Alcohol use: Weighing risks and benefits
Alcohol poisoning occurs when the body has consumed more alcohol in a short period of time than it can process. The toxic effects of alcohol overwhelm the body and can lead to impairment and some even more serious medical side effects, including death in severe cases. With continued alcohol use, steatotic liver disease can lead group activities for substance abuse to liver fibrosis.
Eventually, you can develop permanent and irreversible scarring in your liver, which is called cirrhosis. This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism. In the United States, moderate drinking for healthy adults is different for men and women. It means on days when a person does drink, women do not have more than one drink and men do not have more than two drinks.
Find science-based information on the effects of alcohol on health.
- In some people, the initial reaction may feel like an increase in energy.
- Binge drinking is behavior that raises blood alcohol levels to 0.08%.
- That usually means four or more drinks within two hours for women and five or more drinks within two hours for men.
- Things like trouble concentration, slow reflexes and sensitivity to bright lights and loud sounds are standard signs of a hangover, and evidence of alcohol’s effects on your brain.
Slurred speech, a key sign of intoxication, happens because alcohol reduces communication between your brain and body. This makes speech and coordination — think reaction time and balance — more difficult. That’s one major reason why you should never drive after drinking. Some 5 rules of recovery of these effects, like a relaxed mood or lowered inhibitions, might show up quickly after just one drink. Others, like loss of consciousness or slurred speech, may develop after a few drinks. Alcohol use can begin to take a toll on anyone’s physical and mental well-being over time.
Risk factors
Each of those consequences can cause turmoil that can negatively affect your long-term emotional health. If you drink every day, or almost every day, you might notice that you catch colds, flu or other illnesses more frequently than people who don’t drink. That’s because alcohol can weaken your immune system, slow healing and make your body more susceptible to infection.
For more information about alcohol and cancer, please visit the National Cancer Institute’s webpage “Alcohol and Cancer Risk” (last accessed June 6, 2024). Seizures, hallucinations, and delirium may occur in severe cases of withdrawal. A weakened immune system has a harder time protecting you from germs and viruses. Drinking alcohol can also lead to muscle weakness, cramping, and eventually atrophy.
Alcohol Use
Drinking alcohol can lower your inhibitions, so you might assume alcohol can ramp up your fun in the bedroom. Ulcers can cause dangerous internal bleeding, which can sometimes be fatal without prompt diagnosis and treatment. Experts recommend avoiding excessive amounts of alcohol if you have diabetes or hypoglycemia. Alcohol use can also lead to more lasting concerns that extend beyond your own mood and health. Alcohol use can thicken those fluids, which can clog the ducts that those fluids flow out of,” Dr. Sengupta explains. That allows excess calories from the foods you eat to sit around, leading to weight gain.
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. 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.
Alcohol’s Effects on the Body
But when you ingest too much alcohol for your liver to process in a timely manner, a buildup of toxic substances begins to take a toll on your liver. Moderate drinking is having one drink or less in a day for women, or two drinks or less in a day for men. When it comes to alcohol, if you don’t drink, don’t xanax vs ambien start for health reasons.