Extreme alcohol consumption can cause numerous diseases and health risks. Reports suggest that even drinking within recommended limits can increase the risk of death due to the possibility of contracting diverse health issues including several types of cancer or cardiovascular diseases. Although alcohol can make a person feel happy and socially involved for a short period of time, but regular consumption can easily result in creating an alcohol dependency. Moreover, alcohol doesn’t just affect the body but your mind as well.
Chronic heavy drinking is often associated with cognitive and mental health issues. In this article we will help you understand what chronic heavy drinking actually does to your body, over a period of time.
1 Causes Cardiovascular Diseases
Chronic heavy drinking can cause heart disease or stroke. Alcohol increases the level of fat in the blood, which often leads to high blood pressure and even stroke. Excessive use of alcohol can also weaken your heart muscles and make you suffer from cardiomyopathy. Additionally, it can lead to abnormal heart rhythms and ventricular fibrillation.
2 Cirrhosis
Alcohol, even when consumed moderately, can cause inflammation of the liver. Chronic drinking can cause scarring of the liver tissue and leads to Cirrhosis. Cirrhosis is a fatal condition where your liver gets so scarred that it stops functioning. Women are more prone to develop Cirrhosis than men. The risk factor of Cirrhosis depends on the time period during which you have been drinking.
3 Dementia
Alcohol doesn’t just affect the body but leads to mental health issues as well. Chronic heavy drinking can affect the brain to an unparalleled extent and at times can even lead to memory loss and lead to Dementia. Some symptoms of Dementia include poor judgement and extreme difficulty in decision making. Heavy and long-term drinking can also lead to Korsakoff’s syndrome, a mental health condition in which a person suffers from short-term memory loss.
4 Seizures
Moderate drinking generally does not trigger seizures. Excessive and long term use of alcohol or withdrawal can trigger epilepsy in some people. It’s a fatal condition because the medication for epilepsy can make you more sensitive to the long-term effects of alcohol. A prolonged epileptic seizure is a life-threatening situation. It generally occurs within 72 hours after stopping drinking.
5 Cancer
Chronic heavy drinking can increase your risk factor of developing various types of cancer. Your body converts alcohol into acetaldehyde, known as a carcinogen, which is a substance that majorly causes cancer. A chronic drinker can develop cancer in different regions including the pharynx, larynx, liver, breast and oesophagus.
6 Nerve Damage
Chronic heavy drinking can cause Alcoholic neuropathy, which is a form of nerve damage caused due to heavy drinking for long periods of time. Alcohol is considered toxic to the nerve cells. The early symptoms of nerve damage due to alcohol include muscle weakness, tingling, numbness and pain, nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting and constipation.
7 Gout
Excessive consumption of alcohol can increase your risk of developing gout, which is a type of arthritis. It is caused due to the formation of uric acid and crystals between the joints. Gout is particularly common in males and is an extremely painful condition. Beer is known to be the major cause behind Gout.
There is no ‘safe level’ of alcohol consumption. Alcohol, even when consumed within the recommended limits, can affect your health. The long-term effects of chronic heavy drinking include more than 200 health conditions. Alcohol takes a major toll on your health.