Over the long term, alcohol can increase your risk of more than 200 different diseases, including in the liver and pancreas, and certain cancers. In addition to its effects on the brain, alcohol also affects the peripheral nervous system, which comprises the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord. These limitations make it hard to know how much to rely on studies that find health risks (or benefits) to alcohol consumption. Alcohol misuse at an early age increases the risk of developing AUD.
Current research points to health risks even at low amounts of alcohol consumption, regardless of beverage type. Keep reading for more information on how alcohol can affect your body. Heavy drinking can cause all kinds of problems, from stomach and sexual problems to stroke and liver disease. It can also lead to problems at work, school, or home and to drunk driving and violence.
Alcohol’s Effects on Health
Drinking alcohol is so common that people may not question how even one beer, cocktail, or glass of wine could impact their health. Alcohol is a part of cultural traditions all around the world…and it’s also a drug that chemically alters the body. Drinking moderately if you’re otherwise healthy may be a risk you’re willing to take. But heavy drinking carries a much higher risk even for those without other health concerns. Be sure to ask your healthcare professional about what’s right for your health and safety. For example, any amount of drinking increases the risk of breast cancer and colorectal cancer.
What Does Alcohol Do to Your Body? 9 Ways Alcohol Affects Your Health
Steatotic liver disease used to go by the name fatty liver disease. Your liver detoxifies and removes alcohol from your blood through a process known as oxidation. When your liver finishes that process, alcohol gets turned into water and carbon dioxide. More information about alcohol and cancer risk is available in the Surgeon General’s advisory. These effects can also impact the safety and well-being of people around you. The support of friends and family is important in the journey to recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD).
Alcohol’s Effects on the Body
No matter how severe the problem may seem, evidence-based treatment can help people with AUD recover. If you are on any medications, talk to your health care provider about how alcohol may affect them. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy can lead to symptoms of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). FASD can cause a range of neurodevelopmental and physical effects in the child after birth. Heavy drinking also has been linked to intentional injuries, such as suicide, as well as accidental injury and death. Drinking alcohol is a health risk regardless of the amount.
It also drinking too much alcohol can harm your health learn the facts has resources to help those looking to change their drinking habits. During pregnancy, drinking may cause the unborn baby to have brain damage and other problems. Heavy drinking also may result in alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Where can someone find treatment for AUD?
After more analysis of the research, that doesn’t seem to be the case. In general, a healthy diet and physical activity have much greater health benefits than alcohol and have been more extensively studied. In many cases, even moderate drinking (defined below) appears to increase risk. Despite this, less than half of the US public is aware of any alcohol-cancer connection. Changing the labels as suggested by the Surgeon General will require congressional action that may never happen. Heavy alcohol use can disturb the endocrine system, disrupting the hormones that help maintain the body’s stability and health.
- Drinking also adds calories that can contribute to weight gain.
- Many people drink alcohol as a personal preference, during social activities, or as a part of cultural and religious practices.
- It also has resources to help those looking to change their drinking habits.
- The less alcohol you drink, the lower your risk for these health effects, including several types of cancer.
Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician. By contrast, another 2023 study found similar rates of death between nondrinkers and light to moderate drinkers.
Medical Professionals
You and your community can take steps to improve everyone’s health and quality of life. It’s important to remember that the only way to guarantee that drinking alcohol will not harm you at all is to not drink at all. Drinking has a greater effect on women because they typically weigh less.
It’s very important to treat all mental health conditions, such as depression. You may drink less when mental health conditions are treated. Assessing the risks and benefits of alcohol consumption remains an active area of research that may lead to major changes in official guidelines or warning labels. Drinking too much alcohol can weaken the immune system, making the body a much easier target for disease. Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows the body’s ability to ward off infections–even up to 24 hours later.
- In addition to its effects on the brain, alcohol also affects the peripheral nervous system, which comprises the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord.
- Predictably, the alcoholic beverage industry opposes more restrictive guidelines.
- Information and shareable resources to help others choose to drink less alcohol and be their best.
- Just one or two alcoholic drinks can impair your balance, coordination, impulse control, memory, and decision-making.
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. Many people drink alcohol as a personal preference, during social activities, or as a part of cultural and religious practices. People who choose not to drink make that choice for the same reasons. Knowing your personal risk based on your habits can help you make the best decision for you. For millions of people, it’s a regular part of the dining experience, social and sports events, celebrations, and milestones. And the alcoholic beverage industry is a major economic force, responsible for more than $250 billion in sales annually in the US.
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. The cost of excessive alcohol use impacts everyone, whether they drink or not. Knowing what counts as one standard drink can help you figure out how much alcohol you drink and whether it would be considered excessive. As of 2021, 29.5 million people aged 12 and older had an alcohol use disorder in the past year. In the United States, people younger than age 21 are not legally able to drink alcohol.
