Alcoholic beverages are the most common product on the shelves of almost all grocery stores. Certain doses of alcohol lead to serious changes and disorders in the human body. Awareness of the dangers of alcohol can help to reject it completely or limit alcohol intake to acceptable levels.
What are the dangers of alcohol to humans?
Abusers do not think about the consequences of drunkenness, and these are:
- mental decline;
- deterioration of physical and mental health;
- problems in society;
- bad offspring;
- financial problem;
- immoral behavior.
According to statistics, men are more likely to drink. This happens for many reasons, for example, because of bad association or the delusion that alcohol can relieve stress. But it also extends to women and, worst of all, teenagers.
Harmful substances contained in alcohol
Knowing the harmful substances that contain the most common types of alcohol, you can understand how it affects our quality of life.
Popular intoxicating liquids contain substances harmful to health and life:
- ethanol. With regular and excessive use leads to addiction. In small quantities, it does not harm the body, but overdose can cause sudden loss of consciousness or death.
- Phytoestrogen. Female hormones (contained in beer) lead to disorders of the male and female reproductive systems.
- Fuse oil. In large quantities it is toxic. With continuous intake into the body, they increase the risk of stomach ulcers, causing blindness, impotence, and liver disease.
- Cobalt. In small quantities, it is a useful trace element, but if it accumulates in the body, it becomes harmful to the normal functioning of the heart and gastrointestinal tract.
- N-nitrosodimethylamine. Highly toxic substances, especially damaging effects on the liver.
- Biogenic amines. Toxic chemical compounds. In small amounts it can be useful, but if abused, it leads to seizures, vomiting, and diarrhea.
- Sodium Benzoate (E-211). Once in the stomach, it causes a sharp oxidation of epithelial cells. This leads to gastritis, stomach ulcers, pancreatitis. Contributes to the exacerbation of chronic allergic diseases: asthma, urticaria, psoriasis.
- Phosphoric acid (E-338). Destroys bone tissue and tooth enamel. It causes gastrointestinal disorders, leading to weight loss. High concentrations of the substance cause burns to the airways.
Adverse effects on the body of adolescents
Alcohol has a detrimental effect on the process of growing up and developing adolescents:
- Intellectual and emotional deterioration.
- Vitamins and useful micro -elements that enter the body are poorly absorbed, and this has a negative impact on the condition of teeth, nails, hair, and skin.
- The risk of problems with the heart, blood vessels, gastrointestinal tract, the appearance of diseases that, as a rule, older people (for example, pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus) increases.
- Bone and muscle tissue growth stops.
- The liver, kidneys, reproductive system suffer.
Alcohol women
Differences between the development of male and female addiction:
- In women, addiction occurs more quickly, and treatment of the disease is ineffective. This is due to the characteristics of the female body: it has fewer enzymes that help break down products that contain alcohol. Therefore, toxins are not eliminated from the body for a long time and quickly lead to adverse effects on organs.
- Women prefer low -alcohol beverages (wine, champagne, cocktails). Because of this, it is more difficult to control the level of intoxication and the transition to alcohol occurs, as a rule, already in the final stages of alcoholism.
- Embarrassed by addiction, women are more likely to drink alone and seek help when it is hard enough to hide the change. The recovery process is more difficult and longer than men.
Because of the effects of alcohol on eggs, conceiving, carrying and giving birth can be a difficult or even impossible task.
The concept at the time of intoxication affects the genetic information from the egg. After giving birth to such a fetus, there is a basic threat of the birth of heirs with cerebral palsy syndrome (infant brain palsy) or with other disorders of external and internal organs. And there is also a possibility that during pregnancy the placenta will peel off, and the fetus will die.
Social Harm
Spouses, children, relatives, friends, colleagues, neighbors and the public can be victims of drunken misconduct:
- Work. Employers do not want to accept or immediately fire a person who drinks alcohol, because he or she skipped a shift for no good reason or performed the task poorly.
- drive. Half of the accidents are caused by drunk drivers.
- Violation of the law. Most crimes are committed by those who are drunk or quite drunk, as they are more prone to aggression and even murder.
- immoral behavior. First sexual experience, unplanned pregnancy, and rape cases most often occur when one or both partners are intoxicated.
- Unhealthy home atmosphere. Children grow up in an unfavorable environment and may inherit negative examples from their parents.
- divorce. All innocent family members suffer. The mother or father raises a child alone, who is affected by upbringing in an incomplete family.
How does alcohol affect health?
The table shows the popular alcoholic beverages, their composition, as well as which organs influence them.
| Drink | Composition | Organ damage and possible consequences |
|---|---|---|
| one | Carbohydrates, ethyl alcohol, nitrogenous substances |
|
| Vodka | Purified water, ethyl alcohol. The composition may include chemical additives and spices |
|
| Cognac | Alcohols, organic acids, ethyl esters, tannins and tannins |
|
| Low alcohol cocktails | Ethanol, synthetic additives and chemical additives |
|
Liver and digestive system
Liver destruction is associated with violations of protein metabolism and in the first stage is usually not accompanied by subjective sensations and changes in laboratory parameters.
There are five stages of liver destruction:
- adaptive hepatomegaly (enlargement of the liver);
- alcohol fat steatosis;
- alcoholic hepatitis;
- alcoholic liver fibrosis;
- cirrhosis.
Common symptoms of this disease:
- persistent weakness;
- yellowish skin and eyeballs;
- temperature above normal;
- pain in the right hypochondrium.
The alcohol that enters the intestine, in fact, leaves chemical burns on its mucous membranes. Frequent poisoning leads to defecation problems (loose stools or constipation, stool stones), which are most often solved exclusively through surgery.
More likely:
- angioedema;
- diarrhea;
- itching;
- gastric;
- ulcerative dyspepsia;
- pancreatitis;
- necrosis of pancreatic tissue;
- colon cancer.
Heart and blood vessels
After drinking alcohol, ethyl alcohol enters the bloodstream and remains in the vessels for about 7 hours, causing them to expand, disrupting the normal rhythm of the heart. Frequent alcohol consumption, even in moderate amounts, inevitably leads to blockage of cerebral vessels, which, with an increase in blood pressure, rupture. At best, one survives, but remains disabled, and at worst, a fatal outcome.
Minimal but constant doses of alcohol are dangerous and trigger the following painful conditions:
- oxygen starvation;
- vessels thicken, shrink, rupture;
- atrial vibration;
- extrasystole;
- cardiomyopathy;
- arterial hypertension;
- hypertension;
- heart attack;
- atherosclerosis.
The pulse increases from 95 to 100 beats per minute. Fat accumulates in the heart muscle, respectively, it increases and becomes flaccid.
The brain and nervous system
The entry of ethyl alcohol into the bloodstream causes adverse effects on red blood cells, which are responsible for transporting air to the brain. Oxygen stops entering the brain cells, and, as a result, they die one by one.
This leads to poor performance:
- vestibular apparatus;
- the "moral" center (shame disappears, arrogance emerges);
- memory;
- attention.
The processes of excitation and inhibition in the nervous system are disrupted, leading to the following signs of antisocial and painful behavior:
- manifestations of aggression;
- inability to control oneself;
- illogical in the delivery of thought;
- suicidal tendencies;
- violation of movement dynamics;
- occurrence of seizures;
- appearance of hallucinations.
Respiratory system
A harsh and hoarse voice with a strange timbre is called a "drunk" bass. People who like to abuse are more likely to get TB.
Addiction damages the following parts of the respiratory system:
- throat;
- entire nasopharynx;
- uvula.
People who drink regularly suffer from chronic upper respiratory tract diseases such as:
- laryngitis;
- tracheobronchitis;
- atrophic pharyngitis.
Shortness of breath occurs during moderate physical exercise and during rest. There is also the characteristic unpleasant smell of smoke from the drinker, which is the cause of the breakdown of ethanol, which is excreted through the lungs.
sexual dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction as well as impotence are the result of alcohol addiction. Regular consumption of alcohol adversely affects the ability to reproduce. Erection problems can cause prolonged depression.
The myth is the claim that small doses of alcohol have a positive effect on male strength. Accumulated ethanol interferes with the normal functioning of nerve endings, therefore, intimacy does not bring the expected pleasure.
Alcoholism has a negative impact on the quality of women’s sexual life. It is this disease that is one of the main causes of frigidity, and in its most severe manifestations. This leads to emotional problems for both couples, and often to family breakup.
Immunity
The benefits of high-quality wine (preferably red) from natural juices, in limited quantities, really happen: it removes toxins, strengthens the immune system. But large amounts, even the most expensive alcoholic beverages, will affect health.
The problem is that currently the following immune system defenders are suppressed:
- lymphocytes;
- macrophages;
- granulocytes.
Consequences of immune deficiency:
- the wound does not heal for a long time;
- bones are not formed properly;
- greater likelihood of HIV transmission;
- poorly restored skin from burns and injuries.
Appearance changes
The reason for the purple color on the skin is ethyl alcohol, which acts in such a way that the pulse becomes faster and blood pressure rises. Over time, the vessel does not withstand constant pressure and blue and red bruises form.
The swelling is explained by the fact that the body is trying as hard as it can to restore water balance after toxins contained in vodka, beer and other intoxicating beverages enter it. And the female body does it more actively. An alcoholic is tormented by constant thirst, however, water is absorbed very slowly. He drank, and fluid accumulated, resulting in swelling of the hands, feet, and even the face.
In addition to the unattractive appearance, there may be "obvious" complications after a fight (scratches, bruises, abrasions, fractures), in which chronic drinkers are often involved.
During the development of chronic alcoholism, narcologists observe external symptoms in patients, such as:
- physical fatigue;
- swollen face;
- purple tongue;
- high temperature;
- dry, flaky or oily skin;
- heavy sweating;
- tachycardia, arrhythmias.
Image gallery
The effects of alcohol on various organs can be seen in the following photos.
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Usage norms
It is better to reject the usual use of products containing alcohol. However, if a person has decided just to reduce the amount, then it will be interesting for him to know that there is an acceptable rate of consumption.
The weekly norm (with two days of complete rejection) of alcohol with a low risk of harm to the stronger sex is less than 5 liters of beer with a strength of 4. 5 degrees or 50 grams of vodka or cognac during lunch and dinner (daily), or three glasses of dry wine. For women, the norm is 3 liters of beer per week, or 80 grams of vodka at dinner, or two glasses of wine.
It should be considered that if you withhold alcohol on certain days, this does not mean that on other days you can drink more without adverse consequences.
However, calculations for users must be made individually, taking into account:
- weight;
- growth;
- age;
- metabolism;
- descent;
- first experience of drinking alcohol.
Attention!Such information is presented for informational purposes and is not a guide to action. Do not self -medicate, consult your doctor first.