Author: John Carter

Alcohol’s Effects on the Body National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism NIAAA

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. These effects may be more serious and more noticeable if you drink regularly and tend to have more than 1 or 2 drinks when you do. If you drink, you’ve probably had some experience with alcohol’s effects, from the warm buzz that kicks in quickly to the not-so-pleasant wine headache, or the hangover that shows up the next morning.

By adhering to the Dietary Guidelines, you can reduce the risk of harm to yourself or others. A weakened immune system has a harder time protecting you from germs and viruses. Dehydration-related effects, like nausea, headache, and dizziness, might not appear for a few hours, and they can also depend on what you drink, how much you drink, and if you also drink water. Alcohol can cause both short-term effects, such as lowered inhibitions, and long-term effects, including a weakened immune system. For more information about alcohol’s effects on the body, please visit the Interactive Body feature on NIAAA’s College Drinking Prevention website. For more information about alcohol and cancer, please visit the National Cancer Institute’s webpage “Alcohol and Cancer Risk” (last accessed October 21, 2021).

25.8% of people classified their recent consumption habits as binge drinking (excessive drinking in a defined amount of time). Societal factors include level of economic development, culture, social norms, availability of alcohol, and implementation and enforcement of alcohol policies. Adverse health impacts and social harm from a given level and pattern of drinking are greater for poorer societies.

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.

Finding treatment for alcohol use disorder

WHO works with Member States and partners to prevent and reduce the harmful use of alcohol as a public health priority. Alcohol can impact various parts of the body, including the brain, heart, liver, and pancreas, as well as essential body systems like the immune and digestive systems. Alcohol use can increase the risk of cardiovascular problems, cognitive decline, liver disease, mental health conditions, and more. In addition, enforcing drink driving countermeasures and securing access to screening, brief interventions, and treatment are effective and ethically sound interventions.

1. Many people drink alcohol as a personal preference, during social activities, or as a part of cultural and religious practices.
2. A  causal relationship has been established between harmful drinking and incidence or outcomes of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV.
3. Many people assume the occasional beer or glass of wine at mealtimes or special occasions doesn’t pose much cause for concern.
4. If your body can’t manage and balance your blood sugar levels, you may experience greater complications and side effects related to diabetes.

The bottom line is that alcohol is potentially addictive, can cause intoxication, and contributes to health problems and preventable deaths. If you already drink at low levels and continue to drink, risks for these issues appear to be low. By not drinking too much, you can reduce the risk of these short- and long-term health risks.

Reducing youth exposure to alcogenic environments: What can be learnt from community-led approaches?

Some studies have found that even light or moderate drinking can lead to some deterioration of the hippocampus. For women, more than three drinks on any day or more than seven drinks a week is heavy drinking. For men, heavy drinking means more than four drinks on any day or more than 14 drinks a week. For example, any amount of drinking increases the risk of breast cancer and colorectal cancer.

Since those effects don’t last long, you might not worry much about them, especially if you don’t drink often. Because denial is common, you may feel like you don’t have a problem with drinking. You might not recognize how much you drink or how many problems in your life are related to alcohol use. Listen to relatives, friends or co-workers when they ask you to examine your drinking habits or to seek help. Consider talking with someone who has had a problem with drinking but has stopped.

Disadvantaged and especially vulnerable populations have higher rates of alcohol-related death and hospitalization. Too much alcohol affects your speech, muscle coordination and vital centers of your brain. A heavy drinking binge may even cause a life-threatening coma or death.

Regular drinking can also affect overall mental health and well-being, in part because alcohol may worsen symptoms of certain mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Alcohol is a toxic and psychoactive substance with dependence producing properties. In many of today’s societies, alcoholic beverages are a routine part of the social landscape for many in the population.

If your body can’t manage and balance your blood sugar levels, you may experience greater complications and side effects related to diabetes. Drinking too much alcohol over time may cause inflammation of the pancreas, resulting in pancreatitis. Pancreatitis can activate the release of pancreatic digestive enzymes and cause abdominal pain. These effects might not last very long, but that doesn’t make them insignificant. Impulsiveness, loss of coordination, and changes in mood can affect your judgment and behavior and contribute to more far-reaching effects, including accidents, injuries, and decisions you later regret.

Alcohol’s physical effects on the body

The pancreas is essential for breaking down enzymes and starches (like those in alcohol). When the pancreas becomes irritated and inflamed, you can develop pancreatitis. The harmful use of alcohol can also result in harm to other people, such as family members, friends, co-workers and strangers. Heavy drinking also has been linked to intentional injuries, such as suicide, as well as accidental injury and death. And drinking raises the risk of problems in the digestive system.

Alcohol Limit Recommendations

It also includes binge drinking — a pattern of drinking where a male has five or more drinks within two hours or a female has at least four drinks within two hours. The context of drinking plays an important role in the occurrence of alcohol-related harm, particularly as a result of alcohol intoxication. Alcohol consumption can have an impact not only on the incidence of diseases, injuries and other health conditions, but also on their outcomes and how these evolve over time. WHO is currently developing an action plan (2022–2030) to effectively implement the global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol as a public health priority. Genetic, psychological, social and environmental factors can impact how drinking alcohol affects your body and behavior. Theories suggest that for certain people drinking has a different and stronger impact that can lead to alcohol use disorder.

Digestive system

If your pattern of drinking results in repeated significant distress and problems functioning in your daily life, you likely have alcohol use disorder. However, even a mild disorder can escalate and lead to serious problems, so early treatment is important. Alcohol is a psychoactive substance with dependence-producing properties that has been widely used in many cultures for centuries. The harmful use of alcohol causes a high burden of disease and has significant social and economic consequences.

Tolerance and dependence can both happen as symptoms of alcohol use disorder, a mental health condition previously referred to as alcoholism, that happens when your body becomes dependent on alcohol. This condition can be mild, moderate, or severe, depending on the number of symptoms you have. Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems. 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.