Alcohol is a depressant that makes your brain slower, reducing your reaction times, impairing motor coordination and diminishing your intellectual performance. You should never mix it with other depressants, such as sleeping pills, ketamine, tranquilizers, etc. because it will multiply the effect of each substance.
Alcohol affects both the body and mind, but in this article, we’ll focus on the 10 effects of alcohol on your body alone. No matter if you have an AUD (alcohol use disorder) or are just a social drinker, you should know about all these effects.
1. Effects on the Central Nervous System
Let’s start with the effects of alcohol on your brain. You know you’ve had too much to drink when you start slurring your speech. Alcohol impacts upon communication between the brain and the body. Coordination is slowed down, and you might feel numb in your extremities.
Drinking affects your thinking, and your memory, too. If you make drinking a habit, you can actually damage your frontal lobe. Both your short- and long-term memory will suffer from prolonged use of alcohol, resulting in permanent brain damage in severe cases.
2. Effects on Sexual Health
Men who are chronic alcoholics can develop erectile dysfunction, diminished libido and reduced testosterone production. Women that are chronic alcoholics can stop menstruating entirely. Alcohol can affect their fertility.
Pregnant women who drink can have a stillbirth, miscarriage, or premature delivery. The effects of drinking in pregnancy can also transfer to the unborn child. They include long-term health problems, abnormalities in growth, learning difficulties and other problems.
3. Effects on the Immune System
Prolonged alcohol use can impair your immune system drastically. Your body will be weaker in fighting viruses and germs. If you drink too much for too long, you can develop tuberculosis or pneumonia. You could even get cancer (colon, breast, mouth, and other types), fatty liver, fibrosis, hepatitis, and many other serious diseases.
4. Effects on the Digestive System
There are in fact many effects of alcohol on the digestive system. You can damage the digestive tract tissue and stop food digestion, and the absorption of vitamins and nutrients. This can result in malnutrition.
Other effects of chronic alcohol abuse are bloating, gassiness, and diarrhea. You can develop hemorrhoids and ulcers, suffer from internal bleeding. Violent nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are also short-term effects of alcohol misuse.
5. Effects on the Circulatory System
Alcohol is also bad for the lungs and the heart. You can get heart disease from prolonged drinking, if women are more at risk than men. Other effects include heart failure, high blood pressure, inconsistent heartbeat, heart attack, blood clots, stroke, and heart disease.
Your body may have trouble pumping out blood to your organs. If you become malnourished, you risk anemia (low red blood cell count), all through chronic alcohol use.
Drink in Moderation
These are just some of the harshest effects of alcohol on your body. There are many other risks associated with alcohol misuse, such as damage to your liver, pancreas, bones, muscles, and so on. Alcohol can negatively impact upon your body, but also cause permanent damage to your mind.
Avoid drinking too much, and if you notice you’re developing a dependency, seek help from professionals.
