Risks to health due to excessive alcohol consumption: Liver ailments, pancreatic inflammation, and cancer development.
Excessive alcohol consumption can have devastating effects on a person's health, leading to a range of severe, often life-threatening issues. In 2019, nearly 15 million people in the United States had an alcohol use problem, and globally, deaths every year result from the harmful use of alcohol.
Alcohol, an intoxicating chemical, can impact health in numerous ways. One of the most significant areas affected is the brain and nervous system. Alcohol disrupts communication pathways in the brain, impairing decision-making, memory, and learning ability. Chronic excessive drinking can cause brain volume loss, permanent brain damage, and increase risks of seizures and cognitive decline, including dementia. It also depresses respiratory centers in the brain, potentially causing slowed or stopped breathing in overdose situations.
The cardiovascular system is another organ system severely affected by excessive alcohol consumption. Heavy drinking raises blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, heart attack, and irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias). It can cause alcoholic cardiomyopathy, which weakens the heart muscle and reduces its pumping efficiency. The increased strain on the circulatory system from high blood pressure due to alcohol leads to long-term cardiovascular damage and elevated risk of sudden death.
The liver, a vital organ for filtering toxins, is highly toxic to when exposed to excessive alcohol. Chronic excessive drinking leads to inflammation, fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, fibrosis, cirrhosis (permanent scarring), and liver cancer. This compromises the liver’s ability to filter toxins, causing systemic health problems and increasing mortality risk.
Excessive alcohol intake can also cause pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), disrupting digestion and blood sugar regulation. This increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders.
Chronic heavy drinking weakens the immune system, making the body more susceptible to infections like pneumonia and tuberculosis, and impairs recovery from illness or injury. Alcohol consumption is linked to higher incidence of multiple cancers: mouth, throat, liver, esophagus, colon, and breast cancers. It is estimated to cause approximately 4% of all cancer cases globally, even in moderate drinkers.
Excessive alcohol can disrupt sleep, cause dehydration, vomiting, nausea, dizziness, headaches, irritability, muscle pain, and increase the risk of accidents, injuries, violence, and social consequences. Skin conditions like psoriasis and rosacea can also be worsened.
In addition, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to digestive problems such as ulcers, bleeding, heartburn, acid reflux, esophagitis, gastritis, and duodenitis. Chronic heavy drinking can lead to the development of alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) and neurodegenerative conditions like Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.
Heavy alcohol consumption can cause internal bleeding, leading to the development of iron deficiency anemia. Research links heavy alcohol consumption to an increased risk of acquiring pneumonia, tuberculosis, and other infections. Alcohol-related liver disease specifically refers to conditions that occur due to an overconsumption of alcohol.
Chronic alcohol consumption also increases the risk of developing an alcohol-associated cancer. Heavy alcohol use can cause heart conditions, such as hypertension and cardiovascular diseases like congestive heart failure and heart attacks. Alcohol psychosis, also known as alcohol hallucinosis, refers to symptoms of psychosis that can occur during or shortly after heavy alcohol intake.
In summary, excessive alcohol consumption damages the brain, heart, liver, pancreas, immune system, and increases cancer risk, leading to severe, often life-threatening health issues and impaired bodily functions across many systems. It is crucial to acknowledge an alcohol dependency problem as the first step toward recovery and seek help from support groups or professional services.
- In addition to damaging the cardiovascular system, excessive alcohol consumption can cause depression in the context of mental health.
- One of the chronic diseases that can be exacerbated by heavy alcohol use is bipolar disorder, a complex mental health condition that affects mood.
- Moreover, alcohol induces inflammation in the liver, often leading to liver diseases such as cirrhosis and even liver cancer, which are serious chronic-diseases.
- Alcohol-induced malnutrition can result due to reduced absorption of vital nutrients during digestion, contributing to overall health and wellness issues.
- Another skin condition adversely affected by excessive alcohol consumption is eczema, making skin-care more challenging.
- Paxlovid, a new drug for treating COVID-19, interacts with alcohol, so it's essential to avoid alcohol consumption while taking this medication to ensure optimal health-and-wellness benefits.
- Fitness-and-exercise performance can be negatively impacted by excessive alcohol consumption, as it leads to dehydration and impairment of motor skills.
- Science has consistently shown that alcohol consumption increases the risk of several types of cancer, including breast, liver, and mouth cancers, contributing to the global cancer burden.
- Furthermore, chronic heavy drinking can lead to nutritional deficiencies and cardiovascular health problems, with possibilities of heart failure and an increased risk of heart attacks.
- Withdrawal from alcohol can trigger alcohol psychosis, also known as alcohol hallucinosis, featuring symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, and agitation in the context of mental health.
- Lastly, it is crucial to note that, despite potential positive attributes sometimes attributed to alcohol, such as potential predictive benefits for cardiovascular health in moderate amounts, the overwhelming evidence suggests that excessive alcohol consumption poses significant risks to a person's overall health and wellbeing.
