Alcohol’s Effects on Health National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism NIAAA
It’s important to note that any amount of alcohol in your system can interfere with your ability to think and function without impairment. Drinking alcohol can influence your psychological functioning and well-being. Alcohol also causes damage to nerves and pathways, which disrupts communication between essential organs and bodily functions. Alcohol use suppresses the central nervous system and destroys neurons. This can lead to conditions like stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS). The pancreas is essential for breaking down enzymes and starches (like those in alcohol).
- In addition, prolonged misuse can lead to alcohol use disorder.
- As of 2021, 29.5 million people aged 12 and older had an alcohol use disorder in the past year.
- Drinking alcohol can influence your psychological functioning and well-being.
- Alcohol is a part of cultural traditions all around the world…and it’s also a drug that chemically alters the body.
- While there is no one-size-fits-all method for recovering from AUD, there are lots of effective treatment options.
Short-Term Effects of Alcohol on the Body
Drinking alcohol on a regular basis can also lead to dependence, which means your body and brain have grown used to alcohol’s effects. Some people who drink eventually develop a tolerance to alcohol. As a result, they eventually need to drink more to notice the same effects they once did. Alcohol use can factor into mental health symptoms that closely resemble those of other mental health conditions. People who drink heavily over a long period of time are also more likely to develop pneumonia or tuberculosis than the general population. The World Health Organization (WHO) links about 8.1 percent of all tuberculosis cases worldwide to alcohol consumption.
Dr. Sengupta shares some of the not-so-obvious effects that alcohol has on your body. For more information about alcohol’s effects on the body, please visit the Interactive Body feature on NIAAA’s College Drinking Prevention website. You can take steps to lower your risk of alcohol-related harms.
Health risks of alcohol use
If enough acid and alcohol build up, you get nauseated and you may throw up. It can also lead to irritation of the lining of the stomach, called gastritis. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a chronic brain disorder that makes it difficult to control alcohol use, even when it’s causing problems.
Alcohol use: Weighing risks and benefits
The liver metabolizes most of the alcohol you consume, breaking it down into acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is a toxin that can damage the body’s organs and tissues before it is further broken down into acetate. Years of moderate to heavy drinking can cause liver scarring (fibrosis), increasing the risk of liver diseases like cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, fatty liver disease, and liver cancer.
The impact alcohol has on the reproductive system extends beyond these temporary effects. Chronic alcohol use causes hormone imbalances in both men and women and leads to problems with fertility. There’s been an uptick in non-alcoholic drink options, as more and more companies are creating alternatives. A 2020 study found that when weekly drinkers were presented with and aware of increased non-alcoholic options, they were likely to choose them.
In 2023, the father of two from Dallas told his doctor he wanted to stop drinking. “I had been questioning my relationship with alcohol for some time—it was my way of coping with stress,” says Cupps, 58, who works in the software industry. Because his doctor wanted him to drop some weight, she suggested that he try semaglutide. Eventually Cupps stopped drinking entirely and started going for walks to relieve stress. If you tend to drink excessively or notice that alcohol causes problems in your life, you should avoid it as much as possible.
things we’ve learned about how alcohol harms the body
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 solution focused therapy worksheets 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. While moderate alcohol consumption may reduce your risk of heart disease, heavy drinking may increase it.