Alcohol is a part of cultural traditions all around the world…and it’s also a drug that chemically alters the body. Excessive alcohol use is a term used to describe four ways that people drink alcohol that can negatively impact health. Even drinking a little too much (binge drinking) on occasion can set off a chain reaction that affects your well-being. Lowered inhibitions can lead to poor choices with lasting repercussions — like the end of a relationship, an accident or legal woes.

Signs and Symptoms of Alcohol Poisoning

Evidence suggests that certain alcoholic beverages, such as wine and beer, appear to accelerate the movement of food and waste through the digestive system, which can lead to diarrhea. Alcohol slows signals from the brain to the muscles responsible for the coordination and control of muscles involved in speech, leading to a noticeable slowing down or slurring of words when intoxicated. As alcohol enters the bloodstream and reaches the brain, it binds to certain neurotransmitters (substances that facilitate communication between nerve cells) like gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate. Within five minutes, alcohol reaches your brain, slowing down the central nervous system and affecting the way you feel, think, and behave. Anyone with an alcohol dependency disorder who desires to stop drinking should seek professional medical care or a treatment center specializing in safe alcohol detoxification.

Overview of Alcohol Consumption

Alcohol use can also lead to more lasting concerns that extend beyond your own mood and health.

1. Alcohol impairs the brain’s ability to regulate emotions, and mood changes are common.
2. Alcohol makes you dehydrated and makes blood vessels in your body and brain expand.
3. Alcohol influences neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin.
4. Alcohol is a part of cultural traditions all around the world…and it’s also a drug that chemically alters the body.

Each of those consequences can cause turmoil that can negatively affect your long-term emotional health. “Some people think of the effects of alcohol as only something to be worried about if you’re living with alcohol use disorder, which was formerly called alcoholism,” Dr. does reese witherspoon have fasd Sengupta says. Your brain helps your body stay well-hydrated by producing a hormone that keeps your kidneys from making too much urine. But when alcohol swings into action, it tells your brain to hold off on making that hormone. That means you have to go more often, which can leave you dehydrated. When you drink heavily for years, that extra workload and the toxic effects of alcohol can wear your kidneys down.

Addiction and withdrawal

Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. It is expressed as the weight of ethanol in grams per 100 milliliter (ml) of blood. Alcohol is a legal recreational substance for adults and one of the most commonly used drugs in the United States. People consume alcohol to socialize, to relax, and to celebrate. Alcohol use suppresses the central nervous system and destroys neurons. This can lead to conditions like stroke, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS).

And drinking raises the risk of problems in the digestive system. The support of friends and family is important in the journey to recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD). As of 2021,  29.5 million people aged 12 and older had an alcohol use disorder in the past year. While there is no one-size-fits-all method for recovering from AUD, there are lots of effective treatment options.

Chronic alcohol use and binge drinking damage the heart muscle, making it harder for the heart to pump blood effectively. Alcohol can also contribute to arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats) and hypertension (high blood pressure), increasing the risk of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure. The less alcohol you drink, the lower your risk for these health effects, including several types of cancer.

For example, it may be used to define the risk of illness or injury based on the number of drinks a person has in a week. The evidence for moderate alcohol use in healthy adults is still being studied. But good evidence shows that drinking high amounts of alcohol are clearly linked to health problems. Excessive alcohol use can harm people who drink and those around them.

These powerful chemicals manage everything from your sex drive to how fast you digest food. To keep it all going smoothly, you need them in the right balance. For example, some studies suggest that moderate alcohol drinking can affect fertility for some women. Research also shows that heavy drinking by men may lower testosterone levels and affect the making of sperm. Alcohol’s impact on neurotransmitters like serotonin and GABA can also contribute to mood changes the day after drinking.