Alcohol can affect the body in both the short term and the long term, causing immediate problems like impaired coordination and judgment as well as lasting damage linked to heart disease, cancer, liver disease, and brain injury. The health effects of alcohol are wide-reaching, including both short-term and long-term effects on the body. Alcohol can affect nearly every organ system in the body. Health problems can develop if you drink alcohol frequently or if you drink a lot in a single session.
Whether you drink alcohol, are worried about how it may be affecting your health, or are dealing with signs of alcohol use disorder, understanding alcohol’s effects matters because these risks can become serious or even life-threatening and can also affect your mental health and family. This article explains the factors that shape alcohol’s effects, including the short-term and long-term health consequences, mental health effects, risks during pregnancy, and the potential for addiction.
Factors that Impact How Alcohol Affects Health
Every person responds differently to alcohol consumption, so some people are at a higher risk of developing health complications than others. Age, genetics, gender, body composition, and your patterns of drinking can all affect how alcohol impacts your health. Women often reach a higher blood alcohol concentration after the same amounts of alcohol than men.
How much you drink and how often you drink also affect your health risks. The severity of alcohol’s effects varies by both the amount and frequency of alcohol intake. Different health problems may develop if a person drinks a lot in a single sitting compared to drinking daily for a long period of time. In general, the more you drink, the more your health is at risk.
While moderate drinking or moderate alcohol use may be described as moderate alcohol and low-risk depending on how much alcohol someone consumes, current public health guidance, including from the World Health Organization, says less alcohol is better for health and research indicates no amount of alcohol is completely safe.
Short-Term Effects of Alcohol Consumption
Binge drinking can cause short-term health effects that impair your ability to function normally, and heavy drinking over the course of just a few hours could have deadly consequences. Alcohol acts as a depressant on the central nervous system, and alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines binge drinking for women as having 4 or more drinks on a single occasion and for men as having 5 or more drinks on a single occasion. While most people who binge drink don’t have alcohol use disorder, they can still suffer from short-term health issues due to excessive drinking.
Some of the health issues that might develop from a single drinking session include:
- Loss of coordination
- Flushed skin
- Difficulty concentrating
- Increased blood pressure
- Mood swings
- Lowered body temperature
- Vomiting
- Passing out
- Dehydration, thirst or dry mouth
Food slows the rate at which alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream, but it does not prevent impairment.
If you drink too much alcohol in one sitting, alcohol poisoning is a possibility. An overdose of alcohol can be fatal, and although alcohol may leave the bloodstream relatively quickly, its harmful effects can continue after the immediate drinking episode. Some signs of alcohol poisoning include:
- Slowed breathing
- Pale or blue-tinted skin
- Vomiting
- Confusion
- Hypothermia
- Unconsciousness
- Seizures
People who drink heavily also may be prone to acting irrationally or impulsively while under the influence of alcohol, which can contribute to risky behaviors and raise the risk of alcohol-related accidents and injuries, including drinking and driving, falls, burns or drowning.
Alcohol can lower inhibitions, which may make you more prone to getting into fights or engaging in unsafe sexual behavior that could lead to injuries or a higher risk of catching sexually transmitted diseases. Unwanted pregnancy is another potential risk of unsafe sexual behavior while under the influence of alcohol.
Long-Term Health Effects of Alcoholism
People who are addicted to alcohol and those who drink heavily are at higher risk for a wide range of health complications. Women who have more than 8 drinks a week and men who have more than 15 drinks per week are considered heavy drinkers by the CDC, and this level of heavy alcohol use with regular drinking can drive long-term organ damage. Chronic health conditions that might develop from heavy drinking include:
- High blood pressure
- Heart disease, including cardiomyopathy and irregular heartbeat
- Strokes
- Cancers, including cancers of the throat, larynx, esophagus, colon, rectum, liver, and breast
- Liver disease, including fatty liver disease, hepatitis, cirrhosis, and fibrosis
- Pancreas damage, including an increased risk of acute and chronic pancreatitis
Alcohol can also harm the digestive system by irritating the gastrointestinal tract, raising acid levels, and contributing to reflux, pancreatitis, and poor nutrient absorption.
Heavy drinking also makes you more prone to developing a substance abuse disorder or becoming addicted to alcohol. Excessive alcohol consumption can damage other organs too, not just the heart, liver, and pancreas.
Mental Health Issues and Excessive Drinking
Excessive alcohol use can affect your mind as well as your body. Alcohol abuse can cause long-term brain damage, and mental health disorders can occur in conjunction with addiction to alcohol. Long-term alcohol abuse or addiction can reduce the amount of gray and white matter in the brain, which can damage your ability to concentrate and retain memories, while prolonged drinking can also contribute to cognitive decline and alcohol dependence. Long-term misuse may also lead to peripheral neuropathy and interfere with recovery from tissue injury through inflammation.
For some people, this damage is permanent, meaning brain function isn’t restored after the person quits drinking.
If you have an existing mental health condition, such as depression or anxiety, drinking heavily could make your symptoms worse. Some people use alcohol as a way to cope with emotional or mental distress. This can lead to difficulty developing healthier coping mechanisms, which causes an ongoing cycle of alcohol use that exacerbates your existing problems. Alcohol is also linked to 15-25% of all suicides.
Drinking an excessive amount of alcohol could bring on psychiatric symptoms, such as psychosis and anxiety. If you’ve become addicted to alcohol, you might experience psychiatric symptoms during withdrawal, such as hallucinations. Alcohol can affect nearly every organ system, with chronic drinking weakening the immune system, slowing the body’s ability to fight infections for up to 24 hours, and making pneumonia or tuberculosis more likely.
The Effects of Heavy Drinking During Pregnancy
Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can harm the unborn baby as well as the mother, and heavy use has been associated with poor pregnancy outcomes, including brain damage, a higher risk of stillbirth, miscarriage, premature birth, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Fetal alcohol syndrome is a serious long-term health condition in infants born to mothers who consumed alcohol during their pregnancy; pregnancy is a time to avoid alcohol entirely because no amount is known to be safe for the developing baby. Babies with fetal alcohol syndrome may be born with damage to the nervous system as well as growth problems and distinct facial features associated with the condition. Fetal alcohol syndrome is part of a set of related disorders called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) that range in severity from mild symptoms to lifelong organ damage.
Call Recovery at The Crossroads for Help Today
While the long-term health impact of alcohol use are significant, many can be mitigated if you stop drinking. If you or a loved one is ready to begin a journey of recovery, give Recovery at the Crossroads a call today at 888-342-3881. Located in Blackwood, New Jersey, we offer a range of services for people who want to change their relationship with alcohol. We are in-network with major insurance providers, and we are ready to help you or your loved one begin their recovery journey.
