Alcohol’s impact on your body starts from the moment you take your first sip. While an occasional glass of wine with dinner isn’t a cause for concern, the cumulative effects of drinking wine, beer, or spirits can take its toll.
A glass a day may do little damage to your overall health. But if the habit grows or if you find yourself having a hard time stopping after just one glass, the cumulative effects can add up and you need help.
The Effects of Alcohol on Your Body
The side effects of alcohol include the hangover, in which headaches, nausea, and vomiting continue after a drinker is no longer actually intoxicated or experiencing the alcohol high.
Weight gain and high blood pressure can result from repeated overconsumption of alcohol, and long-term overconsumption of alcohol can raise the risk for:
Depression.
Liver damage.
Cancer.
Depression of the immune system.
Reduced sexual performance.
Alcohol use can also have serious consequences for expecting and breastfeeding mothers and their babies, including fetal alcohol syndrome.
overconsumption of alcohol causes death of brain cells, which can lead to brain disorders as well as a lowered level of mental or physical function.
Liver damage from alcohol and Drug abuse can result in cirrhosis, a severe medical condition that can require a liver transplant to treat.
Long-term overconsumption of alcohol can cause pancreatitis, a very dangerous inflammation of the pancreas, and it can also cause nerve damage.
Sugar levels
The pancreas helps regulate your body’s insulin use and response to glucose. When your pancreas and liver aren’t functioning properly, you run the risk of experiencing low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. A damaged pancreas may also prevent the body from producing enough insulin to utilize sugar. This can lead to hyperglycemia, or too much sugar in the blood. If your body can’t manage and balance your blood sugar levels, you may experience greater complications and side effects related to diabetes. It’s important for people with diabetes or hypoglycemia to avoid excessive amounts of alcohol.
Tolerance, a long-term effect of alcohol in which the body becomes accustomed to higher and higher doses of alcohol after a long period of overconsumption. This makes it possible for long-term drinkers to consume amounts of alcohol that are dangerous without experiencing short-term effects that might otherwise convince them to stop. Tolerance can lead to dependence and then to addiction or alcoholism in some individuals.
Circulatory System
Alcohol can affect your heart and lungs. People who are chronic drinkers of alcohol have a higher risk of heart-related issues than people who do not drink. Women who drink are more likely to develop heart disease than men who drink.Circulatory system complications include:
High Blood Pressure
irregular heartbeat
difficulty pumping blood through the body
stroke
heart attack
heart disease
heart failure
Difficulty absorbing vitamins and minerals from food can cause anemia. This is a condition where you have a low red blood cell count. One of the biggest symptoms of anemia is fatigue and many more.
Effect of Drug Abuse on the Body
A person who abuses drugs may not realize they have a problem until pronounced effects of drug abuse are seen, often physically. While drug abuse effects on the body vary depending on the drug used, all drug abuse negatively impacts one’s health. Common effects of drug abuse on the body include sleep changes and decreased memory and cognitive abilities.
Other common physical problems include:
Abnormal vital signs like respiration, heart rate and blood pressure
Chest or lung pain
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain
Skin can be cool and sweating or hot and dry
Diseases such as hepatitis B or C, or HIV from needle-sharing
Impotence
More frequent illnesses
Frequent hangovers, blackouts
Psychological Drug Abuse Effects
One of the primary effects of drug abuse can be found within the definition of drug abuse itself: an increasing, intense desire to use the drug above all else. Drug craving can shift a person’s entire mental focus to obtaining the drug. Side effects of drug abuse then include preoccupation with where to get the drug, how to get money for the drug, and where and when the drug can be used.
Psychological drug abuse effects commonly include changes in mood. A person may be anxious, thinking about when they can next use the drug, or depressed due to drug side effects.
Other psychological drug abuse side effects include:
Aggressiveness or irritability
Selfishness
Hopelessness
Lack of pleasure from previously enjoyed activities
Pressuring others into doing drugs
Drug Abuse Effects on Lifestyle
Drug abusers choose drugs over all else; that includes family and friends. One of the side effects of drug abuse is the loss of friendship and family due to these choices. Families and friends have to watch as the drug abuser pulls away and the effects of drug abuse ravage their body and mind. Moreover, one of the side effects of drug use may be bizarre, out of character, behavior that further separates the drug abuser from their loved ones.
The effects of drug abuse can also include decreasing performance in work or school. This decreased performance may lead to disciplinary action, expulsion or dismissal, creating money problems and possibly even legal troubles. Discontinuing participation in sports and giving up hobbies are other effects of drug abuse. Lighthouse recovery institute have made it easier for those addicted to Drugs and Alcohol to be treated.