What are the Consequences of Drinking? NIAAA

This condition can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the number of symptoms you have. This article discusses the long-term effects of alcohol, including the risks to your physical health and mental well-being. Drinking large amounts of alcohol for many years will take its toll on many of the body’s organs and may cause organ damage. Organs known to be damaged by long-term alcohol misuse include the brain and nervous system, heart, liver and pancreas. Even among the positive studies, potential health benefits are often quite small. In addition, alcohol may reduce the risk of one condition (such as cardiovascular disease) while increasing the risk of another (such as cancer).

How Alcohol Affects Society

When drinking alcohol, you may become less cautious and more likely to engage in behaviors and take risks you wouldn’t consider when sober. This slows the communication between brain cells and has a calming effect on the mind and body. This is why you might feel relaxed and as though your stress and tension are melting away when drinking alcohol. It’s also why alcohol can make you feel sleepy or drowsy, especially as your blood alcohol concentration rises. Chronic alcohol use and binge drinking damage the heart muscle, making it harder for the heart to pump blood effectively. Alcohol can also contribute to arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats) and hypertension (high blood pressure), increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.

Chronic Shakes and Tremors

These brain changes contribute to the compulsive nature of addiction, making it difficult to abstain from alcohol. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines moderate drinking as two or fewer drinks in a day for men and one or less in a day for women. Excessive (binge) drinking is defined as four or more drinks on a single occasion for women and five or more drinks on a single occasion for men. For women, more than three drinks on any day or more than seven drinks a week is heavy drinking.

• Even a single bout of binge drinking can destroy the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain, causing them to relay information too slowly and trigger mood changes.
• For the brain to function properly, the FDA recommends consuming alcohol in moderation.
• If you have alcohol dependence, it can be unsafe to suddenly stop drinking.
• Finding this purpose can motivate patients to get healthy for all the right reasons.
• Unhealthy alcohol use includes any alcohol use that puts your health or safety at risk or causes other alcohol-related problems.

Dangers of Alcohol Addiction

More information about alcohol’s effects on the brain is available on NIAAA’s topic page on Alcohol and The Brain. Drinking too much – on a single occasion or over time – can take a serious toll on your health. The whole body is affected by alcohol use–not just the liver, but also the brain, gut, pancreas, lungs, cardiovascular system, immune system, and more. For some people, alcohol dependence can also cause social problems such as homelessness, joblessness, divorce, and domestic abuse.

This can range from short-term memory lapses (also called blackouts) during heavy drinking to chronic memory issues after long-term use. If you drink heavily for a long time, alcohol can affect how your brain looks and works. And that’ll have big effects on your ability to think, learn, and remember things.

So how exactly can heavy alcohol use affect someone in the long-term? Here’s what to consider as you reflect on your own relationship with alcohol. Get therapy and medical care—just $25 with insurance, no hidden fees— for alcohol recovery, depression, everyday illnesses, and more.

• Alcohol is the most commonly used addictive substance in America and the effects of alcohol are substantial.
• These individuals tend to drink more, socialize with people who drink a lot, and develop a tolerance to alcohol (i.e., it takes more and more alcohol to feel or act intoxicated).
• In addition, alcohol may reduce the risk of one condition (such as cardiovascular disease) while increasing the risk of another (such as cancer).
• Similar to Korsakoff syndrome, alcohol-related dementia is a form of alcohol-related brain damage that results in memory loss.
• In low to moderate alcohol consumption, antioxidants may provide some cardiovascular benefits.

Mental and Emotional Health Consequences

They also tend to resolve quickly with treatment and continued abstinence. Both of these conditions develop suddenly due to thiamine deficiency. Other studies suggest that the brains of alcoholics are lighter than those who do not have a drinking problem.5 Some of the damage can be reversed if the person decides to stop drinking. The brain’s reward center becomes overloaded, leading to cravings when the alcohol wears off. With enough alcohol consumed, the brain becomes dependent on it to produce these brain chemicals, leading to mood disorders. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a chronic brain disorder that makes it difficult to control alcohol use, even when it’s causing problems.

Can You Get Alcohol Poisoning from Binge Drinking?

This occurs because alcohol disrupts serotonin levels, which play a critical role in mood regulation. For individuals prone to anxiety, alcohol can also ignite physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, creating a vicious cycle of stress and consumption. These changes in brain function are immediate and may last long after the drinking session ends. The calming effects some seek can also lead to increased sedation and emotional numbness. Alcohol plays a significant role in social gatherings and moments of relaxation for many, often perceived as a way to unwind or connect with others.

As a depressant, alcohol causes chemical changes in the hormones in our brain. However, these effects wear off and can lead to symptoms of anxiety, depression, irritability or anger. Growing up in a home where at least one parent has a severe alcohol use disorder can increase a child’s chances of developing psychological and emotional problems. As the body adapts to the presence of the drug, dependency and addiction can result.

Brain

Alcohol affects every body system, so it can cause health problems throughout the body. Since alcohol is a depressant, it can slow breathing, leading to a lack of oxygen to the brain. Drinking with a meal slows the rate of absorption, resulting in fewer side effects and less intoxication.

Alcohol makes you dehydrated and makes blood vessels in your body and brain expand. Your stomach wants to get rid of the toxins and acid that alcohol churns up, which gives you nausea and vomiting. And because Oxford House your liver was so busy processing your drinks, it didn’t release enough sugar into your blood, bringing on weakness and the shakes.

When the amount of alcohol in the blood exceeds a certain level, this can lead to alcohol toxicity, or poisoning. Intoxication impairs judgment and can result in inappropriate and illegal behaviors such as sexual promiscuity, disorderly conduct, driving while intoxicated and acts of violence. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. It is expressed as the weight of ethanol in grams per 100 milliliter (ml) of blood. It then travels to the brain, where it quickly produces its effects. Within minutes of consuming alcohol, it is absorbed into the bloodstream by blood vessels in the stomach lining and small intestine.

Just one or two alcoholic drinks can impair your balance, coordination, impulse control, memory, and decision-making. Too much alcohol can also shut down parts of your brain that are essential for keeping you alive. Over the long term, alcohol can increase your risk of more than 200 different diseases, including in the liver and pancreas, and certain cancers. The effects of alcohol addiction may also have a more serious impact on seniors, as aging changes how the body handles alcohol consumption. Alcohol abuse may worsen some health problems like diabetes, osteoporosis, memory loss, high blood pressure and mood disorders.