What Are the Harmful Effects of Alcohol on Your Body?
Thinking about taking time off from alcohol? Whether you're considering Sober October, Dry January or are ready to go booze-free without the help of a themed month, there are amazing benefits to breaking up with alcohol. Dr. Hannah Hildahl, UnityPoint Health, explains what alcohol does to your mind and body from top to bottom.
How Does Alcohol Affect the Body?
Curious about what’s happening below the surface when you throw back a drink? Let’s start at the top.
What Does Alcohol Do to Your Brain?
Alcohol is a depressant that slows down the brain and nervous system. It affects the brain with two key neurotransmitters.
Alcohol boosts the neurotransmitter that calms things down and dampens the one that speeds things up. This leads to feeling uber relaxed and having impaired coordination and slurred speech. Alcohol also triggers the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and reward, which plays a role in why it’s addictive for some people.
Does Alcohol Kill Brain Cells?
It's not entirely clear if alcohol kills brain cells, but it does indirectly cause damage, through nutrient deficiencies, particularly vitamin B1 (thiamine).
Anyone who’s had a few too many drinks and woken up with a pounding head knows the agony of an alcohol-induced headache. There are a few causes for headaches from alcohol, including:
- Alcohol increases urine production and can lead to dehydration. Dehydration causes headaches.
- Alcohol dilates blood vessels, leading to headaches.
More serious, long-term negative effects of alcohol on the brain are significant and can lead to various neurological issues, including:
- Cerebellar degeneration: This occurs when alcohol damages cells in the part of your brain responsible for balance, coordination and movement. The effects of alcohol on the cerebellum can be permanent.
- Dementia: Drinking too much alcohol increases your risk of developing dementia and other cognitive disorders.
- Stroke: Alcohol can damage the heart and blood vessels, leading to high blood pressure and irregular heart rhythms. These conditions increase your risk of stroke.
- Wernicke Encephalopathy (WE): This is a serious brain disorder caused by a lack of vitamin B1, often linked to heavy alcohol use. This deficiency causes confusion, eye problems and trouble with balance and coordination.
- Korsakoff Syndrome: This is an extension of WE. Dr. Hildahl says, “If you continue to drink despite WE, you can develop memory impairment, apathy, personality changes, etc."
Does Alcohol Cause Anxiety?
As a depressant, alcohol causes chemical changes in the hormones in our brain. Initially, it makes you feel more relaxed and less anxious. However, these effects wear off and can lead to symptoms of anxiety, depression, irritability or anger.
Dr. Hildahl says, “Alcohol effects our mood and psychological health. Its short and long-term impact on mood varies by person. If you experience anxiety or depression without alcohol, it may be worse when you drink.”
Does Alcohol Affect Sleep?
Reaching for a glass of wine before bed might be your preferred way to wind down, but it can leave you tossing and turning throughout the night.
“Alcohol helps people fall asleep, but it disrupts REM and deep sleep the rest of the night. These are the cycles that make us feel well rested. So, you may wake up more throughout the night and feel groggy the next day. Alcohol also relaxes the muscles in the throat causing snoring and sleep apnea to be worse,” Dr. Hildahl says.
How Does Alcohol Affect the Heart?
“Chronic, heavy drinking is shown to cause a six-fold increase for heart disease,” Dr. Hildahl says.
This is notable, because heart disease is already the leading cause of death in men and women.
In addition to heart disease, alcohol causes high blood pressure and increases your risk for abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias). Alcohol can also increase your heart rate.
Drinking puts you at higher risk for cardiovascular conditions like ischemic heart disease, when blood flow to your heart is blocked or reduced, and dilated cardiomyopathy, when the heart's main pumping chamber is enlarged and weakened.
One of the benefits of quitting alcohol is you can improve your heart health, especially for potentially reversible conditions like alcohol related dilated cardiomyopathy.
Dr. Hildahl also warns about a condition called Holiday Heart Syndrome. It's common for people to indulge in a few too many drinks during the holidays. Sometimes, this leads to temporary heart rhythm irregularities, like atrial fibrillation.
How Alcohol Affects Your Gut
Alcohol wreaks havoc on your digestive system, causing mild to serious conditions in your GI tract:
- Diarrhea: Alcohol causes diarrhea in a variety of ways, including irritating the intestinal tract and decreasing absorption of water and nutrients.
- Vomiting: Booze disrupts the gut and leads to nausea, abdominal pain and vomiting. Alcohol also leads to vomiting when it’s broken down in the body. A substance is produced that contributes vomiting and other unpleasant side effects, including hangovers.
- Gastritis: Inflammation of the stomach lining causing symptoms like heartburn, indigestion and nausea.
- Peptic ulcer disease: Sores in the stomach lining or duodenum.
- Pancreatitis (acute or chronic): This happens when your pancreas is inflamed. Acute pancreatitis is a sudden inflammation, while chronic pancreatitis is long-term inflammation, often leading to digestive issues and pain.
- Liver disease: Alcoholism causes liver damage and leads to several diseases, including:
- Fatty liver disease: It’s usually mild and doesn’t cause symptoms. Bloodwork gives clues you have it. If you have fatty liver disease, one of the benefits of giving up alcohol is that it’s possible to reverse it.
- Alcoholic hepatitis: If alcohol-related liver damage progresses, it leads to inflammation. This can cause symptoms like upper right abdominal pain, nausea and jaundice. In mild cases, the damage can be reversed if you quit drinking.
- Fibrosis: This means your liver is severely inflamed. Over time, as the liver tries to repair itself from alcohol-related damage, it forms scar tissue. This scarring interferes with the liver's ability to function properly.
- Cirrhosis: About 10-20% of heavy drinkers may develop cirrhosis. It’s irreversible, widespread and leads to serious health problems like increased risk of bleeding and blood clots, fluid build-up in the abdomen, inability to clear toxins leading to confusion (called hepatic encephalopathy) and kidney disease. Unfortunately, a liver transplant may be the only option for people with advanced cirrhosis.
How Alcohol Affects your Musculoskeletal and Nervous System
Ever wake up after a night of drinking with muscular aches? Overdoing it on alcohol causes body aches and pain from dehydration, leading to muscle cramps and generally feeling uncomfortable.
Additionally, excessive alcohol consumption interferes with your body’s ability to absorb nutrients, potentially impacting bone health over time and increasing your risk of conditions like gout and osteoporosis.
Alcohol can also lead to neuropathy, a condition that affects your nerves and causes a feeling of numbness, tingling and even pain in your limbs.
“The direct cause is unknown, but alcohol is thought to cause neuropathy due to vitamin deficiencies from chronic drinking and the toxic effects from alcohol itself,” Dr. Hildahl says.
Unfortunately, nerve damage caused by alcohol can be permanent. While some nerve function may recover if you stop drinking, you may develop permanent damage. Recovery depends on factors like early detection and treatment, length of alcohol use and severity of the nerve damage.
How Alcohol Affects Your Metabolism
Alcohol can cause acute and chronic inflammation in the body. It contributes to metabolic syndrome, a condition that includes risk factors like high blood pressures, high blood sugar, elevated cholesterol and excess fat. It can increase the likelihood of heart disease, diabetes and other health problems.
Alcohol and Weight Gain
Indulging in too many drinks leads to unwanted weight gain. Here’s why that happens:
- Alcohol is packed with calories that add up over time.
- Alcohol slows down your metabolism, making it harder for your body to burn calories.
- Given alcohol leads to metabolic syndrome, unwanted fat is packed around the waistline.
- Alcohol messes with your hormones, leading to increased cravings for greasy, unhealthy foods.
So, while that nightcap is tempting, it’s not a great choice for reaching your weight loss goals.
Does Alcohol Weaken Your Immune System?
Alcohol can weaken your immune system. Chronic drinking can lead to low red blood cells (anemia), white blood cells (help fight infection) and platelets (help blood clot).
“Drinking impacts many aspects of the body that interfere with your ability to recover from an illness. It also interacts with some antibiotics, like metronidazole, making you feel more ill due to a reaction with alcohol,” Dr. Hildahl says.
How Does Alcohol Affect a Man or Woman Sexually?
Heavy drinking can lead to problems in the bedroom for both men and women. For men who’ve been drinking for years, alcohol can cause chronic erectile dysfunction and lower testosterone. In women, it can cause issues like difficulty reaching orgasm, vaginal dryness and painful sex. While the exact mechanisms aren't fully understood, alcohol's impact on hormones, blood flow and nerve function likely play a role.
Alcohol can also negatively impact fertility in both men and women. In women, alcohol may increase the risk of miscarriage and pre-term birth. If a woman drinks during pregnancy, it can cause lifelong disabilities from fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. In men, it can decrease sperm count and quality. Vitamin B12 and folate are both important for reproductive health. Alcohol depletes both.
How to Quit Drinking Alcohol
If you’re a low-risk, casual drinker who’s sober curious about whether you’ll feel better after cutting out happy hour, it’s OK to quit alcohol cold turkey. For someone who’s a heavy drinker, quitting alcohol, or simply cutting back, can cause life-threatening alcohol withdrawal.
Dr. Hildahl says, “When deciding to quit drinking, there’s no real science to it. It’s a personal decision you’ll make when you’re ready. I encourage anyone thinking about stopping drinking to talk to their provider for further education or counseling.”
A key aspect to making any big change in your life is having a support system. Having your family or friends on board is helpful for staying sober or identifying triggers that lead to relapse.
“Always communicate with your provider if certain symptoms hold you back from quitting alcohol. For instance, a common example is self-medicating with alcohol to manage depression or insomnia. This is a great time to ask your provider how to treat these underlying conditions to help you stay alcohol free,” Dr. Hildahl says.
What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Drinking
When a person stops drinking, their symptoms may differ based on how much or often they drink.
Alcohol withdrawal causes mild symptoms, such as trembling and insomnia, to severe complications like withdrawal seizures and delirium tremens, a condition characterized by confusion, hallucinations and an overactive nervous system.
Serious symptoms of withdrawal that require assistance from medical professionals occur in heavy drinkers.
“In most cases, severe symptoms from detoxing from alcohol peak within the first 72-96 hours. However, symptoms like anxiety and insomnia can last several months,” Dr. Hildahl says.
“Given alcohol withdrawal has the potential for dangerous and fatal complications, we often monitor and treat patients in a hospital setting. However, based on a patient’s risk profile and their provider’s comfort level, alcohol withdrawal is treated outpatient, too. Talk with your doctor first, so you can wean off alcohol safely,” she adds.
How to Stop Alcohol Cravings
If you’re ready to take the next step towards quitting alcohol but are struggling to stop, Dr. Hildahl encourages you to talk with your provider.
“We have tools to help you stop drinking. For instance, if you’re struggling with cravings, your doctor can prescribe medications, like naltrexone and acamprosate (and others), which may help reduce those cravings,” she says.
As with any medication, there may be side effects and considerations based on underlying conditions. Ask your doctor what’s right for you.
Benefits of Quitting Alcohol
If you’re thinking about dabbling in Dry January or Sober October, Dr. Hildahl encourages everyone to try it.
“Quitting alcohol improves your overall health and metabolic profile. It helps with weight loss, heart health and decreases your risk for liver disease. Not only does cutting back on alcohol have positive impacts on your health, it’s great for your relationships and wallet, too,” Dr. Hildahl says.
When to Talk to Your Doctor About Your Alcohol Use
Whether you want to cut back or quit entirely because of a growing alcohol dependency, talk to your doctor about developing a personalized plan. They can assess your drinking habits, discuss potential health risks and provide support and guidance.
“Regardless of how much you drink, be open and honest with your provider. It’s our job to be there for you and promote your well-being in a non-biased manner,” Dr. Hildahl says.
“We want you to be happy and healthy. A phrase that may help guide your decisions for many aspects of life, including alcohol consumption, is to ‘do all things in moderation,’” she adds.