Effects Of Alcohol On The Body

Alcohol consumption affects every aspect of the human body, specifically the brain, liver, central nervous system, pancreas, stomach, and increased cancer risks.

Over 2.5million people die every year to excessive alcohol use. Furthermore, alcohol is responsible for one in ten deaths of working age adults aged twenty to sixty four. Excessive drinking by the CDC is more than one glass a day for a woman and more than two glasses a day for a man. Also, drinking any while under the age or pregnant is classified as excessive drinking(“Alcohol Use and Your Health”). On top of the benefits becoming negative effects quickly, excessive drinking also comes with many more side effects. Excessive drinking damages the brain, heart, liver, pancreas, and the immune system. Brain cells are lost along with loss of thinking and coordination. Heart beat, heart muscles, and blood pressure can be effected. A variety of liver problems and inflammations. The Pancreas produces unwanted toxins eventually leading to pancreatitis. Lastly the immune system is weakened, making the body a much easier target for disease and slowing the body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk(“Alcohol's Effects on the

In Whiting S. Albert’s article “Alcohol Use Is Harmful” he stated that alcohol is a chemical that contains hydrogen and carbon. Whiting stated further that the active ingredient of alcohol is ethyl alcohol, which is also known as ethanol. Alcohol is one of the few things that human being consume that do not need digestion. Alcohol appears the bloodstream immediately, thus, its intoxicating effects are felt instantly (1). “High levels of mortality, morbidity, and social malaise are associated with abuse of alcohol, and increasing numbers of women and youth are abusing alcohol” (Ferreira and Darryn 1). “Alcohol slows down the function of all living cells, especially those in the brain” (Whiting 1), which causes thinking to be impaired. Alcohol is probably the most used drug worldwide. “Three in ten adults 18 years of age and over have had alcoholism and/or engaged in alcohol abuse at some point in their lives …” (“Impact of Alcoholism” 1). According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

Alcohol is very damaging when taken, it can effect the processes of the brain and all of its neurotransmitters around it. When taking alcohol the brain loses its key things needed to get around daily life. Things like memory loss, nausea, danger with judgement, sleep patterns change, and much more can occur when taking alcohol. There are two common operating systems in our brain one that

The effects of ethanol on humans starts when the alcohol enters the bloodstream, and the more alcohol that enters the bloodstream, there’s a higher risk for effects. Some of the effects include, “reduced inhibitions, slurred speech, motor impairment, confusion, memory problems, concentration problems, coma, breathing problems, and even death. Additionally, alcohol can cause car crashes and accidents, risky behavior, violent behavior, and suicide or homicide.” Alcohol can also take effect on the brain, heart (cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, stoke, HBP), liver (alcoholic hepatitis), pancreas, can cause cancer, and can cause damage to one’s immune system.

Over several years, the scientific research of alcohol and its affects on the human body and brain have gradually progressed. Most people who indulge in alcoholic beverages do not think of the consequences it may have on their bodies over time. Alcohol can affect the nervous system, as well as the peripheral nervous system, which controls the nerves throughout your entire body. Consuming excessive amounts of alcohol over an extended period of time can lead to a series of problems that impair the muscle tissue and brain. Neuroimaging and advanced technology has shown changes in blood flow in and around the brain, the brains metabolism, and the neurophysiological measures in the brain. Alcohol remains a poisonous toxin that affects the nerves

Alcohol abuse can also cause short-term effects to the body. Although there are many different short-term effects, the most common happens to be a hangover which is a “group of symptoms experienced by a person after a heavy consumption of alcohol” (Alcoholic 1). Symptoms of a hangover often consist of nausea, fatigue, thirst, headache, diarrhea, and sensitivity to light and noise. The severity of a hangover depends on several factors; these factors include the amount of alcohol consumed, the level of hydration in the body at the time of alcohol consumption, and disease. Although hangovers are the most common short-term effect, blackouts are also a short-term result of alcohol abuse. Consuming large amounts of alcohol can lead to temporary amnesia where the person is unable to recall events that occurred after he or she began drinking. Unfortunately, blackouts can lead to serious repercussions, especially if the person is engaged in sexual activity during that time. Blackouts are much more common among social drinkers than previously assumed and should be viewed as a potential consequence of acute intoxication regardless of age (National 1). Drinkers who experience blackouts typically drink too much and too quickly, which causes their blood alcohol levels to rise very rapidly. Typically, college students are at risk for experiencing a blackout, as an alarming number of college students engage in binge drinking. Even though these short-term effects do not seem as bad as the

It is possible to overdose on alcohol. When large amounts of alcohol are consumed in a short period of time, alcohol poisoning can result. Violent vomiting is usually the first symptom of alcohol poisoning. Extreme sleepiness, unconsciousness, difficulty breathing, dangerously low blood sugar, seizures, and even death may result. Ethanol depresses the central nervous system and may lead to coma, progressing to death at the following “panic” (possibly lethal) levels: >2000ug/mL in the blood, or >1600ug/Ml in the

Alcohol affects the brain, the heart, the liver, the pancreas, the immune system and can cause cancer in the mouth, esophagus, throat, liver, and the breasts. “Chronic and

Alcohol consumption affects the nervous system in many different ways. In a more broad statement, alcohol affects the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, autonomic nervous system, motor nerves, and sensory nerves. The Public Health Agency notes that, after drinking alcohol, it enters the bloodstream within about 10 minutes. Alcohol affects the brain before any other part of the body. Alcohol causes the brain to start to dull certain parts. Drinking will first impair judgement. Drinking alcohol not only affects many

Alcohol consumption leads to much damage to the body. Damage to the body depends on how much alcohol one is drinking, size, age, gender and other ways. The way alcohol goes into ones body is the same for everyone. It goes into the body by first, through the stomach and small intestine. After, going through the stomach and small intestine it goes into the blood stream, and towards ones body organs such as the liver, brain, heart, and others. According to NIH(2012), “Alcohol is metabolized in the liver” (p. 1). The liver is what cleans and also removes toxins from the blood. Ethanol, the intoxicating substance will now be inside ones liver when consuming it. Once someone keeps on consuming alcohol overtime, it can lead to liver failure and it will also not be able to metabolize alcohol anymore. This then can lead to diseases such as cirrhosis, cancer, and others. Next, the brain is one of the most important organs of the body. This is because the way someone can be considered dead is by being brain dead. According to NIH(2012), “Alcohol can damage the parts of the brain that control ones memory, speech, and movement. It can also damage the brain by shrinking frontal lobes, which is in charge of thinking, memory, personality and more” (p. 1). Moving on to the heart, the organ assosicated with the number one leading cause of death in the United States. Alcohol

The effects associated with alcohol are produced by the ethanol in the alcohol. The severity of these effects is reflected by the concentration of alcohol in an individual’s blood, which is dictated by the amount of alcohol ingested, the volume of blood, the individual’s metabolism, and amount of time since ingestion. In large doses, alcohol acts as a depressant of the central nervous-system. A blood alcohol level of 0.1% affects some of the motor areas of the brain associated with speech, balance and manual dexterity. A blood alcohol level of 0.2% depresses all motor functions and the area concerned with emotions is depressed. At a blood alcohol level of 0.45% the entire section of the brain that handles perception is depressed and the individual becomes comatose. At a blood alcohol level of 0.7% the parts of the brain that control the heartbeat and breathing are depressed and the individual

In Jill Dombrauckas’s (2015) report, she discussed that the Pennsylvania DUI Association made a large amount of researches about alcohol’s effect on body systems. In one research, alcohol affects the central nervous system which means when the individual drink alcohol, the messages that are carried to and from the brain and the body’s muscles can be slowed delivery. For example, the incoming signals from the brain, like the painful sensory that will decrease the injury’s awareness. Also the signals from the brain to the muscles will lead the motor skills becoming insensitive.

Heavy drinkers may develop a tolerance or ?immunity? to certain amounts of alcohol. That said- the more often you drink, the more you can handle next time. The human body recognizes alcohol as a foreign substance and will use every method possible to

Alcohol is one of many dangerous substances that effects our bodies. The effects of this drug can be very harmful. Alcohol is a potent non-prescription drug sold to anyone over the national legal drinking age, 21. Unlike other deadly drugs it is easy to access. This makes it easy to over-consume and create a tragic accident, even death. It can damage a person not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. Many people each year become more and more addicted to alcohol and soon experience all of it?s dangerous effects. Even if alcohol use is discontinued, some of these damages can not be cured, because the scars have been left on those that drink and those that surround them. The only hope