What Does Alcohol Do to Your Body?

Alcohol has been widely used in the social life since easy beverages up to festive and night-outs. But even though it may not be bad in small doses, alcohol may have deep consequences to your body and psyche. In the long run, over drinking may cause physical health conditions, emotional disturbances and even addiction to alcohol. The first step to making informed choice and seeking help in case of need is to understand what alcohol is doing to your body.

How Alcohol Affects the Body

Alcohol is rapidly absorbed into the blood system when you drink through the small intestine and stomach. It moves there to other organs such as your brain, liver, heart, and kidneys among others. Alcohol is a depressant, which means that it retards the brain functioning and the communication between the brain and the body.

You can be relaxed or even intoxicated in the first place. Nevertheless, the higher the alcohol concentration in blood (BAC) the worse judgment, coordination, and reaction times are. These temporary effects may later on be replaced by more severe long-term outcomes.

Short-Term Effects of Alcohol

It is true that even a little alcohol will have an impact on your body almost instantly. The most prevalent short-term effects are:

• Difficult speech and inability to coordinate.
• Diffuse vision, retarded reflexes.
• Blurred vision or dizziness
• Less inhibition and dangerous behavior.
• Nausea, dehydration and vomiting.
• Hangovers (grumpy, sleepy, photophobic)

Alcohol may induce alcohol poisoning at higher doses and this is potentially fatal. Alcohol poisoning may have the following symptoms:

• Disorientation or race drowsiness.
• Vomiting repeatedly
• Seizure
• Slow or irregular breathin
• Blue hue or lightness of skin.
• Unconsciousness

In case a person has the following symptoms, call an ambulance.

Long-Term Effects of Alcohol on the Body

The prolonged or excessive drinking may badly harm virtually all the organs in your body. The the longer you extend the drink the more harm you cause.The following are the key implications of alcohol to various body parts:

1. Liver Damage

Alcohol is processed and broken down by the liver, however, with continuous excessive drinking, fatty liver, hepatitis, fibrosis or cirrhosis develop, decreasing liver functions and this may prove deadly.

2. Heart and Circulatory System

Persistent drinking elevates the level of blood pressure, impairs the heart muscles, and risks stroke, abnormal heart rhythms, and heart disease.

3. Brain and Nervous System

Alcohol also influences the neurotransmitter with mood swings, memory loss, and cognitive impairment. With time it can lead to alcohol related brain damage, risk of mental illness such as depression and anxiety.

4. Digestive System

Alcohol alkaloids the stomach wall leading to gastritis, ulcers and acid reflux. It also affects the absorption of nutrients causing deficiencies and ineffective immunity.

5. Immune System

Alcohol is a killer of your immunity, the body is more exposed to infection, such as pneumonia and tuberculosis.

6. Cancer Risk

Alcohol use on a chronic basis is associated with the higher risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, liver, colon, and breast.

Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms

 Upon sudden cessation of drinking by a heavy drinker, he/she may have alcohol withdrawal symptoms as the body attempts to adapt to the absence of alcohol. Such symptoms may be mild or severe:

• Anxiety or irritability
• Tremors or shaking hands
• Nausea and vomiting
• Headache
• Perspiration, increased heart rate.
• Insomnia or nightmares
• In severe situations (delirium tremens) it has seizures or hallucinations.

Professional assistance is important in case you exhibit these symptoms or a friend of yours does. The medical detox and supervised care can help to avoid life threatening complications..

Alcohol Addiction and the Need for Treatment

This can be an indication of alcohol addiction when consumption of the drink becomes a routine or a requisite to be active. Addiction as a problem is not something a sign of frailty but rather a chronic disease, that changes the chemistry and behavior of the brain.

Professional alcohol addiction treatment is the most appropriate way of beginning recovery. We know that the journey of sobriety is not the same of everyone at Solutions Healthcare. We use evidence-based interventions which are:

• Medical Detox: Medical, medically assisted detoxification of symptom management.
• Therapy and Counseling: To eliminate the latent issues, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), personal therapy, and group therapy.
• Dual Diagnosis Treatment: It is aimed at those who are also struggling with addiction as well as the mental health conditions.
• Aftercare and Relapse Prevention: Extended therapy so as to ensure sobriety and healthy lifestyles.

We are aimed at giving optimal alcohol addiction treatment in order to make people conquer their health and life again.’

The 7 Stages of Being Drunk

Knowledge of intoxication stages will assist in determining the point at which the use of alcohol will be considered dangerous. There are seven being drunk stages, namely:

1. Sobriety or Low-Level Intoxication Level of Euphoria is mild and of a relaxed mood.
2. Euphoria: Heightened sociability, confidence and talkativeness.
3. Excitement: Poor judgment, slow response, mumbled speech.
4. Confusion: Emotional instability, disoriented, loss of balance.
5. Stupor: The inability to move in the right way, vomiting, and possible blackouts.
6. Coma Unconsciousness, shallow breathing, risk of alcohol poisoning.

What Happens When You Drink Alcohol Every Day?

The rate at which alcohol is consumed daily may easily result in tolerance so that your body needs more alcohol in order to achieve the same feeling. This could eventually develop into addiction and dependence. Daily alcohol consumption exposes oneself to the risk of:

• Liver disease and high blood pressure.
• Impairment and shrinkage of the brain.
• Depression and anxiety
• Weakened immune system
• Increased risk of cancer

 When you realize that you or someone you love have changed these ways, then you need to seek professional assistance. Intervention will be life saving.