The harmful effects of alcohol on the human body are enormous. All organs and systems of the human body are affected. The young generation, women and men, the negative impact does not let up. It is worth understanding: is alcohol harmful to humans; its impact on each life support system; What are the effects of alcohol on the body?
Alcoholism and its consequences
The effects of alcohol and its effects on the body have been thoroughly studied. All human organs and systems are subject to the blow, as part of ethanol: the organs of the digestive system, the central nervous system, the cardiovascular system, the genitals, the respiratory system, the musculoskeletal system, the muscles. visual senses, etc. v. Alcohol does the most damage to the liver, heart, and brain (memory training).
The effects of alcohol on the body are manifested as follows:
- negatively affect the cells of organs;
- promotes mutation and cancer formation;
- when used during pregnancy can lead to irreversible consequences for the fetus;
- is a drug;
- disrupts normal metabolism;
- reduces immunity.
Affects the liver
The effect of alcohol on the liver is related to its main function - to cleanse the body of toxins and harmful substances. Drinking alcohol for a long time will lead to liver damage by ethanol and disrupt the functioning of the liver. When the liver can't handle the filtering, all the toxic substances enter the bloodstream to other organs.
The effect of alcohol on the liver is manifested by the occurrence of diseases:
- Acute alcoholic hepatitis. Symptoms: depression, general decline in well-being, decreased or decreased appetite, fever, jaundice, impaired consciousness. This disease is curable provided that ethanol-containing products are stopped and treated promptly and properly.
- Cirrhosis appears with symptoms of digestive disorders, abdominal pain, weight loss, weakness. May develop asymptomatically. Cirrhosis is characterized by the growth of connective tissue, which begins to destroy liver cells. The liver slowly stops working. In the later stages, an increase in pressure in the vessels of the liver, encephalopathy, and cancer can lead to cirrhosis.
- steatosis. It occurs in the absence of symptoms, the presence of which is determined using a biochemical blood test. Liver disease is not treated with drugs, alcohol withdrawal is the main way.
Effects of alcohol on the brain
Many people drink alcoholic beverages after a tiring day at work or during a vacation or just a day off. However, it is important to note that not everyone has a sense of proportions. And sooner or later, such a harmless hobby turns into a bad habit. And about whatharmful alcoholknow and write long ago. So far, there has been a lot of discussion aboutAlcohol is the cause of many diseases. That it destroys liver cells, and it cannot perform its functions. That also harms brain activity. As a result, a person's memory and brain function deteriorate. This happens because when drinking alcoholic beverages, or in other words, alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream and travels through the bloodstream to the brain, where its active destruction takes place.
The human brain consists of 15 billion neurons, i. e. nerve cells that die when exposed to alcohol. That is, with each new sip of alcohol, more and more neurons die in the skull region.
And how are things going? Once in the body, ethanol is absorbed into the bloodstream and along with its electrical current is carried through the organs. Excessive consumption acts on the hypothalamus and reduces vasopressin production, leading to dehydration. Ethanol in the blood begins to act on red blood cells, separating their membranes. These two processes cause red blood cells to stick together to form a blood clot. Blood clots gradually increase in size and block blood vessels - the brain is starved of oxygen and brain cells die. Hypoxia leads to acidification and tissue hypoxia gradually forms.
When doctors opened the brains of people who had died from alcohol poisoning or heavy alcohol abuse throughout their lives, they discovered that their brains had been completely destroyed. Then, scientists came to the conclusion that alcohol is the most powerful tool to deprive a person of reason. As is known and scientifically proven, alcohol kills brain cells. However, it is worth considering the fact that it affects each person in different ways. Because in some people, the first thing to suffer the devastating effects of alcohol is the hindbrain. In this case, they are strongly swayed. And in the second case, the moral center itself is subject to destruction. The latter is considered the most dangerous, as alcohol kills the brain cells that control behaviour. As practice has shown, a person in this state can destroy not only his own life, but also that of others. However, there is also a third case in which a person's memory is destroyed. That is, in the morning a person simply does not remember what happened yesterday, where he was and what he did.
Scientists have found that one glass of wine kills about 1000-2000 cells. In turn, in the cerebral cortex begins to rot and decompose. In this case, a person experiences a severe headache, commonly known as a hangover. Since these cells poison the brain, protective processes begin to operate in the human body. Thus, contributes to the pumping of large amounts of fluid through the skull. Then, this fluid along with the dead cells will leave the human body through the urethra. For humans, alcohol is harmful in all forms and doses. It disrupts the work of all metabolic processes in the human body and affects its genetic code.
The described processes lead to damage to the parts of the brain responsible for the vestibular apparatus, human behavior, as well as memory and attention. With frequent alcohol abuse, a change in thought and mental processes occurs - degeneration.
Effects on the psyche and nervous system
The effect of alcohol on the activity of the central nervous system is shown as follows:
- Insomnia and nightmares. Nocturnal terrors can be extremely severe, and it is not uncommon for alcoholics to fear sleep. Taking sleeping pills or antidepressants only aggravates the situation or leads to serious side effects.
- Violation of thought processes, adversely affects memory. First, memory takes place in chunks, then ethanol destroys neural connections, and gradually a person no longer remembers the past and can't remember something new.
- The consequences of drinking are manifested in intellectual impairment: a person stops thinking logically, emotions, feelings, perception disappear.
- Polyneuritis is a complication of a neurological nature. It manifests as inflammation of the nerves of the arms and legs. Symptoms: numbness, burning and weakness of the limbs.
Mental consequences of alcoholism:
- Psychiatric disorders - ethanol inhibits metabolism and causes oxygen starvation. There is a veil of reason, obsession, a person gradually becomes isolated and begins to live in a self-made world.
- Delusion image. Manifested by sleep disturbances, convulsions, depression, sudden changes in feelings of fear and joy, auditory and visual hallucinations.
- Alcoholic encephalopathy develops during the third stage of alcoholism. It is characterized by symptoms of delirium, accompanied by weakness, loss of appetite, tremors, confusion of consciousness, coma. High probability of death.
- Alcohol paralysis - encephalopathy in the chronic stage. Loss of food, inflammation of the nerves of the extremities.
- The effects of alcohol on the human psyche in the later stages of alcoholism leading to alcoholic epilepsy and alcohol degradation.
Effects on the cardiovascular system
The consequences of drinking too much alcohol on the cardiovascular system:
- Violation of vascular tone and flexibility of the blood flow system due to oxygen starvation and thrombosis.
- myocardial dystrophy. Pathology is caused by a violation of interstitial metabolism.
- Myocardial hypertrophy and obesity of the heart.
- The formation and accumulation of blood clots due to the agglomeration of red blood cells leads to the death of heart cells, which in turn leads to heart attacks.
- The blockage of blood vessels leads to the appearance of blood streaks on the facial skin.
Affects the organs of the urinary system
Ethanol, which is part of alcoholic beverages, leads to a change in the sensitivity of the renal pelvis, which leads to a decrease in the protective mechanism. The likelihood of inflammatory processes in the kidneys, urethra and bladder increases - pyelonephritis, nephritis, glomerulonephritis, urethritis, cystitis.
With prolonged alcohol use, a protein precipitate forms in the urine. Minerals washed with ethanol are deposited and accumulated in the kidneys, forming stones - urolithiasis develops.
If the metabolism is disturbed under the influence of alcohol, the structure of the kidneys will be damaged, toxic substances will accumulate and toxins will develop into renal dystrophy. Left untreated and drinking even more alcohol, one of the diseases listed will develop into kidney failure.
Affects the digestive system
Alcohol entering the oral cavity will disturb the salivary glands in the oral cavity and cause the viscosity of saliva, reducing its protective ability. Ethanol begins to destroy the walls of the esophagus. Then, in chronic alcoholics, swallowing is disturbed.
Gradually, there is a decrease in the excretory function, in case of violation, the pancreas is attacked. Alcoholic gastritis develops, which gradually turns into pancreatitis.
In addition, alcohol contributes to the production of gastric juice and hydrochloric acid, which corrodes the walls of the digestive organs and causes ulcers, which over time can cause gastrointestinal cancer. In addition, alcohol clogs the capillaries and thereby disrupts the absorption of vitamins, which is detrimental to the human body.
The spleen cleanses the body of dead blood cells. In case of alcohol poisoning, the work of the spleen and the ability to cleanse the body is disrupted. The work of the spleen is disturbed also due to the effect of alcohol on the liver, pancreas and circulatory system and disrupts their work.
Due to alcohol abuse, blood flow to the spleen is disturbed, leading to tissue infarction and compression of the splenic capsule - spleen abscess.
Affects immunity
Effects of alcohol on the defense mechanisms of the human body:
- Suppression of innate and acquired immunity.
- Decreased immunity no longer produces enough white blood cells, the ability to fight disease is reduced.
- Violation of the synthesis of cytokines, such an excess leads to tissue destruction, the lack of frequent diseases.
- Suppresses T-cell activity, increasing the risk of cancer.
- Alcohol lowers immunity and increases the risk of pneumonia, tuberculosis and HIV.
Impact on the musculoskeletal system
Ethanol is known to be a dehydrating agent in the body. Water is essential for cell function. Lack of fluids leads to metabolic disorders. As a result, decay products and harmful compounds accumulate in muscle tissues, causing unpleasant sensations. Alcoholism leads to disorders of the endocrine system - the production of testosterone and glycogen is inhibited. Their deficiency leads to the deterioration of muscle tissues.
Effects of alcohol on joints
- With alcoholism, dry joints and osteoarthritis develop - thinning of the cartilage tissue, with regular abuse, it disappears. The protective mechanism against friction disappears, the joints begin to hurt.
- Joint pain after drinking alcohol can cause compression of the perineum and impaired blood flow, and as a result, bone tissue ischemia develops.
- Aseptic necrosis - dead bone tissue
- Gout is an inflammatory condition of the joints.
- After drinking alcohol, the joints and knees become sore due to water retention in the tissues and increased fluid pressure in the joints.
Affect appearance
How alcohol affects appearance:
- Alcoholic drinks contain a lot of calories, combined with high-calorie snacks and disrupt the metabolism, leading to obesity and the appearance of cellulite.
- Effects of alcohol on skin: dehydration leads to aging and wrinkling skin.
- Ethanol washes away vitamins, minerals and nutrients, disrupting blood flow - facial skin becomes blemished and capillaries inflamed.
- The body is covered with papules and scales of a non-infectious nature - psoriasis develops.
- Acetic aldehyde dilates blood vessels and as a result the facial skin turns brown.
- In the final stages of alcoholism, skin cancer is possible.
Affects the endocrine system
Alcohol inhibits the activity of the endocrine system, including the endocrine glands:
- Alcohol and thyroid: disrupted hormonal activity, negatively affecting fertility. In women who drink alcohol, there are often cases of infertility, miscarriage, and premature birth.
- Alcohol and the pancreas: ethanol inhibits the pancreas, counteracts the decline in immunity, the development of pancreatitis.
- Alcohol reduces insulin production - diabetes develops. Cases of latent progression of the disease are not uncommon.
- The adrenal glands are responsible for carbohydrate and mineral metabolism, sex hormone production and the functioning of the cardiovascular system. In case of a violation of the work of the adrenal glands, the whole body suffers, the biggest blow falls on the reproductive function.
- Alcoholism disrupts the connection between the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. The production of tropic hormones decreases and the synthesis of hormones of the opposite sex increases - the appearance gradually begins to change.
Affects the lungs
Alcohol is eliminated from the body not only through the digestive and excretory systems. The lungs are actively involved in this process. The organs of the respiratory system are not adapted to that load, so the lung tissue gradually hardens and expands. Connective tissue fibrosis occurs. Mucus and phlegm begin to accumulate on the lungs. This causes pneumonia and other diseases of the lower organs of the respiratory system.
Alcohol also leads to dehydration of the mucous membranes and a violation of protective mechanisms, a person is more often exposed to infectious and viral diseases. Alcoholics often get tuberculosis. Blood vessel blockage leads to lack of oxygen.
Affects vision
With regular alcohol use, it's not uncommon for the eyes to get damaged - this is due to:
- The formation of blood clots in the vessels of the optic nerve and oculomotor disrupts the blood supply to the entire visual system.
- Reduced oxygen in the blood leads to darkening of the eyes which can lead to blindness.
- Glaucoma, which causes rupture of blood vessels and bleeding.
- Vision does not adapt well to changing conditions and lighting. Objects in the field of view move away and blur. Alcohol-induced disorder in the brain center of the eye causes double vision.
- In the final stage, under the influence of alcohol, the optic nerve atrophy.
Alcohol adversely affects the entire body without exception. There is a violation of the digestive, excretory, cardiovascular, endocrine and other body systems. Adverse effects on the functioning of organs lead to serious diseases, some of which cannot be cured.