Drinking alcohol can raise blood pressure due to the alcohol itself, and also the sugar and calories that are often in alcoholic drinks. Up to 16% of all individuals with https://sidingcompanylynden.com/4-stages-of-alcoholic-dementia-causes-symptoms/ consistent medical high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, are diagnosed due to heavy drinking. Once an individual commits to stop drinking, the physician will watch out for and treat withdrawal symptoms. Depending on the amount and duration of drinking and any symptoms, detoxification (often simply called “detox”) from alcohol can be done as an outpatient, or as an inpatient in a hospital or drug treatment facility. During the withdrawal process, the doctor may prescribe a class of antianxiety drugs called benzodiazepines for a short period in order to reduce withdrawal symptoms. When you consume alcohol, the effects of alcohol on the hippocampus make the formation of long-term memories less likely.
Gut health
Lowered inhibitions when drinking alcohol can lead to impulsive behavior—engaging in behaviors without considering the potential consequences of your actions. The impairing effects of alcohol on cognitive functioning—including concentration, thinking, reasoning, and decision-making—play a role in increased impulsivity while drinking. Drinking any amount or type of alcohol has a wide range of short- and long-term effects on your physical and mental health. As a central nervous system depressant, alcohol slows the body’s systems and leads to noticeable changes in cognitive and physical functions.
- The pancreas helps regulate how your body uses insulin and responds to glucose.
- It can also be difficult for the body to process, putting extra pressure on the liver, the digestive system, the cardiovascular system, and other functions.
- This could help explain why women are more likely to have negative effects from alcohol.
Take back your blood pressure control!
Their spouses or romantic partners may choose to leave because of the lack of communication and trust. Children may lose faith in their parents with AUD, or become estranged from them. Friends might start to keep their distance due to the breakdown in healthy communication. The well-known phenomenon of denial, which is a common alcohol rehab part of the illness, often turns the illness into a chronic one.
Find support on reducing your alcohol consumption:
- “Alcohol helps people fall asleep, but it disrupts REM and deep sleep the rest of the night.
- Having a drink while getting together with family or friends is often part of many special occasions.
- Alcoholic liver disease and alcohol-induced pancreatitis are other alcohol-specific disease categories that are of global importance.
- Alcohol use can damage the hippocampus, the part of your brain responsible for memory and learning.
- Consider turning toward your existing professional network and expanding it.
It makes your body release stress hormones that narrow blood vessels, so your heart has to pump harder to push blood through. Over time, heavy drinking makes the organ fatty and lets thicker, fibrous tissue build up. That limits blood flow, so liver cells don’t get what they need to survive. As they die off, the liver gets scars and stops working as well, a disease called cirrhosis.
- You might not link a cold to a night of drinking, but there might be a connection.
- Chronic alcohol use raises your risk for health problems, including heart disease, liver disease, cancer, and mental health disorders.
- Long-term heavy drinkers are much more likely to get illnesses like pneumonia and tuberculosis.
- If a person consumes large amounts of alcohol regularly, their tolerance can increase, and the body requires more alcohol to achieve the desired effect.
Alcohol can help cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco and other sources enter your cells more easily. Assessing the risks and benefits of alcohol consumption remains an active area of research that may lead to major changes in official guidelines or warning labels. For example, a 2018 study found that light drinkers (those consuming one to three drinks per week) had lower rates of cancer or death than those drinking less than one drink per week or none at all. Your body breaks alcohol down into a chemical called acetaldehyde, which damages your DNA. Damaged DNA can cause a cell to grow out of control, which results in cancerous tumors. With continued alcohol use, steatotic liver disease can lead to liver fibrosis.
Drinking moderately if you’re otherwise healthy may be a risk you’re willing to take. But heavy drinking carries a much higher risk even for those without other health concerns. Be sure to ask your healthcare professional about what’s right for your health and safety. In the United States, moderate drinking for healthy adults is different for men and women. It what is a chronic drinker means on days when a person does drink, women do not have more than one drink and men do not have more than two drinks.
Is Drinking Too Much Bad for Your Health?
If the person stops drinking, they will experience withdrawal symptoms. This article discusses the long-term effects of alcohol, including the risks to your physical health and mental well-being. From a glass of wine with dinner to a night out with friends or a celebratory toast, alcohol consumption is deeply ingrained in many social practices and cultural traditions worldwide. In the United States, over 84% of adults report drinking alcohol at least once in their lifetime. Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems.