Excessive consumption of alcohol is harmful to your health. This is a saying our ears are used to hearing often. Alcoholic drinks come in different tastes; beer, wine, liquor or spirits. And as all drugs have consequences on your body, so does alcohol. Alcoholism is a disease where the patient craves to consume alcohol time and again thus it’s bound to have effects on your health. Below are some effects alcohol has on different organs of our bodies as well as our bodies generally.
Alcohol being a depressant means it’ll have a toll on your body health. It slows down the responses of your body and also causes hangover. In small quantities, it reduces anxiety but when consumed in large amounts and frequently, the end results can be fatal. Some of the fatal consequences of alcohol on your body is brain damage and interference with proper functioning of other body organs such as your heart, liver, pancreas etc. Since alcohol consumed is absorbed in the blood stream, this means it can affect every part of your body and immunity which can lead to serious health issues at the long run. Also causes cancer of the throat, breast, liver and esophagus to state a few
BRAIN
Intoxication of the brain with alcohol, interferes with its proper functioning. This is because it interferes with the communication pathways inside the brain. This can result to change in the moods and behaviors of a person. When brain co-ordination is handicapped, it often leads to slurred talk and staggering. It also affects brain appearance. Alcohol effect on your brain distorts your thinking capability. This makes one’s judgment under alcohol influence questionable because in such a situation, one’s ability of making clear and concise decisions is affected.
HEART
Too much consumption of alcohol affects your heart in that it causes heart problems. It can lead to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, irregular heartbeat, heart failure and cardiomyopathy. When excessive consumption results in high blood pressure, it puts the alcoholic at risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke. It also leads to weight gain. The heart being the blood pump to the body, in the case cardiomyopathy is the result, heart muscles will weaken hence the heart will not efficiently work. This can lead to limited supply of oxygen and nutrients in the body and increased levels of carbon dioxide which is harmful to one’s health. Consumption of alcohol in moderate amounts is believed to be a health benefit. This is because it aids against development of coronary heart diseases in adults.
LIVER
Heavy drinking affects your liver in various ways. Some of the alcohol related liver problems are fatty liver (steatosis), hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and fibrosis. All this are liver inflammations caused by excessive consumption of alcohol. A fatty liver inhibits proper functioning of the liver in that it’s not able to metabolize alcohol as it’s supposed to. This is usually the first stage of health deterioration for an alcoholic as it interferes with oxygen circulation around the liver. The second stage is fibrosis, which is as a result of dead cells which form a fibrous scar tissue. Cirrhosis being the last and final stage, it means that the cells are completely destroyed and nothing much can be done.
Alcohol independence and abuse has grave effects on human health. It affects proper functioning of body organs leading to various illnesses. At extreme cases, alcoholism can lead to death. It is therefore advisable to follow the rules and regulations set on drinking habits. At the long run, abuse of alcohol and consumption in high quantities, will always affect good health.