Alcohol consumption has increased these days, even youngsters and underage have a fashion of incorporating alcohol i n their lifestyle. On the one hand it symbolized as modernity on the other it is negatively affecting your...
Alcohol is a toxic psychoactive drug that contains ethanol. Alcohol has an inherent quality of making you feel high/drunk. It potentially affects your mood and mental state and reduces self consciousness and shyness. Due to its psycho suppressive nature, it may encourage people to act abruptly, it can also impair your judgement which later on results in regret. Some people drink alcohol as a part of culture and some drink to build their social reputation. While some prefer drinking small adequate amounts, some get binge drunk.
How Much I Drink To Not Harm My Body? What Is Safe Amount Of Drinking?
Drinking certain amount of alcohol is considered safe drinking which can be
- 12 ounces beer having 5% alcohol content
- 5 ounces of wine with 12% alcohol content
- 8 ounces of malt liquor having 7% alcohol content
- 1.5 ounces of 80 proof i.e. 40% alcohol content distilled spirits or liquor such as gin, rum, vodka or whiskey.
What Is Excessive Drinking?
Excessive drinking is heavy or binge drinking or pregnant women drinking or drinking by age younger than 21 years.
- Binge drinking - it is excessive drinking known as
- Women binge drinking- Women drinking more than drinking at one occasion
- Men binge drinking- mens drinking more than 5 drinking at a single occasion is considered excessive drinking.
- Heavy drinking-
- Women heavy drinking - women drinking more than 8 drinks per week
- Men heavy drinking- men drinking more than 15 drinks per week
What is Moderate Drinking?
- For women- less than 1 drink per day
- For men- less than 2 drinks per day
What is the Role of Liver in Alcohol Metabolism?
Alcohol is a form of toxin which gets neutralised by the liver. Due to the liver's ability to neutralise alcohol toxins, it can get damaged easily. Liver produces an enzyme known as dehydrogenases which helps in metabolising the alcohol by spitting alcohol into aldehyde. Aldehyde is a toxin which after metabolization gets released into the bloodstream and travels through the body to get accumulated in various parts. Aldehyde can remain in the body for a certain period of time even after you have stopped drinking which results in hangover. The amount of alcohol processed by the liver stays the same even while drinking excessively.
Effects of Alcohol on Liver
Liver is the organ that takes most of the burnt as it is the organ responsible for alcohol neutralisation. When the alcohol adversely affects the liver adversely it is known as alcoholic liver disease. The first sign to appear in the liver is fatty liver changes, which represent increased fat cells inside the liver cells.
Fatty liver usually develops over the course of time, especially in those people who drink more than ½ ounces or say 15 ml alcohol per day.
Liver cirrhosis is the condition most common in heavy drinkers or binge drinkers. Due to heavy drinking, the liver gets inflamed. In liver cirrhosis, liver cells die and scar tissue starts to develop in its place.
The liver cirrhosis is irreversible and often requires liver transplant as the last resort.
Diagnostic Approach for Liver Damage
- Ultrasound
- MRI
- X-rays
- Elastography
- Liver biopsy
- Pathologic study
Role of Stomach in Alcohol Absorption and Its Effects on the Stomach
Alcohol is absorbed from the lining of the stomach into the bloodstream. The alcohol absorption takes about 30 minutes or upto an hour to reach into the bloodstream. The absorption rate depends from one person to another, amount of food taken and amount of alcohol consumed.
Some adverse effects of alcohol on stomach can be
- Gastritis- Alcohol causes irritation of the lining of your stomach. Gastritis is a long term condition. Its other symptoms include
- Stomach pain
- Heartburn
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Ulcers- Stomach may develop painful ulcers in its lining that can cause
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Sweating
- Pain
- Loss of appetite
- Reflux disorders- reflux is a situation in which contents of the stomach come up into the oesophagus or mouth. Which can cause heartburn
- Esophageal varices- when veins get enlarged and bleed, it is called esophageal varices. It is often caused due to alcohol cirrhosis.
Diagnosis of Stomach Diseases
- Gastroscopy- a endoscopy technique for ulcer detection
- Laboratory H. pylori tests
- X-rays
- CT scan
- Doppler ultrasounds
Effects of Alcohol on the Brain
Alcohol can suppress brain activity by suppressing the central nervous system which makes you feel happy, calm and sleepy. On excessive drinking, you might get unconscious or even get into a coma due to excessive suppression.
- Some short term effects on brain can be
- Blackouts
- Memory loss
- Amnesia
- Some permanent damage to brain may include
- Impaired brain functions
- Dementia due to brain shrinkage
These changes can lead to a dependent life
Diagnostic Tests to Detect Brain Damage
- MRI scan
- Detect TPP levels (Thiamine Pyrophosphate)
- Vitamin B1 levels detection (Thiamine Deficiency is Seen in ABRD)
- AMTS- Abbreviated Mental Test Score
- ACEIII- Addenccrooke’s Cognitive Examination
Effects Of Alcoholic Beverages On Heart
1-2 glasses of alcoholic beverages such as red wine may not cause any damage to your heart but heavy use of alcohol might cause
- Risk of cardiomyopathy
- Increased risk of having a stroke
- High blood pressure or hypertension
- Heart failure
Diagnosing Heart Problems Due to Alcohol
Effects of Alcohol On Pancreas
Heavy alcohol use affect your pancreas adversely, causing
- Pancreatitis
- Stones in ducts of pancreas
- gallstones
Diagnosing Effects of Alcohol on Pancreas
- Ultrasound
- CT scan
- Endoscopic ultrasound
- MRCP- magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography
- PFT- pancreatic function test
- Amylase Levels
- Lipase Levels
- Blood Glucose level
Pregnancy And Alcohol Consumption
It is often wondered whether drinking alcohol is safe during pregnancy.the answer says it is not. Alcohol consumptions or abuse can adversely affect your baby which ,may cause birth defects such as
- Abnormal facial features
- Central nervous system problem
- Low birth weight
- Abnormal development
- Decreased intelligence
- Altered and abnormal behaviour for life and others
Diagnosis of Foetal Alcohol Side Effects
- USG/Ultrasound
Can I Die Due to Alcohol Use?
It is often hard to digest that light quantities of alcohol use may cute down the chances of premature death in certain western societies
But substantially moderate to heavy use of alcohol is the 3rd most leading cause of death which can be prevented. Death usually happens due to
- Chronic diseases such as cirrhosis
- Accident due to loss of balance, coordination and consciousness
- Traffic crashes
- Social problems such as alcohol induced depression
Conclusion
Alcohol is a toxin that can even cause cancers such as esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer or breast cancer. When the question comes of if you should drink alcohol or not, it becomes a subjective choice, the light and safe quantities of alcohol might not harm you but it can never be evaluated when and how it became an addiction. Lead an alternatively healthy diet to minimise the chances of risks.
For Free Consultation From the Doctor
Get connected to our doctor directly
- Dr. Ravin Sharma MBBS, MD Radiology)
- Phone Number- 9212125996
- Available- 24*7*365
Why Ganesh Diagnostic and Imaging Center For You?
Ganesh Diagnostic Centre is an established and renowned diagnostic centre since 2001.
We have many PET CT scan imaging which can offer report Images online as well. We also offer FLAT 50% OFF on many test.
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NABH accreditation is proof of the highest standard of care and service provided to the patients. NABL accreditation reflects the competency of laboratories and equipment based on some national and international standards.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are the body parts that get affected by alcohol?
Alcohol can affect almost every part of the body such as
- Brain
- Heart
- Liver
- Pancreas
- Immune system
How alcohol affects body organs?
Excessive amounts of alcohol consumption creates toxin accumulation in the body which can get deposited i n any part of the body that damages the tissues leading to scar formation in its place.
What Diseases can alcohol cause?
Alcohol can lead to development of
- Hepatitis
- Jaundice
- Liver cirrhosis
- Kidney stone
- Prostate inflammation
- Bladder inflammation etc.
Is alcohol unhealthy?
Long-term use of alcohol with excessive or more than optimum levels of drinking can be unhealthy and may lead to chronic diseases and long term problems such as
- High blood pressure
- Heart diseases such as cardiomyopathy
- Liver diseases such as liver cirrhosis
- Digestive tract problems such as ulcers
- Reflux disorders
- Cancer in various parts such as
- Mouth
- Throat
- Oesophagus
- Voice box
- Liver
- Colon
- Rectum
- Breast etc.
How much alcohol is safe to drink daily?
Men and women have different tolerance levels for alcohol. You are usually advised not to drink more than 14 units within a week on a regular basis.
- For women less than 1 drink per day is recommended
- For men less than 2 drinks per day is recommended.
What are the types of drinkers?
People drink due to different reasons such as
- Some drink due to social commitment and to fit in
- Other may drink to cope with certain mental and psychological reasons such as anxiety or depression
- Drinking for enhancement is a type where people drink for enhancement motives, it is common in people who are extrovert, impulsive and aggressive
- Drinking to conform is a type of drinking on certain occasions only who want to fit in
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