Show
Drinking too much – on a single occasion or over time – can take a serious toll on your health. Here’s how alcohol can affect your body: Brain: Heart:
Liver:
Pancreas: Cancer: "The evidence indicates that the more alcohol a person drinks–particularly the more alcohol a person drinks regularly over time–the higher his or her risk of developing an alcohol-associated cancer. Even those who have no more than one drink per day and people who binge drink (those who consume 4 or more drinks for women and 5 or more drinks for men in one sitting) have a modestly increased risk of some cancers. Based on data from 2009, an estimated 3.5% of cancer deaths in the United States (about 19,500 deaths were alcohol related." Clear patterns have emerged between alcohol consumption and increased risks of certain types of cancer:
For more information about alcohol and cancer, please visit the National Cancer Institute's webpage "Alcohol and Cancer Risk" (last accessed October 21, 2021). Immune System: For more information about alcohol's effects on the body, please visit the Interactive Body feature on NIAAA's College Drinking Prevention website. Medically Reviewed by Jennifer Robinson, MD on March 16, 2021 If you have a little too much alcohol once in a while, it
probably won’t do lasting damage if you’re otherwise healthy. But it’s a different story if you regularly drink heavily. For most men, that’s defined as more than 4 drinks a day, or 14 or 15 in a week. For women, heavy drinking is more than 3 drinks in a day, or 7 or 8 per week. Too much alcohol can harm you physically and mentally in lots of ways. Alcohol is a toxin, and it’s your
liver’s job to flush it out of your body. But your liver may not be able to keep up if you drink too much too fast. Alcohol can kill liver cells, and lead to scarring called cirrhosis. Long-term heavy use of alcohol also may give you alcoholic
fatty liver disease, a sign that your liver doesn’t work as well as it should. You may know about the dangers of blood clots and high levels of fats and
cholesterol in your body. Alcohol makes both things more likely. Studies of heavy drinkers also show that they are more likely to have trouble pumping blood to their heart and may have a higher chance of dying from
heart disease. Alcohol affects the brain’s communication pathways. This makes it harder for you to think and speak clearly, remember things, make decisions, and move your body. Heavy
drinking also can cause mental health issues like depression and dementia. You may get painful
nerve damage that may linger long after you sober up. This is when your body doesn’t make enough healthy red blood cells to move oxygen around. That may give you
ulcers, inflammation, and other problems. Too much booze may also make you more likely to skip meals, which can short-change your body of iron. There is a clear link between heavy
alcohol use and many types of cancers. Alcohol can damage the cells in your mouth, throat, voice box, and esophagus. It can lead to cancers in your liver,
breast, and intestines. Alcohol can help cancer-causing chemicals in
tobacco and other sources enter your cells more easily. Long-term alcohol abuse may raise your
chances for epilepsy. And alcohol withdrawal after heavy drinking can cause seizures. This form of arthritis results from painful buildup of uric acid in the joints. You can get gout from eating too much food high in chemicals called purines, which include red meat, shellfish, and alcohol -- especially beer and liquor. Heavy drinking can hamper your immune cells from fighting off viruses and bacteria. It also can harm your liver, which plays an important role in your immune system by making antibacterial proteins. Booze is caustic. It can inflame the
stomach lining, causing heartburn and nausea. Over time, this can give you ulcers and chronic
inflammation in your stomach, esophagus, and gut. It can also make it harder for your intestines to digest important
nutrients like B12 and thiamine. Alcohol can also cause a buildup of digestive enzymes in the pancreas, leading to a condition called pancreatitis, or an inflamed
pancreas. This can affect how much insulin you make, putting you at higher risk for diabetes. Knocking back a
lot of drinks may knock you out at night. But once the sedative effect wears off, it can disrupt or lower the quality of your sleep. Binge drinking too often can make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. It can also increase snoring and
sleep apnea, making it hard to get a good night’s rest. If you think you might have a problem with alcohol, get help. Talk to your doctor, therapist, or an addiction specialist. Find online support groups. Some
people manage to kick the habit on their own. But if you feel you need extra help, you may want to check out your local branch of Alcoholics Anonymous. Learn more about outpatient alcohol treatment. Can long term alcohol abuse cause cancer?All alcoholic drinks, including red and white wine, beer, and liquor, are linked with cancer. The more you drink, the higher your cancer risk.
What types of cancers are related to long term alcohol abuse?Cancers of the mouth, throat, voice box, and esophagus: Alcohol use clearly raises the risk of these cancers.. Mouth.. Throat (pharynx). Voice box (larynx). Esophagus.. Liver.. Colon and rectum.. Breast.. What are the 7 types of cancer caused by alcohol?A New Zealand study has found “strong evidence” that alcohol causes seven types of cancer — oropharynx, larynx, esophagus, liver, colon, rectum and breast cancer — and “probably others” such as pancreas, prostate and skin cancer.
What cancers can alcohol lead to?Alcohol is a known carcinogen. This means that alcohol causes cancer. There is strong evidence that drinking alcohol increases people's risk of cancers of the female breast, liver, mouth, throat (pharynx and larynx), oesophagus and bowel. Heavy drinking may also increase people's risk of stomach cancer.
|