The mechanism of the effects of alcohol on the body, the consequences of alcohol consumption for internal organs

Experts from various branches of science have been talking about the harmful effects of alcohol on the human body for a very long time. Research by scientists confirms that this product has a destructive effect on the human psyche, causes organ damage, and also negatively affects the functioning of the immune system. What other effects of alcohol have been observed on the human body? Let's look at this in more detail below.

Pancreas

When alcohol enters the pancreas, it produces toxic substances. This can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents enzymes from flowing properly and processing food. And in the end, this leads to surgery - and then, for the rest of my life, on pills.

Constant consumption of large amounts of alcohol increases the likelihood of developing cancer in the following organs: • Breast • Larynx and esophagus • Oral cavity, throat • Liver

Kidneys and liver

Alcohol disrupts mineral metabolism and provokes inflammatory changes in the kidneys. The next stage is urolithiasis, chronic inflammation, severe pain.

When drinking alcohol, the liver becomes enlarged and fat is deposited in its cells. The production of enzymes that process toxins and breakdown products of ethyl alcohol is gradually reduced. The amount of bile increases. Alcohol consumption provokes hepatitis, which without treatment turns into cirrhosis. This is a serious chronic disease that is accompanied by irreversible tissue changes. Liver cells die in cirrhosis and are replaced by connective tissue cells. The blood vessels are compressed, the blood is not cleared of toxins, it enters the liver in small quantities, and circulation is disrupted. Through the walls of blood vessels, blood plasma enters the abdominal cavity, accumulates there and causes dropsy. The liver gradually thickens, increases in size, and becomes lumpy.

Liver damage is accompanied by:

pain;
a feeling of heaviness in the right hypochondrium;
nausea;
vomiting.

During rehabilitation, patients with damaged livers must adhere to the diet prescribed by the doctor and undergo drug treatment.

Immunity

Excessive drinking of alcohol actually “turns off” your immune system for a whole day after drinking!

And all the time your body remains easy prey for all sorts of infectious pathogenic bacteria. Chronic drinkers are at greater risk of contracting diseases such as tuberculosis and pneumonia than people who are not heavy drinkers.

That's all my article about the harm of alcohol on the human body - briefly means briefly! Do you have anything to add? Write in the comments.

Drinking alcohol-containing drinks in large doses has a negative impact on health; as a rule, the pathophysiological effect of alcohol on the human body is due to its strength and numerous harmful impurities. Alcoholism develops with regular drinking of alcoholic beverages. This mental illness greatly impairs health, and a person’s ability to work and moral values decrease.

What is alcohol

The modern market in our country is replete with a variety of alcoholic drinks, which differ in strength, manufacturer and composition. As a rule, the effect of alcohol on the human body is always negative, because when it gets inside, it quickly spreads through the blood to all organs, often causing their destruction. Ethanol (ethyl alcohol), C2H5OH, is a toxin, when taken, the liver tries to neutralize it. This volatile transparent liquid, which has a characteristic odor and pungent taste, is easily diluted with water.

This yeast fermentation product can be produced chemically. It burns well, is easily ignited, and is used as a technical brake fluid, as a solvent or fuel. Often a disease such as alcoholism is hereditary; if both parents drank in the family and they were not given proper treatment, then their child may also become an alcoholic in the future.

How alcohol affects the human body

People who love strong drinks are often interested in the question of how alcohol affects the human body? Ethanol tends to concentrate in the brain and liver and can quickly kill cells in these organs. In addition, alcohol is a mutagen. As a rule, in an adult body, mutant cells are eliminated by the immune system, but if it fails, then people with alcoholism develop cancer of the stomach, oral cavity, liver, and esophagus. Alcohol also affects

Disrupts fetal development. The brain often suffers, the child’s heart is affected, and limbs are underdeveloped.
Activates receptors for the amino acid GABA, the main inhibitory transmitter in the nervous system. As a result, cell excitability decreases.
High ethanol content enhances the synthesis of endorphins and dopamine. The patient experiences euphoria.
Disturbs metabolism in the body. This factor provokes the development of a psychological syndrome.
Toxic effect. As a rule, it is determined by an increase in pulse, lack of air, and disruption of the heart.
Systematic consumption of strong drinks provokes fatty degeneration and inflammation of the liver. Hepatocytes are destroyed and cirrhosis occurs.
Provokes alcoholic encephalopathy. The disease begins with mental disorders with static or monotonous visual illusions and hallucinations.

Digestive system

With regular consumption of alcohol, due to constant intoxication, inflammatory changes form on the walls of the stomach. The mucous membrane may become uneven and thickened or thinned. The composition of gastric juice changes, the concentration of pepsin in it decreases, which is why food is digested less well. Further changes affect the intestines. Inflammation appears on its mucous membrane, due to which ulcers later form.

Consequences for well-being:

frequent pain;
frequent heartburn;
loss of appetite;
the appearance of a taste in the mouth;
the tongue becomes coated;
nausea, vomiting with mucus;
diarrhea or constipation;
weight loss;
fast fatiguability.

Long-term alcohol consumption can provoke the development of stomach cancer.

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What does alcohol affect?

People are often interested in the question of what organs are affected by alcohol? Based on research, doctors say that it negatively affects the entire body, but to varying degrees. The basis of alcoholic beverages is ethanol, a compound that has a toxic effect. When it enters the body as part of vodka, beer, wine or another drink, it is quickly absorbed from the intestines. Then ethanol is distributed to all internal organs. At the same time, alcohol has a devastating effect on the heart, brain, stomach and reproductive system.

On the respiratory system

It is known that breathing is life. When alcohol affects the lungs and bronchi, the functioning of the lung tissue is disrupted, which leads to a malfunction of the entire respiratory system. The mucous membranes dry out, the body's immunity weakens, and there is a high risk of tuberculosis. The first sign of its appearance is a severe cough, which can occur on the second day after excessive drinking. In addition, the negative effects of alcohol on the respiratory system can cause the following diseases:

emphysema;
tracheobronchitis;
Chronical bronchitis.

On the stomach

Alcoholic drinks have a detrimental effect on the cells of the digestive organs, destroying them, causing burns, and resulting in tissue necrosis. In this case, the pancreas atrophies, and the cells that produce insulin die. This contributes to the fact that the absorption of beneficial nutrients is disrupted, the secretion of enzymes is inhibited, and food stagnation occurs in the intestines and stomach. As a rule, the negative effects of alcohol on the stomach can cause:

diabetes;
chronic stage of pancreatitis;
gastritis;
stomach cancer;
severe abdominal pain.

To the reproductive system

Strong drinks are considered especially dangerous for girls and women, because their dependence on alcohol occurs quickly. Girls suffering from alcoholism are susceptible to damage to the ovaries, which ultimately disrupts menstruation. Representatives of the stronger half of humanity also suffer from excessive drinking of strong drinks. The harmful effect of alcohol on the male reproductive system is expressed in a decrease in libido, the development of impotence and infertility. Drunkenness also provokes testicular atrophy, leading to the birth of an unhealthy child.

On the human cardiovascular system

Alcoholic drinks provoke the destruction of blood cells - red blood cells. This causes deformation of the red cells, and they do not transfer the required amount of oxygen from the lungs to other tissues. In addition, sugar regulation is disrupted, which causes irreversible consequences: improper brain function, diabetes, vascular problems. The effect of alcohol on the human cardiovascular system has negative consequences. The following diseases may indicate this:

high blood pressure;
atherosclerosis;
arrhythmia;
ischemic heart disease.

Harmful effects on internal organs: table

The range of diseases that alcohol addiction brings is almost endless. All systems and organs suffer, and if you do not stop drinking in time, the changes can be irreversible.

Organs	Diseases
Heart and blood vessels	Damage to the myocardium (the main heart muscle), arrhythmia, high blood pressure, deterioration of blood supply.
Gastrointestinal tract	Gastritis, stomach ulcer, cancer, dysfunction of the salivary glands.
Liver	Fatty cell degeneration, alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis.
Kidneys	Impaired excretory function, failure in the regulation of renal activity, destruction of the epithelium of the organ.
The immune system	Hematopoietic processes are disrupted, the production of lymphocytes decreases, and the body becomes vulnerable to infections.
Reproductive system	Sexual desire decreases, impotence occurs in men, and infertility occurs in women.

Positive effects of alcohol on the human body

Few people believe that the effect of ethyl alcohol on the human body can be positive. Indeed, in small dosages, ethanol is beneficial for humans. For example, red wine contains trace elements and antioxidants that the body needs. In this case, you should drink no more than three glasses a week. In addition, red wine removes waste and toxins, normalizes metabolism, and is an excellent preventative against atherosclerosis. Based on the drink, we can highlight the positive effects:

champagne can be taken in small doses for a weak heart;
mulled wine supports the body during bronchitis, colds, pneumonia, and flu;
vodka can lower cholesterol;
beer slows down the aging process and reduces the risk of heart disease.

But what dose of alcohol is good for a person? Doctors recommend that men drink no more than 20 g of pure alcohol, and women - 10 g. As a rule, this amount is contained in 100 grams of wine, 30 grams of vodka and 300 ml of beer. Taking one spoon of alcohol twice a week can act as a mobilizer for the body, i.e., a hormesis effect occurs. This method helps a person to shake himself up quickly. It is strictly forbidden to give strong drinks to a child. If alcohol accidentally enters the child’s body, urgent rinsing should be done and a doctor should be called.

Despite the fact that alcohol has a detrimental effect on the human body, people consume it in huge quantities, believing that the problem of alcoholism will in no way affect them. Moreover, neither articles, nor TV shows, nor reports on the topic of alcoholism, nor the opinions of famous people stop them. However, the impact of alcohol on health is enormous.

Personality degradation of a drinker

The earliest and most noticeable effect of alcohol poisoning is on the quality of a person’s professional activity.

Changing your thinking

The thinking of a patient with alcoholism is conservative, stereotyped, superficial in nature, his reasoning and actions are frivolous and immature. When he is required to seriously assess the real situation, he makes a hasty judgment and draws naive conclusions. Gradually the patient loses the ability to perform creative activities.

Impermanence

The drinker easily gets excited about some ideas, plans for the future, but due to the rapidity of internal reserves and volitional efforts, he never completes his affairs. Unable to force himself to quit drinking, to overcome his lack of will, he at the same time shows enviable determination, and sometimes even ingenuity, when he needs to get the desired alcohol. He lives practically one day at a time, so he does not think about his behavior and lifestyle.

Loss of moral principles

With the increase in alcohol intoxication, the moral principles of patients are reduced to satisfying only the most basic needs. Therefore, these people are often sexually promiscuous, willingly talk about their love affairs, and are not known for their cleanliness. Thus, one man suffering from alcoholism did not wash his face for several months, not seeing anything special about it.

Loss of ability to adapt and overcome life's difficulties

Patients' ability to adapt to a new environment and to withstand life's difficulties is sharply reduced. In a difficult situation, they prefer to escape into drunkenness: get drunk in order to deviate from reality, to escape from worries. When decisive action is necessary, they become confused, cannot find a way out of the current situation, and at the same time clearly exaggerate their strengths and capabilities, which in reality turn out to be empty promises.

Selfishness and neglect of family duty

A strong attraction to alcohol makes the drinker extremely selfish: he withdraws from participation in public life and does not fulfill his duty to his family. When hungover, an alcoholic may even sell his belongings to get money for drinks.

Patients with alcoholism are extremely touchy, they demand respect from others, but they themselves often show rudeness and tactlessness. They are especially cruel and heartless towards their loved ones.

An alcoholic finds understanding only in a circle of his own kind, which brings them all closer and equalizes. Here he does not hear reproaches, moralizing, and even receives moral support and feels socially safe. The “alcoholic mimicry” of the microenvironment is attractive to both moderate drinkers and alcoholics, since it is here that, merging in the general mass, they do not attract the attention of others.

If in the initial stages of the disease an alcoholic may still sometimes experience a feeling of guilt and remorse, then over time it weakens and in the later stages of alcoholism completely disappears.

Complete loss of individual personal qualities

As the disease develops, a person suffering from alcoholism becomes more and more dependent on dependent attitudes: he often does not work for a long time, lives and does not feel remorse. The disappearance of the need for work pushes some patients to voluntarily come to the inpatient drug treatment department, where they receive a roof over their head, food and thus relieve themselves from everyday worries at least for a few days. They are not concerned about the more distant future. Under the influence of the toxic effect of alcohol on the brain and the drinking climate of the microenvironment of drinking buddies, personality degradation ultimately occurs, individual characteristics and traits are erased, which makes alcoholics so similar to each other.

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Briefly about alcohol

In fact, alcohol is exactly the same drug as nicotine, heroin or marijuana. That is why any dose of alcohol causes irreparable harm to the human body. In addition, while intoxicated, a person ceases to control himself and cannot control his body, feelings, thoughts, speech. His brain is destroyed, and his body stops listening.

As a result, people who drink alcohol often commit illegal actions and crimes, become their victims themselves, and provoke accidents.

Alcohol does not allow a personality to fully develop, delays its development, interferes with socialization, and leads to degradation. Having a negative effect on the nervous system and brain, alcohol deprives a person of will, making him indifferent to others, aggressive, cruel, unbalanced, and prone to breakdowns.

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Peripheral, central nervous system

Alcohol causes systemic harm:

inflammation of the sciatic, intercostal, and other nerves;
tremors and tics;
the appearance of neuritis, neuralgia;
severe pain that limits movement;
disturbances of nervous regulation processes.

Ethyl alcohol provokes irreversible pathological changes in brain neurons and changes the functioning of opioid receptors. Gradually, the basic functions of the nervous system are suppressed. Thinking becomes confused, concentration is impaired, and the ability to solve even simple problems decreases.

The effects of alcohol on the human body

The effect of alcohol on the human body is really great. In fact, it affects all organs and systems, including the brain, to one degree or another. The main complications associated with alcoholism include: