in utero. Some of the effects of alcohol abuse may disappear after you stop drinking, while others are irreversible.

Ethyl alcohol may have an adverse effect on virtually every organ of the body.The effects of alcohol abusecan be - sometimes partially, sometimes completely - reversible, but too frequent consumption of alcoholic beverages may cause permanent damage to the body.

According to statistics, about 800,000 people in Poland are addicted to alcohol. Even this number may be frightening, but more frightening is the fact that even more people - around two million Poles - abuse alcohol.

Effects of Alcohol Abuse: Digestive System

One of the first effects of alcohol abuse are gastrointestinal discomfort. Problems can affect the entire digestive tract: from the mouth to the rectum. Chronic inflammation may develop in the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract. Patients who abuse alcohol may experience bleeding and are more prone to the appearance of various lesions such as gastric and duodenal ulcers.

The gastrointestinal effects of alcohol abuse may also include:

  • diarrhea,
  • gastroesophageal reflux,
  • periodontal disease,
  • flatulence,
  • Mallory-Weis syndrome,
  • varicose veins (both esophageal and rectal varices can occur),
  • chronic nausea.

The liver is the gland on which ethanol probably has the greatest influence - it is in the liver that alcohol metabolism takes place. The first change that occurs in the liver as a result of alcohol abuse is fatty liver. The organ, however, has a great regenerative capacity and if the patient stops drinkingalcohol, there will be a regression of fatty processes. The situation is different when the liver is constantly exposed to the toxic effects of alcohol. The consequence of such exposure is the development of chronic alcoholic hepatitis. The consequence of the inflammation process is fibrosis, which ultimately leads to the - this time irreversible - condition known as cirrhosis of the liver.

Drinking too much alcohol can also lead to pancreatic dysfunction. Ethanol can lead to both acute and chronic pancreatitis. In patients abusing alcohol, the secretory function of this gland may be disturbed, which may be manifested, among others, by carbohydrate disorders, which can even take the form of diabetes.

The effects of alcohol abuse: the circulatory system

When drunk in excess, the absorption of nutrients and minerals is disturbed. Deficiencies in such a situation concern, among others, iron and folic acid. A deficiency of these substances may result in anemia (anemia), which may result in pale skin or a feeling of general weakness.

The effects of alcohol abuse: the nervous system

Alcohol has a direct, toxic effect on the cells of the nervous system. The result can be polyneuropathy, which is damage to many different nerves. Symptoms that can be caused by alcohol abuse and polyneuropathy are sensory disturbances (e.g. in the form of tingling), pain (related to pinching the nerves), and sometimes even paresis and paralysis. Damage can also be generated within the optic nerve, which can result in both visual impairment and - in extreme cases - even blindness.

Drinking alcohol in excessive amounts may cause changes in behavior and psyche. Character changes may occur, it is also mentioned that the result of many years of drinking too much alcohol may result in the disappearance of higher emotions (such as, for example, love). Alcohol can also lead to cognitive dysfunction. Patients may experience concentration and attention disorders, and their problem may be memory impairment.

There are many different syndromes known to occur as a result of alcohol abuse. Examples of such units are:

  • Ottel's syndrome (related to the pathological delusions of jealousy),
  • chronic alcoholic psychosis (in which there are hallucinations, mainly auditory, and delusions associated with them - usually with persecutory content),
  • alcohol depression,
  • Korsakoff's psychosis,
  • alcoholic dementia,
  • encephalopathyWernicke.

Excessive alcohol consumption is also the cause of impulsive behavior in patients. The patient may have problems with controlling his own emotions, which may result in aggressive behavior towards both the environment and himself. Alcohol abuse is also cited as one of the risk factors for committing suicide.

The Effects of Alcohol Abuse: The Reproductive System

Some people consider alcohol to be a kind of aphrodisiac, but in fact the opposite is true. Too many drinks are definitely the enemy of a successful sex life. For everyone, regardless of gender, lack of moderation may result in a decrease in libido. Men who abuse alcohol may experience erectile dysfunction, which, in the event of permanent damage to the nerves involved in erection, may even take the form of complete impotence.

Menstrual disorders may appear in women who abuse alcohol. Their examples include both the change in the rhythm of bleeding and the premature onset of menopause (the last menstrual period in a lifetime).

The Effects of Alcohol Abuse: Cardiovascular

Drinking alcohol frequently can cause problems with the heart and blood vessels. The result of a lack of moderation can be both arterial hypertension and cardiac arrhythmias. It can also lead to alcoholic cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the heart enlarges its dimensions but becomes ineffective as a result.

The effects of excessive alcohol consumption are also an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Poles drink more and more responsibly. Less intoxicated people take the wheel

Alcohol is an important part of tradition and rituals for Poles. Over 40 percent he claims that he eats it primarily during holidays and social gatherings. Poles like alcohol and drink it more responsibly. From year to year, the number of drunk drivers decreases, and thus the number of accidents they cause is decreasing.

Source: lifestyle.newseria.pl

The Effects of Alcohol Abuse: The Immune System

Ethanol-induced impairment of mineral absorption and the resulting deficiencies and toxic effects of ethanol on the bone marrow in people who abuse alcohol may result in impaired immune system function. A symptom is an increased susceptibility to the development of infections, including those which are not likely to occur in people with normal immunity - in patients abusing alcohol, the incidence of, e.g.tuberculosis.

The effects of alcohol abuse: the musculoskeletal system

Too much alcohol promotes the development of osteoporosis. The increased risk of the disease is associated both with the fact that in the case of alcohol abuse, the absorption of substances used for bone reconstruction is reduced, and the processes of bone remineralization are disturbed.

Muscles are also damaged by alcohol, which may result in weakening of muscle strength in people who abuse alcohol, but also in muscle atrophy.

Alcohol and cancer

The effects of alcohol abuse: cancer

The excess of alcohol promotes the development of many neoplastic diseases. It is possible that the following list will expand in the future, and there is now a known link between alcohol abuse and increased cancer incidence:

  • breasts,
  • colon,
  • pancreas,
  • liver,
  • esophagus,
  • oral,
  • throat,
  • larynx.

The effects of alcohol abuse in pregnancy

As he althy adults, small doses of alcohol should not be harmful, in pregnant women the situation is definitely different. During pregnancy, no amount of alcohol can be considered safe and without affecting the he alth of the developing baby.

The toxic effects of ethanol may result in the occurrence of fetal alcohol syndrome in a child, which manifests itself, among others, by characteristic appearance, intellectual development and behavior disorders. Premature labor and miscarriage can also be effects of alcohol abuse during pregnancy.

Worth knowing

The Effects of Alcohol Abuse: Can They Recover?

Some of the above-mentioned problems (e.g. inflammation of the mucous membranes of the digestive tract or diarrhea) may disappear spontaneously within a dozen or so days or several weeks - for this, however, it is necessary to give up drinking alcohol.

Anemia caused by alcohol, even after stopping drinking and possibly supplementing deficiencies - can be compensated relatively quickly.

Other he alth problems, such as esophageal varices and cirrhosis of the liver, are chronic conditions and, if they occur, they do not reverse.

Even if the damage caused by alcohol is irreversible, the decision to abstain at any time can bring positive results - even if it does not reverse the damage that has already occurred, the body will cease to be exposed to the toxic factor and there will be no further consequencesalcohol abuse.

Category:

Psychology