Alcohol damage to the human body can take on impressive proportions. A drinking person endangers physical and mental health - the internal organs suffer, the work of the most important systems that control the human body is disorganized (the impact of alcohol on the immune system is particularly dangerous), personality degradation occurswhich is due to effect on the human nervous system.
The effects of alcohol on the body affect:
- Liver;
- Brain;
- Nervous system and psyche;
- Cardiovascular systems;
- Kidneys;
- The digestive system;
- Immune system;
- Muscles and joints;
- Endocrine system;
- Spleen;
- Respiratory system;
- Visual organs;
- Exterior.
To avoid negative consequences, you must first know how alcohol affects the human body.
Harmful effects of alcohol on the liver
To find out how alcohol affects the liver, it is worth finding out what its purpose is. The liver is an organ responsible for eliminating toxic substances from the body; various metabolic processes require its participation. For people who drink alcohol frequently, it is important to know why alcohol is dangerous to the liver and how it works. Speaking of the dangers of alcohol, it can be noted that it gradually destroys the liver. The ethyl alcohol that penetrates into it oxidizes, forming a very strong toxin - acetaldehyde. Accumulated in the liver, it modifies the organ and disrupts its work.
The effects of alcohol on the liver are truly devastating. Liver cells die from alcohol, they are replaced by scar or adipose tissue, so the organ can not perform its function normally (toxins accumulate in the body and eventually poison it).
The most serious consequence of how alcohol is harmful to the human body with immeasurable consumption is cirrhosis of the liver. With this disease, the structure of the organ begins to change, the size decreases, the vessels suffer from this: they shrink, the pressure in them increases, the blood stagnates. The natural result in this situation is rupture of vessel walls and bleeding, which is the cause of many deaths.
The effects of alcohol on the brain
The effect of alcohol on the body mainly affects the brain. In a drunken state, a person's cerebral cortex is destroyed, while gradually some of its parts become numb and die.
Those who want to drink alcohol, the brain changes - it becomes full of ulcers, scars and edema, blood vessels dilate, rupture appears in some places, cysts appear in dead areas. These consequences once again prove the negative effect of alcohol at any dose on the human body.
The effect of alcohol on the nervous system and psyche
People who are addicted to alcohol need to know how alcohol affects the psyche. Regular drinking of alcoholic beverages, especially in excessive doses, leads to the destruction of the psyche. A person’s personality and behavior changes completely, mental and moral degradation begins. Alcohol and the nervous system interact to destroy personality. The effects of alcohol on sleep can lead to insomnia. There are other significant consequences - mental disorders and violations of adequate perception of reality. Alcohol is detrimental to memory, concentration and motor coordination. It follows that the influence of alcohol on the human psyche causes great harm to the whole body.
It is necessary to understand in more detail why alcohol is harmful to human mental health. The harmful effect of alcohol on the human body and the nervous system in particular is that the nerve fibers are damaged and their conductivity deteriorates, in medicine such a violation is called polyneuritis. A person loses sensitivity to pain and temperature changes, has numbness in the legs and arms, weakness and "cotton". Other signs: swelling, increased sweating, "peeling" on the skin, itching and burning, severe aching pain, muscles seem to be tightened, as if pierced with needles.
The most common effects on the central nervous system of alcohol consumption are:
- Delirium tremens. It is worth knowing why such a condition is dangerous. Appears after cessation of prolonged use of alcohol, accompanied by hallucinations, delirium, fever and chills, suicidal tendencies;
- Encephalopathy. Caused by an acute deficiency of B vitamins in people who drink chronically. Its symptoms are problems with vision and vestibular apparatus, confusion;
- Alcoholic dementia syndrome. Loss of basic mental abilities, problems with counting, speaking, perception, concentration, memory;
- Alcoholic epilepsy. Manifested in convulsions and seizures in a hangover state;
- Korsakov's psychosis. Loss of sensation in the limbs is combined with significant memory impairment.
Undoubtedly, the mental consequences of alcoholism lead to personality degradation, the psychology of its behavior is disturbing.
Cardiovascular problems
Alcohol is harmful to the health and normal functioning of the heart muscle. Heart disease is one of the most common causes of multiple deaths among drinkers.
This muscular organ can expand in volume with regular exposure to alcohol. In addition, the consequences of high doses of alcohol are arrhythmia, an increased risk of developing hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke, ischemic heart muscle damage, and atherosclerosis.
Kidneys and alcoholic beverages
The kidneys are a very important organ. It works as follows: removes fluid from the body, cleanses the blood of toxic substances and participates in metabolic processes. Regular consumption of alcoholic beverages forces the kidneys to work at their maximum intensity.
This threatens a variety of pathological conditions - dehydration, metabolic disorders, intoxication, the appearance of stones, pyelonephritis, the development of renal failure, inflammation of the urinary tract, the appearance of a cancer.
How alcohol affects the digestive tract
Alcoholic beverages are poison to the digestive system. The walls of the esophagus are affected, heartburn appears, the gag reflex intensifies, the vessels in the esophagus become thinner and dilated, and during vomiting a rupture of the venous walls may occur, which will provoke bleeding.
In addition, alcohol causes irreparable damage to the protective membrane of the stomach. The result is premature aging of the organ, impairment of its functions. Typical diseases of people who drink are gastritis, ulcers and even stomach cancer.
The effect of alcohol on immunity
Information on how alcohol affects immunity is twofold. Moderate drinking can help you cope better with colds. However, with more frequent alcohol consumption, a person's immunity is inhibited.
Decreased immunity is manifested in a decrease in the amount of a special protein - lysozyme, which is part of saliva, tears and other secret secretions. This protein neutralizes harmful microbes that enter the body and prevents the development of various infectious diseases. Thus, we can confidently state that alcohol reduces immunity.
The effects of alcohol on joints and muscles
Muscle tissue suffers from any dose of alcohol, which is very harmful to muscle health. It slows down or completely stops muscle growth, they atrophy, become soft, alcohol can even completely destroy them. This can increase fat reserves in the body. Alcohol and joints are not compatible concepts. The effect of alcohol on the health of the skeletal system is very important because it destroys bone tissue, removes calcium from the body, bones age quickly, become brittle and fractures often occur. After drinking alcohol, the joints often hurt.
Joint problems are common in the lives of alcoholics. People who drink often develop arthritis, an inflammation of the joint formations. Signs of arthritis: the joints begin to hurt, especially the knees. After another pleasure, the pain intensifies.
Alcohol retains fluid in the body, edema appears, uric acid stops secreting normally and accumulates in the form of salts that settle in the joints, which provokes the appearance of gout. Excess fluid enters the joints, presses on the walls of the cavity of the article, touches the nerve fibers, the pain appears in various joints after alcohol. Over time, due to the action of alcoholic beverages, deformation and complete destruction of articular formations occurs.
How does alcohol affect your appearance?
A person who is addicted to alcohol is easily recognizable to a crowd. Typical view of drinks:
- bluish nose color;
- red and swollen face;
- bags under the eyes;
- bruising from bruising or falling;
- liquid clothes;
- disheveled hair.
The effect of alcohol on the skin is also negative. A red tinge appears, which is explained by the increase in blood flow under the influence of alcohol. A large load on the vessels causes their damage, small capillaries burst, this causes bruising in the form of blue and red spots on the face. A bluish tinge is the result of severe damage to blood vessels, the blood does not supply these areas well with oxygen.
To remove alcohol from the body, a large amount of fluid is involved, dehydration sets in, a person who has consumed too much alcohol feels a strong thirst, tries to quench it. Fluid accumulates and is removed slowly because the body seeks to protect itself from recurrent dehydration and makes water reserves, from which the face and other parts of the body swell.
The effect of alcohol on the endocrine system
Alcohol and its effect on human health are also related to the work of the hormonal system. Its main organs:
- Thyroid gland (regulates metabolism);
- Pituitary gland and hypothalamus (controls the work of the whole system);
- Pancreas (responsible for producing insulin);
- Pineal glands (produces hormones that affect sleep, blood circulation and the nervous system);
- Adrenal glands (produce adrenaline);
- Thymus (regulates the growth and development of immune cells);
- Gonads (produces male and female hormones).
The effect of alcohol on the thyroid gland and other organs of the endocrine system is such that it reduces the production of some hormones and increases the production of others. For example, in men there is a predominance of female hormones and a decrease in the level of male hormones. For women who drink, the opposite is true. Hormonal disorders negatively affect the condition of the whole organism. Some endocrine pathologies are associated with congenital mutations in genes, and these mutations also often result from excessive alcohol consumption. The normal interaction of alcohol and the thyroid gland, as well as other endocrine organs, is impossible.
How alcohol can affect the spleen
Often, the spleen aches from frequent consumption of alcohol. This organ plays the role of a user of aged and damaged blood cells in the body. It is a "reserve" of blood, which, if necessary, supplies the vessels of the circulatory system. In addition, this organ cleanses the blood of pathogenic microorganisms.
Pain in the left hypochondrium may signal spleen problems caused by excessive drinking. It is easy to explain why alcohol consumption is dangerous and why it hurts. Most often, this organ is enlarged, splenic infarction, abscess, in severe cases requiring removal of this organ, are also possible. The consequences of excessive consumption of any type of alcohol can seriously impair the functioning of the spleen and lead to death.
Effects on the respiratory system
Drinks should be aware of how alcohol affects lung health. Alcohol vapors affect the respiratory mucosa, which contributes to the development of pneumonia, bronchitis, chronic pharyngitis and laryngitis (ie hoarseness of the voice of drunkards). Moreover, these diseases are difficult and long-term. Pneumonia can result in pneumosclerosis (lung tissue hardens). Blood alcohol causes the destruction of lung tissue and their pathological expansion (emphysema).
In the example of the lungs, it can be seen what irreparable damage alcohol causes to the human body. Large doses of alcohol impair the respiratory activity of the lungs, in some cases, respiration may stop completely. Delirium tremens is often associated with inflammation and pulmonary edema. There is also a link between alcohol and the occurrence of lung cancer.
The effect of alcohol on human vision
Not everyone knows for sure if alcohol is harmful to eyesight and why alcoholics have eye pain. Under the influence of alcohol, intracranial pressure increases. This causes damage to the vessels of the eyes and numerous minor hemorrhages, the oxygen supply to the muscles is interrupted, they are in a permanent state of tension. The consequence of this condition can be atrophy of the eyeball muscles and deterioration of the quality of vision.
In addition, alcohol can affect the fundus nerve fibers, disrupting optic nerve function. The most serious effect of alcohol on the visual system is blindness.
Alcoholism and its consequences have a devastating effect on the body, and the psyche can also change significantly. Only by stopping drinking can you stop the process of destroying your body.