ScottCounseling Reader Asks:
What are the effects of alcohol on the body?
What can be done about underage drinking?
Does drinking lead to other drugs?
ScottCounseling Response:
Steady drinking over many years leads to permanent changes in the brain. One of the permanent effects of alcohol on the brain is to reduce the amount of brain tissue and to increase the size of the ventricles instead. Another way in which alcoholic drinks affect the brain is through depriving it of food substances such as vitamins. This is because heavy drinkers often neglect their diet, which can lead to vitamin deficiencies. Thiamine, one of the ‘B’ vitamins is most commonly missing from the diet and can lead to serious mental disturbance.
The Heart
The heart can be affected by the vitamin deficiencies caused by a neglected diet. The pumping action of the heart is weakened. Heart failure can result from this.
The Liver
Some of the most serious effects on the body of drinking alcoholic drinks are caused by damage done to the liver by alcohol. If alcohol is frequently in the blood in large amounts, it causes the liver cells to die and prevents the liver from working efficiently. This disease is called Cirrhosis. In the case of a generally healthy person, if alcohol is taken infrequently or only in moderate amounts, any damaged liver tissue has time to repair itself.
Two-thirds of the cases of Cirrhosis of the liver diagnosed in the UK are caused by alcohol.
The Stomach
Just one occasion when you drink heavily can irritate the stomach and cause sickness and pain. The steady drinking of alcohol can lead to the regular occurrence of these symptoms.
The Skin
Alcohol causes small blood vessels in the skin to widen, allowing more blood to flow close to the skin’s surface. This produces a flushed skin colour and a feeling of warmth.
The Reproductive Organs
Your sex life can be harmed by drinking alcoholic drinks. Alcohol depresses nerve impulses. In men, it can depress those which cause erections. In women, heavy drinking during pregnancy can harm the foetus. The baby, when it is born, may be very small and could have reduced intelligence and facial deformities. This condition is called Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and babies born to mothers with an alcohol problem are at a high risk of suffering from this.
Weight
Alcohol contains sugar and other carbohydrates and so is a good from of energy. Heavy drinking can cause a serious weight problem due to alcohol’s high carbohydrate content.
- Alcohol and tobacco are common drugs that can be found anywhere and used by anyone. The availability of these drugs makes it easier for kids to get and abuse at a young age. Studies have found that alcohol and tobacco abuse may lead to other illegal drug use.
- According to the 2002 Time Almanac currently 51.7% of people use alcohol and only 5% of people are current marijuana users. Of the 51.7% of people that use alcohol 7.4% are heavy users. A study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) says the cost of alcohol and drug abuse was $246 billion in 1992, and that 60% or $148 billion of that was generated from alcoholism and alcohol abuse (Trevino & Richard, 2002). More money is spent on alcohol abusers than on drug abusers every year. This implies that alcohol abuse is a bigger problem then marijuana use.
