The information provided in the article is for informational purposes only and cannot be used to diagnose or prescribe treatment and does not replace a doctor's appointment.Contact your doctor!
Mental and nervous system
Alcohol is a poison and drug that causes morning sickness and headaches, as well as premature aging and disease in the long run.However, the number of drug addicts continues to increase and the Ministry of Health warns about thisdamagethey are not paying attention when drinking alcohol.
Ethyl alcohol creates an uncontrollable craving for alcohol, when a person either does not accept the information about the dangers of alcohol, or believes that the pleasure of intoxication is worth the harm.ethylalcohol
The reason for this is the paradoxical changes in the human psyche.Many processes related to the work of neurotransmitters in the brain are disturbed, so it depends on:
- cannot experience joy and pleasure without alcohol;
- becomes depressed and may attempt suicide;
- becomes aggressive, character and behavior change a lot.
In the second stage of alcoholism, a dose of alcohol can still cause pleasant feelings.Depending on the dosage and characteristics of the nervous system, the addict may feel himselfcalmnessand relaxation, if ethanol acts as a relaxant, or joy and the desire to act, if the euphoric effect of alcohol predominates.
At the terminal stagedependenceone can no longer enjoy.A dose of alcohol dulls the anxiety for a short time, but after a few minutes the person needs alcohol again.
In addition to the increased need for ethyl alcohol, patientsthey developand other complications related to the functioning of the psyche:
- due to the toxic effect of alcohol on neurons, the cognitive functions of the brain slow down, the person becomes forgetful and inattentive;
- coordination of an intoxicated person is impaired, so drunk people are prohibited from driving and performing tasks that require high concentration, but coordination disorders are present in chronic alcoholics even in a sober state;
- ethanol alters a person's personality, making them inhibited or lethargic, irritable and hot-tempered.
In the early stages of addiction, a person may feel that drinking helps them relax, relieve stress, and make them feel good.Unfortunately, that is the impressionwrong: alcohol quickly destroys the nervous system, and it is not always possible to restore brain functions lost as a result of addiction.
Immunity
The myth that alcoholics never catch a cold, never get sick, and are generally in excellent health is based on a large number of drug addicts.chronicdiseases or the factors that lead to their development, they are either forced to give up a bad habit or die from the resulting complications.The rest can actually drink large amounts of alcohol for a long time, survive the complications relatively patiently, and become an example of the false statement that "alcoholics take nothing."
Human immunity, regularwhich consumesalcohol breaks down, causes various pathologies.
- If the immune system cannot resist the antigens surrounding the person, the patient begins to suffer from persistent respiratory diseases, food poisoning, dermatological, sexual and other infections.
- If the immune system begins to work actively, but not correctly, it overreacts to factors that cannot cause significant damage to the body.Thus, specific foods, pollens, herbal and synthetic components, etc.
- Autoimmune diseases are one of the most serious complications of alcoholism, when the protective organs begin to destroy their own cells.Such pathologies cannot be completely eliminated, and treatment that prevents their development has many side effects.
Immune system diseases can causefailuresin other systems, primarily the nervous and endocrine systems.
This category of complications can beto countand oncology, because a healthy immune system helps fight cancer, prevents its development and quickly destroys pathological cells.
There is a myth that certain beverages, such as wine, have many antioxidants that are effective in preventing malignancy.Natural wines contain beneficial components, but you can find them in larger quantities in any fresh vegetable or fruit.Bystatistics, addicts often suffer from oncology of various organs, from cancer of the larynx and esophagus to damage to the liver and rectum.Oncological treatment for addicts has a less favorable prognosis, because it is difficult for a weakened organism to fight both the disease itself and the consequences of complex and long therapy.
Digestive system
When alcohol enters the body, it first enters the gastrointestinal tract: the oral mucosa, esophagus and stomach.From the stomach, ethanol actively enters the bloodstream and, together with the blood, affects other organs of the digestive system: liver, pancreas, etc.
A list of diseases you may encountersick, we can mention only the most common ones as a broad example.
- Internalbleeding- a fatal consequence of alcohol abuse, an invisible cause, which provokes only abdominal pain, which many people do not pay attention to.This phenomenon is related to the expansion of blood vessels in the mucous membrane of the organs: since the walls of blood vessels in alcoholics are often fragile due to high cholesterol and lack of nutrition, damage occurs and venous blood begins to flow into the person's stomach.
- cirrhosis– is an extremely serious disease that cannot be cured and has no supportive treatment like kidney failure.An alcoholic's liver is under a lot of stress.Hepatocytes of the organ are damaged, functional tissues are replaced by scar tissue or fat, and the liver gradually fails.The danger of the situation is that liver pathologies often occur in an imperceptible, hidden form.
- Pancreatitis– inflammation of the pancreas, which often causes severe abdominal pain, nausea and dyspeptic disorders.The abdomen swells, the patient is worried about increased gas formation and fatty stools, and the quality of life deteriorates significantly.
The situationaggravateother components included in alcoholic beverages: dyes, preservatives, foaming agents.
Urinary system
The kidneys remove the half-life products of ethyl alcohol from the blood, so they often suffer from its toxic effects.There are several mechanismsdefeatskidney tissue:
- development of malignant hypertension in which intrarenal vessels and capillaries are damaged;
- the occurrence of autoimmune processes affecting the kidneys (SLE, glomerulonephritis, vasculitis).
Kidneys canlong termIt takes time for the function of dead nephrons to intensify, but when the replacement tissue exceeds 50%, the glomerular filtration rate will begin to decrease, causing:
- swelling;
- high blood pressure;
- intoxication and vomiting;
- smell of ammonia from the mouth and skin, etc.
When organs fail, patients are forced to undergo continuous hemodialysis procedures (3-4 times a week for 3-6 hours) or apply for organ transplantation.At the same timelikelyIt is unlikely that the alcoholic will be able to take the donor kidney and his body will be able to withstand the immunosuppressive therapy after the operation.
Heart pathologies
Diseases related to the functioning of the heart and the condition of the blood vessels kill most people in the world.This is in countries where there is an active fight against alcoholindicatoris usually low, which proves the effect of ethanol on the heart.
- When drunk with ethyl alcohol, the body rapidly loses potassium and magnesium, which have an important function in maintaining the health of the body.The muscle wears out and cardiomyopathy often occurs, where the heart's volume increases but its health and ability to perform its intended function rapidly declines.This disease is also called beer heart syndrome.
- Due to the disruption of lipid metabolism and damage to the organs of the digestive system, the vascular cavity begins to be covered from the inside with cholesterol plaques and triglycerides (brown fat), disrupts blood circulation, including heart nutrition, and increases the risk of cardiovascular accidents several times.
During intoxication and excessive drinking, the heart workslimittheir possibilities: patients often complain of tachycardia, a sudden feeling of weakness, dizziness.If you do not provide timely medical assistance to the patient, his condition may worsen with acute processes: stroke, heart attack.
What determines the consequences of alcoholic beverages?
People who deny the harm of alcohol to the body cite the example of their friends who drank alcohol for a long time, but did not encounter any alcohol.seriousdisease.
Such isolated examples cannot compete with official statistics and scientific studies that confirm the presence of alcohol:
- leads to functional and organic disorders of organs;
- provokes addiction, so a person cannot give up a bad habit, even if he understands the degree of danger of using ethanol;
- causes mental disorders: from pathological intoxication syndrome, loss of self-control after a small amount of alcohol intake, to suicide due to acute depression on the background of a seizure.
Which ones specifically?complicationsits occurrence in a certain person depends on:
- age;
- lifestyle;
- existing chronic diseases;
- Hereditary factor and genetic predisposition.
Both quantity and quality of consumed "fire water" are important.Despite the presence of ethanol itselfharmful, despite the sale of alcohol in itdearin the wine market or pharmacy under the name medicinal hawthorn tincture, the quality of other components, as well as the degree of alcohol purification, are important.
There are many myths about how alcohol affects the body.You should not rely on unreliable sources: it is necessary to remember that the market for the production and sale of alcohol in our country and in the world is a way to fill the state budget.This means that there will always be those who benefit from the acceptance of alcoholic beverages as a safe, and sometimes healthy, means of recreation.You can learn about the dangers of alcoholism and treatment methods during a consultation with a narcologist at a narcology clinic.