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The Effects of Alcohol on a Person's Mind and Body

Alcohol is a legal drug, and yet it is still one of the most harmful drugs and causes severe addiction. It is so easy to access and afford compared to other drugs, making it an easy drug to abuse. Alcohol in moderation is fine for most people; in excess, alcohol can have a devastating effect on the mind and body.

  1. Short-Term Effects of Alcohol To the Brain

    • When a person drinks, the alcohol in his system has several immediate effects on the brain. Speech and vision may both be impaired while drinking. Reaction times tend to slow and a person's judgment becomes impaired. Most people also feel a decreased sense of inhibition, causing people who are drinking to engage in what would be otherwise considered risky and unsafe behavior. Binge-drinking can also cause blackouts and memory loss. Memory loss can happen in fewer drinks, but is more likely to appear after people drink more than four- to -five drinks in a two-hour span.

    Long-Term Effects of Alcohol To the Brain

    • A chronic alcoholic is at risk for a number of other brain-related health problems that are caused due to prolonged and regular consumption of alcohol. When a person abuses alcohol for many years, it begins to permanently damage the pathways in the brain. This can cause personality change, cognitive ability reduction and memory problems. Long-term alcohol use can also cause thiamine deficiency.Thiamine deficiency over the long term can lead to serious brain conditions such as Wernicke--Korsakoff Syndrome and psychosis. In addition, the Archives of Neurology printed a study that shows a decline in brain volume of alcoholic people over time.

    The Liver

    • Over the long term, alcohol has a continuously degenerative effect on the liver. It causes fatty tissue to develop on the liver where it should not exist. This condition may reverse in time, but continued abuse of alcohol will eventually cause scarring and damage to the liver, or alcoholic hepatitis. If the drinker does not stop at that point, cirrhosis and even liver cancer can develop as a result of ongoing heavy drinking. The American Cancer Society lists alcoholism as one of the causes of liver cancer. This could be caused by how the liver works. The liver breaks down alcohol as it tries to filter it through the body. This process releases free radicals into the blood stream. These are harmful particles that are linked to a variety of degenerative conditions including cancer.

    Heart Disease and Drinking

    • Alcohol has an effect on the heart that changes, based on how much you drink. Small amount of alcohol can be beneficial for the heart, and can lower blood pressure and raise the level of healthy cholesterol. Drinking more than two- to -three drinks daily, though, is extremely bad for the heart. Drinking that much causes high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides and eventually heart failure. The calories from alcohol also are a frequent cause of weight gain; being overweight is typically one of the worst lifestyle factors that contributes to heart disease.

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