The harm of alcohol to the human body can take on impressive proportions. A drinking person 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), personality degradation occurs, which is due to the effect on the human nervous system.
The effects of alcohol on the body affect:
- Liver;
- Brain;
- The nervous system and 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 first need to know how alcohol affects the human body.
The damaging 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. It is important for people who often drink alcohol to know how dangerous alcohol is for the liver and how it works. Speaking about the dangers of alcohol, we can point out that it gradually destroys the liver. Ethyl alcohol penetrating into it is oxidized, forming a very strong toxin - acetaldehyde. Accumulating 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 cicatricial or adipose 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 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 rises, the blood stagnates. The natural result in this situation is 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 riddled with ulcers, scars and edema, blood vessels dilate, ruptures appear in some places, cysts appear on the 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 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. The personality and behavior of a person changes completely, 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 harmful to memory, concentration, and motor coordination. It follows from this that the influence of alcohol on the human psyche causes great harm to the entire 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 worsens, in medicine such a violation is called polyneuritis. A person loses sensitivity to pain and temperature changes, there is numbness in the legs and arms, weakness and "cottoniness". Other signs: swelling, increased sweating, "goosebumps" on the skin, itching and burning, sharp severe pain, muscles seem to be tightened, as if they were pricked 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. It appears after the cessation of prolonged use of alcohol, accompanied by hallucinations, delirium, fever and fever, suicidal tendencies;
- Encephalopathy. Caused by an acute shortage of B vitamins in people who drink chronically. Her symptoms are problems with vision and vestibular apparatus, confusion;
- Alcohol dementia syndrome. Loss of elementary mental abilities, problems with counting, speech, perception, concentration, memory;
- Alcoholic epilepsy. It manifests itself in convulsions and seizures in a state of a hangover;
- Korsakov's psychosis. Loss of sensation in the limbs is combined with significant memory impairment.
Undoubtedly, the mental consequences of alcoholism lead to degradation of the personality, the psychology of her 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, an 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: it 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 with a whole set 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 drinks are poison for the digestive system. The walls of the esophagus are affected, heartburn appears, the gag reflex intensifies, the vessels in the esophagus become thinner and widen, 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 illnesses of people who drink are gastritis, ulcers and even stomach cancer.
The effect of alcohol on immunity
The information about how alcohol affects immunity is twofold. Drinking in moderation can help you better cope with colds. 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 entering the body and prevents the development of various infectious diseases. Thus, we can confidently assert that alcohol reduces immunity.
Effects of alcohol on joints and muscles
Muscle tissue suffers from any dose of alcohol, because it is very harmful to muscle health. It slows down or completely stops 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, flushes calcium out of the body, bones age quickly, become fragile, and fractures often occur. After taking alcohol, joints often hurt.
Joint problems are common in the life of alcoholics. People who drink often develop arthritis, an inflammation of joint formations. Signs of arthritis: joints begin to ache, knees especially suffer. After another binge, the pain intensifies.
Alcohol retains fluid in the body, edema appears, uric acid ceases to be excreted normally and accumulates in the form of salts that settle in the joints, which provokes the appearance of gout. Excess fluid enters the joint, presses on the walls of the articular cavity, touches the nerve fibers, pain appears in various joints after alcohol. Over time, due to the action of alcoholic beverages, deformation and complete destruction of articular formations occur.
How alcohol affects your appearance
It is easy to recognize a person who is addicted to alcohol in a crowd. Typical Drinker Appearance:
- bluish color of the nose;
- reddened and swollen face;
- bags under the eyes;
- bruising from bruising or falling;
- sloppy clothes;
- disheveled hair.
The effect of alcohol on the skin is also negative. A red tint appears, which is explained by the increased 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 dots on the face. A bluish tint is the result of severe vascular damage, the blood does not supply these areas with oxygen well.
To remove alcohol from the body, a large amount of fluid is used, dehydration sets in, a person who has consumed a lot of alcohol feels a strong thirst, tries to quench it. Fluid accumulates and is slowly removed, because the body seeks 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 (regulate metabolism);
- Pituitary gland and hypothalamus (controls the work of the entire system);
- The pancreas (responsible for the production of insulin);
- 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 gland 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, the prevalence of female hormones and a decrease in the level of male hormones are observed. For women who drink, the opposite is true. Hormonal disorders adversely affect the state of the whole organism. Some endocrine pathologies are associated with congenital gene mutations, and these mutations also often arise from drinking too much alcohol. 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 hurts from frequent alcohol consumption. This organ plays the role of a utilizer of aged and damaged blood cells in the body. It is a reserve "storage" of blood, which, if necessary, supplies the vessels of the circulatory system. In addition, this organ cleans the blood from 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 the spleen hurts. Most often, this organ is enlarged, spleen infarction, abscess, in severe cases requiring the removal of this organ, are also possible. The consequences of excessive consumption of any type of alcohol can seriously disrupt 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). Moreover, these diseases are difficult and long-term. Pneumonia can flow into pneumosclerosis (lung tissue hardens). The alcohol in the blood causes the destruction of lung tissue and their pathological expansion (emphysema).
On the example of the lungs, one can see 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 are often accompanied by 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 whether alcohol is harmful to vision, 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 supply of oxygen to the muscles is disrupted, they are in a state of permanent tension. The consequence of this condition can be atrophy of the muscles of the eyeball and deterioration in the quality of vision.
In addition, 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 destruction of your body.