The Long Term Effects of Alcohol

Often we really don't realize the risks we are taking with our health until it's too late, or until we read an article that explains what life would be like if we continue doing a certain habit.

Here you'll read about nine long-term effects from the frequent and heavy consumption of alcohol. Give them some thought and then make your decision on how much alcohol you want to include in your daily diet.

1 Risk of cancer
Did you know that alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer and also esophageal, mouth and tracheal (windpipe) cancer? Even though alcohol by itself is not a carcinogen, it acts as a co-carcinogen, enhancing other carcinogens. Alcohol also may increase the production of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) or advanced lipoxidation endproducts (ALEs) that are linked with rapid aging, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

2 Holiday heart syndrome
Although you will often hear that a little alcohol is good for your heart, the fact is that large quantities of alcohol can cause cardiomyopathy, better known as €holiday heart syndrome.€ This enlargement of the heart can lead to arrhythmias. Arrhythmias can create additional trips to the emergency room and are also linked with nutritional deficiencies. They can possibly lead to death.

3 Cirrhosis
Having liver cirrhosis is not fun and not pretty. Expect your abdomen to swell to the point where you look like you're pregnant, along with a lot of abdominal pain. In severe cases, something called caput medusa appears. This is where the veins back up and look like they're all twisted, like snakes. It's visible on the abdomen.

4 Brain damage, showing up in long-term memory.
Chronic alcohol consumption starts out affecting short-term memory so you forget what you walked into the kitchen to get. Over time, the brain physically changes from consumption of alcohol at moderate to high levels, affecting nerve cells in the brain and causing their death. This causes long-term memory. 

5 Nutritional deficiencies
Alcohol interferes with the absorption of nutrients that are absorbed in the small intestine and nutrients stored in the liver: folic acid, B vitamins, zinc, calcium, magnesium and others.

Folic acid deficiency causes poor memory, anemia, and intestinal disorders.

B vitamin deficiencies will leave you constantly tired, anemic, give you dandruff, nervous disorders, cracks and sores in the mouth, loss of appetite, restlessness, muscle weakness, depression and cause you to retain water. Not a pretty picture, is it?

Zinc deficiency results in stretch marks, delayed healing of wounds, loss of taste and appetite, impaired resistance to infections and diabetes.

Calcium and magnesium deficiencies result in softening and brittle bones, insomnia, irritability, depression, nervousness, tremors, delerium tremens (DT), and muscle jerks.

6 Atrophy of the vermis.
The vermis is part of the cerebellum of the brain that is responsible for making you walk straight without wobbling, making your gait slow and steady or fast and straight. Chronic consumption of alcohol causes this part of the brain to wither away, affecting your gait and making you look like you're stumbling even when sober.

7 Perception by others as an alcoholic, someone who makes poor judgment and has mental disorders. Since alcohol is considered the great mimicker of mental disorders, you can expect heavy drinking to bring on bouts of depression, paranoia, delusions, anxiety and extreme elated feelings. 

8 Increased cortisol
Biochemically, alcohol is a stress on the body. Once you start drinking, stress hormones such as cortisol are released. This results in belly fat being deposited at record levels. Stress hormones also cause the body to be primarily broken down, instead of being built up stronger.

9 Increased risk of fractures
Alcohol can take its toll on your bones and increase your risk of fractures, osteoporosis (brittle bones), and even is associated with the necrosis (dying) of the neck of your hip bone.

The long-term effects of alcohol consumption can be summed up like this if one becomes a heavy drinker: expect cancer, heart problems, liver disease, brain damage, stomach issues and the impaired ability to maintain your balance while standing or walking. You'll spend the golden years in and out of hospitals instead of cruising the waters of the world. You can also expect to feel stress and expect others to perceive you as someone who is not morally sound.

Now make your decision.

Article by: 

Rahul is a former problem drinker who developed a system to help him overcome his alcohol issues. You can find out about this and also get your free e-book on The Effects of Alcohol at the following website: http://www.alcoholfreesociallife.com