Hey everyone, Yossif here. I’ve recently decided to severely cut down my drinking for a multitude of reasons. For one, it’s expensive. For two, you act like an idiot if you drink too much. For three, it’s a good way to pack on extra fat. Other than that, it’ll… you know… SLOWLY KILL YOU? Either way, I’m trying to avoid it as best I can for a while. It’s good to detox from it for as long as you can. It’s fun, but is it really worth it?

Amelia Verona is a health writer with the European Health Insurance Card company. She offered to help me out with a guest post and I asked her to do a write up on all the health risks associated with drinking. We all need reminders that one night of partying can lead to lifelong health issues. These 6 dangers of alcohol are enough to make me think twice before taking a shot.

6 terrifying health dangers of alcohol!

The dangers of alcohol on health remain an indubitable truth. When you drink wine, beer or other alcoholic stuff, the liquid is absorbed by your blood quickly and tends to remain ingrained for about 2 hours, a point that is again dependent on your age, weight, gender and other physical parameters. The stomach and the small intestine are prone to devour most of the alcohol you are consuming while a tiny amount goes out of the body through your urine and breath.

Consuming foodstuffs that are rich in fat attenuates the pace of alcohol absorption by the blood and the body. Many are of the notion that infrequent or occasional alcohol hanging may not affect health. However whether you are a regular drinker or go on alcohol sprees on few occasions drinking beyond the sensible drinking limits may pose serious threats to your health. Here are 6 major dangers of alcohol:

1. Liver:

Everyone knows that alcohol is going to damage your liver, but it’s worse than you might think. Alcohol is extremely harmful to the liver cells and may lead to a plethora of liver issues and inflammatory conditions including Cirrhosis, Fibrosis, Fatty Liver or Steatosis and Alcohol Hepatitis. The liver cells do possess the potential to repair quite some amount of damage done by the alcohol by breaking it up, burning it, and making use of it as fuel. However, frequent drinking can hinder this very ability of the liver, scarring it and causing permanent damage.

2. Heart:

Alcohol may both be beneficial as well as detrimental for the heart. Alcohol, if taken within the sensible limits of maximum (1 drink for a woman and two drinks for a man on per day basis), can help alleviates development of heart diseases. However, too much drinking either taken at one shot or over a span of time can lead to disastrous effects on the heart. It increases blood pressure, which in turn raises the chances of heart diseases, strokes, and leads to abnormal pace of heart rhythms like ventricular and atrial fibrillation. There are also good chances of gaining weight and accumulation of fat especially along the waist and belly which may result in various weight-related heart issues.

3. Cancer:

In the UK, alcohol has been found to be responsible for being the cause for about 4 % of cancer cases. The simple fact is that the effects of alcohol go far beyond those drowsy feelings, hangover, or blurred memories of what happened the previous day. However, alcohol does augment the chances of getting liver cancer, breast cancer, mouth cancer, laryngeal cancer, pharyngeal cancer, oesophageal cancer and bowel cancer. (Ethanol is technically a carcinogen, after all!)

4. Diabetes:

Individuals binging on alcohol have a tendency to develop diabetes by attenuating insulin sensitivity and thereby being conducive to Type 2 Diabetes. Since many drinks contains excessive calories and carbohydrates, it also triggers chances of getting diabetes. Chronic pancreatitis caused by excessive drinking can further lead to diabetes.

5. Immune System:

Excessive drinking can make your body’s immune system weak thereby making it a vulnerable prey to several diseases. White cells that comprise your body’s natural defense system are damaged to a great extent. Alcohol also depletes Vitamin A, which happens to be an immune-boosting nutrient. Those who are hard drinkers are more prone to tuberculosis and pneumonia than those who stick to the moderate drinking guidelines.

6. Pancreas:

The pancreas, which is responsible for releasing enzymes that help in digestion, is greatly affected by too much alcohol intake. This results in inflammatory condition known as Pancreatitis and may cause excruciating pain that is felt below the ribs. Chronic pancreatitis that is persistent can be fatal!

Still want a shot?

In short, drinking can never be a solution to ameliorate your depression. It can only exacerbate pessimism, affecting your relationship with your spouse family and friends, end you up in a vicious cycle of depression. Possessing EHIC Card can indeed come as Providence if you have been a victim of any of the above health issues helping you to curtail on your medical expenses to a great extent.

–Amelia Verona

Thank you for the wonderful guest post, Amelia. I implore anyone who regularly drinks to do your best to cut back as best you can. For those of us trying to lose weight, I can tell you that I’ve dropped close to 20 pounds at one point simply from avoiding drinking for a month. You’d be surprised how many calories are in a simple shot of vodka. (about 125!) Since I’m currently trying to lose extra weight, I gotta cut way back.

For those of you who feel you’re having a hard time cutting back, be sure to look into potential treatments for alcoholism. Alcohol is indeed addictive and it can ruin your life if gone unchecked. There’s many wonderful methods to help yourself out there, but you need to take the first step and make the decision to cut back. The dangers of alcohol are so obvious that it’s just plain stupid to drink. Your body will thank you!

Your friend,

-Yossif

Last updated by Yossif on June 7, 2014.