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Negative Effects of Drinking Alcohol

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines heavy or at-risk drinking in men as more than four drinks on at least one day of the week or more than 14 drinks in a week. For women, it is more than three drinks on at least one day of the week or more than seven drinks in a week. Heavy drinkers often suffer negative effects.

  1. Alcohol and Cancer

    • Alcohol use increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, voice box, esophagus, liver, colon, rectum and breast. The risk increases in proportion to how much alcohol you drink. Some people think that beer does not count. However, it is not the type of alcohol you consume, but the amount. One standard drink in the United States is any drink with 0.6 fluid ounces of alcohol. That might be 12 fluid ounces of regular beer, 5 fluid ounces of table wine or 1.5 fluid ounces of hard liquor. Mixed drinks can contain one to three standard drinks.

    Alcohol and Myopathy

    • Acute alcoholic myopathy results after weeks of heavy drinking or abrupt withdrawal. Symptoms include muscle cramps and weakness with swelling and soreness of the affected muscles. People usually recover in a matter of days. Chronic alcoholic myopathy occurs gradually over years of heavy alcohol abuse. Symptoms included muscle weakness in the hip and shoulder areas, usually without pain. The degree of muscle weakness depends on the degree of alcohol abuse. The affected muscles often waste away or decrease in size. In 72 percent of all cases, nerve damage is present as well, according to MedLink Neurology. If alcohol is avoided, recovery is possible but it can take months.

    Alcohol and Brain Damage

    • Nearly 80 percent of all alcoholics develop thiamine deficiency. Some will go on to develop Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome because the symptoms frequently go unrecognized and they do not receive treatment. Without treatment, symptoms escalate to include confusion, walking and muscle-coordination problems, paralysis of the nerves that control eye movement, ongoing memory and learning problems.

    Alcohol and Depression

    • Depression is common in people who abuse alcohol. Researchers are unclear on which occurs first, depression or alcohol abuse. However, many alcoholics drink to cope with their feelings of depression even though alcohol is a depressant. This results in greater feelings of depression, anxiety, anger, low self-esteem and self-hatred. Symptoms of fatigue, restlessness and suicidal thoughts are also common. The situation is further complicated because alcohol interferes with prescribed antidepressants and the relief they might offer.

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