The harm of alcohol to the human body can take on staggering proportions. A person who drinks puts physical and mental health at risk: internal organs suffer, the work of the most important systems that control the human body is disorganized (the influence of alcohol on the immune system is especially dangerous), degradation occurs of the personality, which is due to the effects on the human nervous system.
The effects of alcohol on the body affect:
- Liver;
- Brain;
- The nervous system and the psyche;
- Cardiovascular system;
- Kidneys;
- The digestive system;
- The immune system;
- Muscles and joints;
- Endocrine system;
- Spleen;
- Respiratory System;
- Visual organs;
- External appearance.
To avoid negative consequences, you must first know how alcohol affects the human body.
The 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 the elimination of toxic substances from the body, various metabolic processes require its participation. For people who often drink alcohol, it is important to know why alcohol is dangerous for the liver and how it works. Speaking about the dangers of alcohol, it can be emphasized that it gradually destroys the liver. The ethyl alcohol that enters it is oxidized, forming a very strong toxin: acetaldehyde. Accumulating in the liver, it modifies the organ and stops its work.
The effects of alcohol on the liver are truly devastating. Liver cells die from alcohol, are replaced by scar or fatty tissue, so the organ cannot 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 liver cirrhosis. With this disease, the structure of the organ begins to change, the size decreases, the vessels suffer from it: they shrink, the pressure in them increases, the blood stagnates. The natural result in this situation is the rupture of the 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 primarily affects the brain. In a state of intoxication, a person's cerebral cortex is destroyed, while gradually some of its parts become numb and die.
Those who like to drink alcohol, the brain changes: it becomes filled with ulcers, scars and edema, blood vessels dilate, ruptures appear in some places, cysts appear in dead areas. These consequences once again prove the negative effect of alcohol in any dose on the human body.
The effect of alcohol on the nervous system and the psyche
People who are addicted to alcohol need to know how alcohol affects the psyche. Regularly drinking alcoholic beverages, especially in excessive doses, leads to the destruction of the psyche. A person's personality and behavior completely change, mental and moral degradation begins. Alcohol and the nervous system interact to destroy the personality. The effects of alcohol on sleep can lead to insomnia. There are other significant consequences: mental disorders and violations of the adequate perception of reality. Alcohol is bad for memory, concentration and motor coordination. It follows that the influence of alcohol on the human psyche causes severe damage to the whole body.
It is necessary to understand in more detail why alcohol is bad for human mental health. The harmful effect of alcohol on the human body and in particular on the nervous system is that the nerve fibers are damaged and their conductivity worsens, in medicine such a violation is called polyneuritis. A person loses sensitivity to pain and sudden changes in temperature, there is numbness in the legs and arms, weakness and "cottony". Other signs: swelling, increased sweating, "goosebumps" on the skin, itching and burning, sharp sharp pain, muscles seem tense, as if stung with needles.
The most common central nervous system effects of alcohol consumption are:
- Delirium tremens. It is worth knowing why such a condition is dangerous. Appears after the cessation of prolonged use of alcohol, accompanied by hallucinations, delirium, fever and fever, suicidal tendencies;
- Encephalopathy. Caused by a severe deficiency of B vitamins in people who drink chronically. Its symptoms are vision and vestibular problems, confusion;
- Alcoholic dementia syndrome. Loss of basic mental skills, problems with counting, speech, perception, concentration, memory;
- Alcoholic epilepsy. It manifests itself in convulsions and convulsions in a hangover state;
- Korsakov's psychosis. Loss of sensation in the limbs is associated with significant memory impairment.
Undoubtedly, the mental consequences of alcoholism lead to the degradation of the personality, the psychology of his behavior is disturbed.
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 numerous 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, increased risk of developing hypertension, myocardial infarction, stroke, ischemic damage to the heart muscle and atherosclerosis.
Kidneys and liquor
The kidneys are a very important organ. It acts as follows: removes fluids 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 with a whole range 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 thin and widen, and a rupture of the venous walls can occur during vomiting, which will cause bleeding.
In addition, alcohol causes irreparable damage to the protective membrane of the stomach. The result is the premature aging of the organ, the impairment of its functions. Typical diseases of people who drink are gastritis, ulcer and even stomach cancer.
The effect of alcohol on immunity
The information on how alcohol affects immunity is twofold. Drinking in moderation can help you cope with a cold better. However, with more frequent alcohol consumption, a person's immunity is inhibited.
Reduced immunity is manifested in a decrease in the amount of a special protein - lysozyme, which is part of saliva, tears and other secretory secretions. This protein neutralizes harmful microbes that enter the body and prevents the development of various infectious diseases. Therefore, we can confidently say that alcohol reduces immunity.
Effects of alcohol on joints and muscles
Muscle tissue suffers from any dose of alcohol, which is very detrimental to muscle health. Slow down or completely stop the growth of muscles, they atrophy, become flabby, alcohol can even completely destroy them. This can increase body fat stores. Alcohol and joints are not compatible concepts. The effect of alcohol on the health of the skeletal system is very significant, because it destroys bone tissue, eliminates calcium from the body, bones age rapidly, become brittle, and fractures often occur. After drinking alcohol, the joints often hurt.
Joint problems are common in the life of alcoholics. People who drink often develop arthritis, an inflammation of the joint formations. Signs of arthritis: Joints are starting to ache, especially the knees. After another binge, the pain intensifies.
Alcohol retains fluids in the body, edema appears, uric acid ceases to be excreted normally and accumulates in the form of salts that are deposited in the joints, provoking the appearance of gout. Excess fluid enters the joint, presses on the walls of the joint cavity, touches the nerve fibers, pain appears in various joints after alcohol. Over time, due to the action of alcoholic beverages, deformations and complete destruction of joint formations occur.
How alcohol affects your appearance
A person addicted to alcohol is easily recognizable in a crowd. Typical appearance of the drinker:
- bluish color of the nose;
- red and swollen face;
- eye bags;
- bruising from bruising or falls;
- sloppy clothes;
- disheveled hair.
The effect of alcohol on the skin is also negative. A red tint appears, which is explained by increased blood flow under the influence of alcohol. A large load on the vessels causes their damage, small capillaries burst, this causes bruises in the form of blue and red dots on the face. A bluish tint is the result of severe vascular damage, the blood does not provide oxygen well to these areas.
To remove alcohol from the body, a large amount of fluid is involved, dehydration occurs, a person who has consumed a lot of alcohol feels a strong thirst, tries to quench it. Fluids accumulate and are removed slowly, because the body tries to protect itself from repeated 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 associated with the work of the hormonal system. Its main organs:
- Thyroid gland (regulates metabolism);
- Pituitary gland and hypothalamus (controls the work of the whole system);
- The pancreas (responsible for insulin production);
- The pineal gland (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 and other organs of the endocrine system is such that it decreases 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 adversely affect the state of the whole organism. Some endocrine disorders are associated with congenital genetic mutations, and these mutations often also result from excessive alcohol consumption. Normal interaction between alcohol and thyroid, as well as other endocrine organs, is impossible.
How alcohol can affect the spleen
Often the spleen hurts due to frequent alcohol consumption. This organ plays the role of a user of aged and damaged blood cells in the body. It is a "store" of blood, which, if necessary, supplies the vessels of the circulatory system. In addition, this organ cleans the blood of pathogenic microorganisms.
Pain in the left hypochondrium can signal spleen problems caused by excessive alcohol consumption. It is easy to explain why alcohol consumption is dangerous and why the spleen hurts. Most often, this organ is enlarged, spleen infarction, abscesses are also possible, in severe cases requiring the removal of this organ. 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
Drinkers 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 (hence the hoarseness of drunkards). Furthermore, these diseases are difficult and long-term. Pneumonia can lead to pneumosclerosis (lung tissue hardens). Alcohol in the blood causes the destruction of lung tissue and their pathological expansion (emphysema).
On the example of the lungs, it can be seen what irreparable harm alcohol causes to the human body. Large doses of alcohol impair the respiratory activity of the lungs, in some cases breathing can stop completely. Delirium tremens is often accompanied by inflammation and pulmonary edema. There is also a link between alcohol and the onset of lung cancer.
The effect of alcohol on human sight
Not everyone knows for sure if alcohol is bad for 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 small hemorrhages, the oxygen supply to the muscles is interrupted, they are in a state of permanent tension. The consequence of this condition can be the atrophy of the muscles of the eyeball and the deterioration of the quality of vision.
Also, alcohol can affect the nerve fibers of the fundus, disrupting the function of the optic nerve. The most serious effect of alcohol on the visual system is blindness.
Alcoholism and its consequences have a destructive effect on the body, and the psyche can also change significantly. Only by stopping drinking can you stop the process of destroying your body.