Alcohol: Effects on Health

Is alcohol harmful?

Many people drink alcohol. However, alcohol can affect your health. Some people should not drink at all. You should not drink alcohol if you:

• cannot limit your drinking to low or moderate levels
• need to drive, operate machinery, or do anything that requires you to be alert and coordinated
• have certain medical conditions such as ulcers or liver disease
• take medicines that interact with alcohol.

If you drink too much alcohol, you risk having physical and mental health problems. This is especially true for older adults, who often have other medical problems.

What physical problems does alcohol cause?

Alcohol can affect your body in many ways:

• Alcohol increases the acid in your stomach. The irritating effects of alcohol may cause ulcers, or inflammation of the lining of the stomach or of your pancreas. Alcohol can also damage your small intestine. This makes it harder for your body to absorb vitamins and nutrients from food.
• Alcohol can keep you from getting deep sleep and can make insomnia worse. It may help you go to sleep, but when the drink wears off, you may wake up earlier. You may also wake up more often to urinate.
• Alcohol can cause gout because it can keep your body from getting rid of uric acid. A buildup of uric acid can cause inflammation in your joints.
• Drinking too much alcohol puts you at higher risk for cancer of the pancreas, mouth, tongue, and throat. This risk is even greater if you also use tobacco.
• Alcohol may cause liver cancer, fatty liver, hepatitis, cirrhosis, and other liver disease.
• Drinking too much alcohol makes you lose protein, minerals, and vitamins. Alcohol affects thiamine (vitamin B-1) in particular. Lack of B-1 can cause problems with short-term memory, eye movement, walking, cramps, numbness, tingling, and weakness in your legs and hands.
• Drinking too much alcohol also may be part of what causes high blood pressure and strokes. Alcohol can lead to heart muscle disease or heart failure.
• Fetal alcohol syndrome may occur if a woman drinks alcohol while she is pregnant. Drinking may cause problems in the baby that show up after birth. Pregnant women who drink may be at higher risk of having miscarriages, premature births, stillbirths, and low-birth-weight babies. The more you drink, the greater the danger to the baby. Women who have 1 or more drinks per week are more likely to have children with FAS than women who seldom drink during pregnancy. Many healthcare providers advise women not to drink any alcohol while trying to become pregnant, during pregnancy, or while breast-feeding.

Alcohol can also cause:

• changes in blood sugar levels, which can cause problems if you have diabetes
• problems with how well your medicines work
• worsening of most other medical problems (heart disease, kidney disease, circulation problems)
• injuries from falls and other accidents.

What mental health problems does alcohol cause?

When you drink too much alcohol, it affects your judgment. When you drink too much you can have changes in moods and emotions. You may be very angry and irritable. You may get suspicious, jealous, or possessive. Your loved ones may find it hard to cope with these outbursts and changes. As drinking problems get worse, you may argue or fight at home, at work, and in social settings. This can lead to domestic violence, child abuse, and losing your job and friends. Your children are at high risk of abusing alcohol as adults.

Regularly drinking too much alcohol also can cause or worsen major, even life-threatening, mental, emotional, and behavioral problems including:

• anxiety
• depression
• PTSD
• schizophrenia
• confusion (both short-term and permanent)
• addiction

Many violent crimes, such as sexual abuse, assault, and murders are related to alcohol abuse. Drunk drivers cause about half the deaths from car accidents in the US.

How much is too much?

Moderate drinking is no more than 1 drink per day for women and no more than 2 drinks per day for men. At-risk drinking is considered more than 2 drinks a day (14 drinks per week), or more than 4 drinks per occasion for men. For women or anyone older than 65 at-risk drinking is having more than 1 drink per day (7 drinks per week), or more than 3 drinks per occasion. The differences between women and men are based on body size and the way their bodies change food into energy. Examples of 1 drink are:

• 12 ounces of beer
• 5 ounces of wine
• 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits such as whiskey or vodka.

Before you choose to drink alcohol, even in moderate amounts, talk with your healthcare provider. Your provider can advise what is best for your health.