Physical Effects Of Alcohol Abuse


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Physical Effects of Alcohol
Alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream via the digestive tract. After being drunk it lays in the stomach where it can irritate the stomach’s lining (gastritis), and can progress to a stomach ulcer that bleeds causing pain and is potentially life-threatening. Other effects on the digestive tract include excessive production of mucous and prevent correct function of the sphincter that allows passage to the intestines.

After it has been absorbed into the blood it is carried around the body passing through many structures on its travels. Excessive alcohol can seriously and sometimes irreparably impair the function of the liver, resulting in cirrhosis. The liver is one of the largest organs of the body and provides many functions that are important for everyday life. If a liver has cirrhosis, it consists mainly of scarred tissues and blood cannot flow through it effectively and it is prevented from doing the job it is supposed to do. Cirrhosis can cause abdominal pain, itching of the skin, gallstones, a build-up of toxins in the blood and brain and swelling of the extremities. It can progress to liver failure or liver cancers can develop. The result of a diseased liver can cause the skin and whites of the eyes to turn yellow, known as jaundice.

Inflammation of the pancreas is also a possibility of high alcohol intake and this is an exceedingly painful condition. The pancreas is a large gland that sits in the upper right-hand side of the abdomen; it is responsible for providing the enzymes that are needed to digest food. Long-term alcohol abuse can cause a sudden attack of pancreatitis which may also result in nausea, vomiting and greasy stools. In long-term alcohol abuse, the drinker may develop chronic pancreatitis and as the food stuffs consumed aren’t broken down and fat is passed through with stools, significant weight loss is often a factor.

Source: Beating Addictions

Five of the immediate physical alcohol abuse effects:
1. Inhibitions Become Reduced - at a blood alcohol concentration of 0.05, changes in a person's behaviour begins to be noticable. Alcohol abuse effects and reduced inhibitions can put a person at higher risk for actions they would otherwise not participate in, such as sexual activity, continued drinking or illegal drug use.

2. Loss of Muscle Control - at the level of 0.10, slurred speech will likely be evident. Impaired judgement and poor coordination are physical effects of alcohol abuse that can lead to falls and accidents.

3. Memory Loss and/or Blackouts - since alcohol depresses the brain's control mechanisms, as blood alcohol levels increase, periods of time and certain situations and events may not be remembered afterward.

4. Stupor - at a blood alcohol concentration of 0.40, a person can hardly function, acting seriously dazed and confused.

5. Coma - at a blood alcohol level of 0.50, a person is at risk of coma, which can be life-threatening. And at this level or higher, respiratory paralysis and death become very much a possibility.

Source: Health Guidance