Author: John Carter

Understanding alcohol and our immune system Alcohol and Drug Foundation

In such patients, alcohol impairs mucosal immunity in the gut and lower respiratory system. This impairment can lead to sepsis and pneumonia and also increases the incidence and extent of postoperative complications, including delay in wound closure. Bagby and colleagues review substantial evidence that alcohol further disrupts the immune system, significantly increasing the likelihood of HIV transmission and progression. Alcohol can either activate or suppress the immune system depending on, for example, how much is consumed and how concentrated it is in the various tissues and organs. That dual action predisposes heavy drinkers both to increased infection and to chronic inflammation.

1. Your gut microbiome is a hotbed of bacteria that help keep your digestive system happy and healthy.
2. Alcohol can either activate or suppress the immune system depending on, for example, how much is consumed and how concentrated it is in the various tissues and organs.
3. In contrast, men who consumed a similarly moderate amount of beer for the same period exhibited a significant increase in basophils alone.
4. The white blood cells, tissues and organs that make up our body’s immune system are designed to fight off infections, disease and toxins.
5. “Anything above that, regardless of time period, is exposing your body to more alcohol than is ideal,” says Favini.

Significant differences between the immune system of the mouse—the primary model organism used in immune studies—and that of humans also complicate the translation of experimental results from these animals to humans. Moreover, the wide-ranging roles of the immune system present significant challenges for designing interventions that target immune pathways without producing undesirable side effects. Alcohol also causes damage to the cells in the outside layer of your stomach and intestines. As a result, bacteria may leak from the GI tract into your bloodstream, which can itself make you sick. Also, bacteria that escape this area can change the immune system in your liver, which can lead to inflammation and, potentially, alcoholic liver disease. Alcohol consumption does not have to be chronic to have negative health consequences.

In addition to its adverse effects on GI functioning, the impact of alcohol on the GI microbiome can also alter the maturation and functions of the immune system. Heavy alcohol use weakens the immune system, and a weak immune system makes it easier to get sick. However, there are signs that you can look for if you are concerned that your drinking might be affecting your immunity.

So, your system prioritizes getting rid of alcohol before it can turn its attention to its other work. If alcohol continues to accumulate in your system, it can destroy cells and, eventually, damage your organs. And the less sleep a person gets, the higher their risk for getting sick.

However, chronic and heavy alcohol consumption can lead to fewer T cells and B cells. Even drinking a little too much (binge drinking) on occasion can set off a chain reaction that affects your well-being. Lowered inhibitions can lead to poor choices with lasting repercussions — like the end of a relationship, an accident or legal woes. Each of those consequences can cause turmoil that can negatively affect your long-term emotional health.

Alcohol can have a range of harmful effects on the body, which can diminish a person’s immune response and put them more at risk for COVID-19. The World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. surgeon general have warned people to avoid drinking too much alcohol during the COVID-19 pandemic. Past data shows binge drinking can have a massive effect on the immune system. Similarly, alcohol can trigger inflammation in the gut and destroy the microorganisms that live in the intestine and maintain immune system health. When someone is exposed to a virus, the body mounts an immune response to attack and kill the foreign pathogen. Several studies have demonstrated the dose-dependent effect that alcohol has on preventing both monocytes and macrophages from binding to the bacterial cell wall component lipopolysaccharide (LPS).

World Health Organization Health Topics Alcohol

But there’s plenty of research to back up the notion that alcohol does lead to weight gain in general. In reality, there’s no evidence that drinking beer (or your alcoholic beverages of choice) actually contributes to belly fat. With continued alcohol use, steatotic liver disease can lead to liver fibrosis. Eventually, you can develop permanent and irreversible scarring in your liver, which is called cirrhosis. “Some people think of the effects of alcohol as only something to be worried about if you’re living with alcohol use disorder, which was formerly called alcoholism,” Dr. Sengupta says.

You can also ask your health insurance company for a list of in-network providers. Alcoholics Anonymous is available almost everywhere and provides a place to openly and nonjudgmentally discuss alcohol issues with others who have alcohol use disorder. And prolonged alcohol use can lead to mental health conditions like anxiety and depression. Long-term alcohol use can change your brain’s wiring in much more significant ways.

Often, the alcohol-provoked lung damage goes undetected until a second insult, such as a respiratory infection, leads to more severe lung diseases than those seen in nondrinkers. And it’s not just that you’re more likely to get a cold — excessive drinking is linked to pneumonia and other pulmonary diseases. It can also lead to a wide range of health problems, including high blood pressure and heart disease, liver disease, and increased risk of cancer. Alcohol alters the makeup of your gut microbiome — home to trillions of microorganisms performing several crucial roles for your health — and affects those microorganisms’ ability to support your immune system. It seems that drinking alcohol may also damage the immune cells that line the intestines and serve as the first line of defense against bacteria and viruses.

Mental health

Some of the most notable contributors to the innate immune response include natural killer (NK) cells, neutrophils, monocytes, macrophages, and dendritic cells (DCs). If you feel like you cannot control your drinking on your own, you may want to consider seeking addiction treatment. For example, depending on your level of alcohol use, quitting drinking may help resolve the first stage of alcohol liver disease. If you are drinking a lot, stopping or decreasing your alcohol use can also help your chances of not developing severe liver disease. Certain immune system cells — T cells and B cells — originate in your bone marrow.

Although this chronic weakening of lung function may not cause any immediate symptoms, these effects can manifest when a severe respiratory infection occurs. Much progress has been made in elucidating the relationship between alcohol consumption and immune function and how this interaction affects human health. Normal immune function hinges on bidirectional communication of immune cells with nonimmune cells at the local level, as well as crosstalk between the brain and the periphery. These different layers of interaction make validation of the mechanisms by which alcohol affects immune function challenging.

If you’re unfamiliar, inflammation is what naturally occurs when your immune system goes into action. The redness and swelling that you see is the result of your body sending more blood to provide nutrients to the site of injury. Examples include certain cancers, as well as pneumonia and other respiratory problems. It can also lead to complications after surgery and poor recovery from injuries such as broken bones. Your gut microbiome is a hotbed of bacteria that help keep your digestive system happy and healthy. The trillions of microbes in your colon and large and small intestines are critical to proper digestion.

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Antibodies detect and get rid of substances that are harmful to your body, including bacteria and viruses. By illuminating the key events and mechanisms of alcohol-induced immune activation or suppression, research is yielding deeper insights into alcohol’s highly variable and sometimes paradoxical influences on immune function. The insights summarized in this issue of ARCR present researchers and clinicians with opportunities to devise new interventions or refine existing ones to target the immune system and better manage alcohol-related diseases. Steatotic liver disease develops in about 90% of people who drink more than 1.5 to 2 ounces of alcohol per day.

Alcohol’s Effect on Host Defense

The ability of alcohol to alter both innate and adaptive immune defenses inevitably impacts how the immune system of even a moderate alcohol drinker can respond to infections. The effects of alcohol on both cell-mediated and humoral immunity have been well-documented since the early 1960s, wherein researchers found that alcohol abuse significantly reduced both CD4 and CD8 T-cell counts. In addition to laboratory studies confirming the impact of alcohol consumption on the innate immune system, several studies have looked at how heavy drinking can alter plasma cytokine levels. To this end, one study analyzed IL-10, IL-6, IL-18, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) levels in 25 non-treating seeking heavy drinkers after they had consumed an alcoholic drink. The researchers reported significant reductions in the TNF-α levels three and six hours after the alcohol consumption.

Alcohol has been flying off the shelves as people try to combat boredom during lockdown, with some reports estimating that alcoholic beverage sales surged by 55 percent toward the end of March. If you experience any of these symptoms, you may want to consider talking with your healthcare provider.