What Health Problems Are Associated With Excessive Alcohol Use?

Excessive alcohol use can be the source of a variety of diseases and health conditions. While moderate use of alcohol can be beneficial to health, habitual heavy drinking can do gradual damage to many of the body's organs. Women are especially vulnerable to alcohol related health problems, damage to their bodies likely to occur over a shorter period of time and with less alcohol consumption than male drinkers. Alcohol abuse claims the lives of 2.5 million people every year, according to the World Health Organization, including 320,000 young people between the ages of 15 and 29, making it the eighth leading risk factor for deaths in the world.

Liver Disease

• Chronic heavy use of alcohol can lead to liver disease. Alcohol-induced liver diseases include fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic cirrhosis. Fatty liver is an accumulation of fat cells in the liver, which can be caused by excessive alcohol use and is often reversible. Alcoholic hepatitis is inflammation and injury to the liver from long term abuse of alcohol. Alcoholic cirrhosis occurs as years of excessive drinking injuries cause a gradual buildup of scar tissue on the liver, which can eventually lead to liver failure.

Cardiovascular Disease

• Excessive alcohol consumption takes its toll on the cardiovascular as well, according to the American Heart Association, raising the risk of developing a number of serious health issues. Heavy drinking can raise blood pressure and increase the levels of triglycerides in the blood. Heart failure can stem from excessive alcohol, as can stroke, cardiac arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death.

Brain Damage

• According to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, about half of the nearly 20 million alcoholics in the United States develop cognitive difficulties that can range from mild to severe. Of those, as many as two million develop permanent and debilitating conditions, such as dementia and alcohol induced persisting amnesiac disorder.

Cancer

• Chronic excessive use of alcohol increases the risk of developing certain types of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, and that risk increases according to the amount of alcohol consumption. Heavy drinkers are more likely to develop cancers of the esophagus, mouth, voice box and throat than those who drink moderately or non-drinkers. Alcohol abuse raises the risk of liver and breast cancer as well as colon and rectal cancers.

Women and Alcohol Abuse

• While excessive alcohol use can increase the risk of a wide variety of diseases and health conditions in all chronic drinkers, alcohol takes a heavier toll on female drinkers than on their male counterparts. Women often develop many alcohol related health problems over a shorter period of time and with less alcohol consumption than do men.