What is the harm of alcohol: negative effects on the body and consumption rates

Alcoholic beverages are the most common product on the shelves of almost every grocery store. Certain doses of alcohol cause serious changes and disorders in the human body. Awareness of the harm of alcohol can help to reject it altogether or limit alcohol consumption to acceptable levels.

What harm does alcohol do to humans?

Abusers do not think about the consequences of drunkenness, and these are:

• mental degradation;
• deterioration of physical and mental health;
• problems in society;
• bad inheritance;
• financial problems;
• amoral behavior.

According to statistics, men are more likely to drink. This happens for many reasons, for example, bad company or the illusion that alcohol can relieve stress. But it also extends to women and, worst of all, to teenagers.

Harmful substances contained in alcohol.

By knowing what harmful substances the most common types of alcohol contain, you can understand how it affects the quality of our lives.

Popular intoxicating liquids contain substances dangerous to health and life:

1. Ethanol. With regular and excessive use it leads to addiction. In small amounts, it does not harm the body, but an overdose can cause sudden loss of consciousness or even death.
2. phytoestrogen. The female hormone (contained in beer) leads to disruption of the male and female reproductive systems.
3. fusel oils. In large quantities they are toxic. With constant intake in the body, they increase the risk of stomach ulcers, cause blindness, impotence and liver diseases.
4. Cobalt. In small amounts, it is a useful trace element, but if it accumulates in the body, it becomes dangerous for the normal functioning of the heart and the gastrointestinal tract.
5. N-nitrosodimethylamine. Highly toxic substance, especially destructive effect on the liver.
6. Biogenic amines. Toxic chemical compound. In a small amount it can be useful, but if abused, it causes convulsions, vomiting and diarrhoea.
7. Sodium benzoate (E-211). Once in the stomach, it causes strong oxidation of the epithelial cells. This leads to gastritis, stomach ulcers, pancreatitis. Contributes to the exacerbation of chronic allergic diseases: asthma, urticaria, psoriasis.
8. Phosphoric acid (E-338). Destructively affects bone tissue and tooth enamel. Causes gastrointestinal disorders, leads to weight loss. A high concentration of the substance causes a burn of the respiratory tract.

Harmful effect on the body of adolescents.

Alcohol has a detrimental effect on the growth and development processes of an adolescent:

1. Intellectual and emotional decline.
2. Vitamins and useful microelements entering the body are poorly absorbed, and this negatively affects the condition of the teeth, nails, hair and skin.
3. Increases the risk of problems with the heart, blood vessels, gastrointestinal tract, the occurrence of diseases that, as a rule, people of more mature age increase (for example, pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus).
4. The growth of bone and muscle tissue stops.
5. Liver, kidneys, reproductive system suffer.

female alcoholism

The difference between the development of male and female addiction:

1. In women, addiction occurs faster, and the treatment of this disease is ineffective. This is due to the characteristics of the female body: it has fewer enzymes that help break down alcohol-containing products. Therefore, toxins are not excreted from the body for a long time and quickly lead to damaging effects on the organs.
2. Women prefer low-alcohol drinks (wine, champagne, cocktails). Because of this, it is more difficult to control the level of intoxication, and the transition to strong drinks occurs, as a rule, already in the later stages of alcoholism.
3. Embarrassed by addiction, women are more likely to drink alone and seek help when it is quite difficult to hide the changes. The rehabilitation process is more difficult and longer than in men.

Due to the effect of alcohol on the ovum, conceiving, gestating and giving birth to a child can be a difficult or even impossible task.

Conception at the time of intoxication affects the genetic information of the egg. After bearing such a fetus, there is a fundamental threat of the birth of an heir with cerebral palsy syndrome (infantile cerebral palsy) or with other disorders of external and internal organs. And there is also a possibility that during the gestation period the placenta will exfoliate and the fetus will die.

social harm

Wife/husband, children, relatives, friends, colleagues, neighbors and bystanders can become victims of the inappropriate behavior of a drunk person:

1. Job. Employers don't want to immediately hire or fire a person who drinks because he or she misses shifts for no good reason or does a poor job.
2. driving. Half of accidents are due to a drunk driver.
3. violation of the law. Most crimes are committed by those who are drunk or quite drunk, as they are more prone to assault and even murder.
4. immoral behavior. First sexual experience, unplanned pregnancy, and rape cases most often occur when one or both partners are drunk.
5. Unhealthy home environment. Children grow up in an unfavorable environment and may well inherit the negative example of their parents.
6. Divorce. All the innocent members of the family suffer. Mothers or fathers raise children alone, who are affected by upbringing in an incomplete family.

How does alcohol affect health?

The table shows popular alcoholic beverages, their composition and the organs they affect.

Drink	Composition	Damage organs and possible consequences.
Beer	Carbohydrates, ethyl alcohol, nitrogenous substances	kidney stones; heart problems; liver disease; brain damage; atherosclerosis; diseases of the intestines and stomach; fat deposition; impotence
Vodka	Purified water, ethyl alcohol. The composition may include chemical additives and spices.	poor orientation in space; mental degradation; cerebral haemorrhage; heart attack; heart failure; violation of the liver, kidneys, gastrointestinal tract
Cognac	Alcohols, organic acids, ethyl esters, tannins and tannins	liver cirrhosis; cardiovascular diseases; asthma attacks; destruction of tooth enamel; the stomach walls are corroded; poor blood clotting
low alcohol cocktails	Ethanol, synthetic additives and chemical additives	career; varicose veins; mental decline; memory impairment; gastritis, stomach ulcer; hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver; asthma attacks occur; there is a deterioration in the structure of the skin; hormonal disturbances; development of infertility

Liver and digestive system

The destruction of the liver is associated with a violation of protein metabolism, and at the first stage it is usually not accompanied by subjective sensations and changes in laboratory parameters.

There are five stages of liver destruction:

• adaptive hepatomegaly (enlarged liver);
• alcoholic fatty steatosis;
• alcoholic hepatitis;
• alcoholic fibrosis of the liver;
• cirrhosis.

Common signs of these diseases:

• constant weakness;
• yellowish skin and eyeballs;
• the temperature is above normal;
• Pain in the right hypochondrium.

Alcohol entering the intestine, in fact, leaves a chemical burn of your mucous membrane. Regular intoxication leads to problems with defecation (loose stools or constipation, fecal stones), which in most cases are resolved exclusively by surgery.

More possible:

• angioedema;
• Diarrhea;
• urticaria;
• gastritis;
• ulcerative dyspepsia;
• pancreatitis;
• necrosis of pancreatic tissues;
• bowel cancer.

heart and blood vessels

After drinking alcohol, ethyl alcohol enters the bloodstream and stays in the vessels for about 7 hours, causing them to expand, disrupting the normal rhythm of the heart. Frequent intake of alcohol, even in modest amounts, inevitably leads to clogging of the cerebral vessels, which, with an increase in blood pressure, rupture. At best, a person survives, but is left with a disability, and at worst, a fatal outcome.

Minimal but constant doses of alcohol are dangerous and cause the following painful conditions:

• lack of oxygen;
• vessels thicken, shrink, burst;
• atrial flutter;
• extrasystole;
• cardiomyopathy;
• arterial hypertension;
• hypertension;
• heart attack;
• atherosclerosis

The pulse rises from 95 to 100 beats per minute. Fat accumulates in the heart muscle, respectively, it increases and becomes flaccid.

brain and nervous system

The entry of ethyl alcohol into the bloodstream has a devastating effect on red blood cells, which are responsible for transporting air to the brain. Oxygen stops entering the brain cells, and as a result, they die one by one.

This leads to poor performance:

• vestibular apparatus;
• "moral" center (feeling of shame disappears, arrogance appears);
• memory;
• attention.

The processes of excitation and inhibition in the nervous system are disturbed, which leads to the following signs of antisocial and painful behavior:

• manifestation of aggression;
• inability to control himself;
• lack of logic in the presentation of thought;
• Suicidal tendencies;
• violation of the dynamics of movements;
• the occurrence of seizures;
• the appearance of hallucinations.

Respiratory system

A rough, hoarse voice with a peculiar timbre is aptly called "drunk" bass. People who love to abuse are more likely to get tuberculosis.

Addiction damages the following areas of the respiratory system:

• pharynx;
• the entire nasopharynx;
• larynx.

People who drink regularly experience chronic upper respiratory diseases such as:

• laryngitis;
• tracheobronchitis;
• atrophic pharyngitis.

Shortness of breath occurs both during moderate physical exertion and during rest. There is also a characteristic unpleasant smell of fumes from the drinker, which is the cause of the decomposition of ethanol, which is excreted through the lungs.

sexual dysfunction

Erectile dysfunction and even impotence are consequences of alcoholism. Regular intake of strong drinks negatively affects the ability to procreate. Erection problems can lead to prolonged depression.

The myth is the claim that small doses of alcohol have a positive effect on male strength. Accumulated ethanol disrupts the normal functioning of nerve endings, so intimacy does not bring the expected pleasure.

Alcoholism has a negative effect on the quality of sexual life of women. It is this disease that is one of the main causes of frigidity, and in its most severe manifestations. This leads to emotional problems for both members of the couple and often to the breakup of the family.

Immunity

The benefits of high-quality wine (preferably red) from natural juice, in limited volumes, are really carried out: it eliminates toxins, strengthens the immune system. But a large amount, even the most expensive alcoholic beverage, will negatively affect health.

The thing is that at this time the following defenders of the immune system are suppressed:

• lymphocytes;
• macrophages;
• granulocytes.

Consequences of immunodeficiency:

• wounds do not heal for a long time;
• the bones do not form correctly;
• increased probability of HIV transmission;
• poorly restored skin from burns and injuries.

Makeover

The reason for the purple color of the skin is ethyl alcohol, which acts in such a way that the pulse quickens and the blood pressure rises. Over time, the vessels do not withstand constant stress, and blue and red bruises form.

The swelling is explained by the fact that the body is trying with all its might to restore the water balance after the toxins contained in vodka, beer and other intoxicating drinks enter it. And the female body does it more actively. An alcoholic is tormented by constant thirst, however, water is absorbed very slowly. Drink and the fluid builds up, causing swelling in your hands, feet, and also your face.

In addition to unattractive appearance, there can be "obvious" complications after fights (scratches, bruises, abrasions, fractures), which chronic drinkers are often involved in.

During the development of chronic alcoholism, narcologists observe external symptoms in patients, such as:

• physical exhaustion;
• swollen face;
• crimson tongue;
• High temperature;
• dry, scaly, or oily skin;
• heavy sweating;
• tachycardia, arrhythmia.

Photo gallery

The effects of alcohol on various organs can be seen in the following photos.

Rules of use

It would be better to categorically refuse the regular use of a product containing alcohol. However, if a person has decided to just reduce their amount, then they will be interested to know that there are acceptable consumption rates.

The weekly norm (with two days of complete refusal) of alcohol with a low risk of harm for the stronger sex is less than 5 liters of beer with a strength of 4, 5 degrees or 50 grams of vodka or cognac at lunch and dinner. dinner (daily), or three glasses of dry wine. For women, this norm is 3 liters of beer a week, or 80 grams of vodka at dinner, or two glasses of wine.

It is worth considering that if you refrained from strong drinks on certain days, this does not mean that on another day you can drink more without adverse consequences.

But still, the calculations for the consumer must be made individually, taking into account:

• weight;
• increase;
• years;
• metabolism;
• inheritance;
• first experience of drinking alcohol.

Attention!The information is presented for informational purposes and is not a guide to action. Do not self-medicate, consult your doctor first.