One recent study by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found that 21 binge drinking sessions over seven weeks was enough to cause symptoms of early stage liver disease in mice. Heavy alcohol use damages the digestive system by disrupting the gut lining, leading to poor nutrient absorption and inflammation. A damaged gut impacts mental health too—thanks to the gut-brain axis, your gut health and brain function are closely linked. When alcohol throws this relationship off balance, it can worsen depression, anxiety, and mood swings. Alcohol use may also contribute to complications that affect multiple bodily systems, such as certain cancers, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, and chronic pain.

Heart and Circulatory System

Working with a physician can help you create a personalized plan for making a change. Long-term damage from heavy alcohol use isn’t limited to people with alcohol use disorder. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders, which people usually refer to as fetal alcohol syndrome, happen when a developing baby gets exposure to alcohol during gestation.

Find science-based information on the effects of alcohol on health.

Wine-drinking, in particular, is a common trigger for migraine headaches because of factors like dehydration, histamines, and sugar. Lastly, in some severe cases of liver cirrhosis, fluid can build up in the chest cavity and impair respiration. There’s not a lot of research on how long the physical effects of binge drinking last, or whether your body can recover completely. Or by depressing the gag reflex, which puts a person who has passed out at risk of choking on their own vomit.

How Alcohol Use Disorder Is Treated

Over time, people who consume large quantities of alcohol develop a tolerance to the drug. This dependency means that their brains crave the drug, causing alcohol long term effects on the body them to experience withdrawal when they do not drink. When the liver is not able to filter this poison quickly enough, a person can develop signs of alcohol poisoning or alcohol overdose. An overdose of alcohol affects the brain’s ability to sustain basic life functions. Before you reach for your next drink, Dr. Anand explains how alcohol can affect your brain — not only in the short term, but also in the long run.

After Four to Six Drinks (0.21 to 0.30 BAC)

Liver diseases related to alcohol intake are known to humankind from the very beginning and probably are one of the oldest known forms of injury to the liver 15. In liver diseases linked with alcohol, liver cirrhosis is a major concern. Statistics show that liver cirrhosis is one of the top 10 causes of death worldwide Halfway house and this in itself indicates the severity of the same 16.

Alcohol also suppresses the body’s natural responses to when it senses low blood sugar starting to occur, which makes these dips more frequent and severe. The likelihood of developing one of these cancers also depends on an individual’s genetic factors, health conditions, and other lifestyle habits, such as smoking tobacco. Alcohol use suppresses the neurological pathway of the brain that is responsible for our natural inhalation and expiration function, which is why excessive drinking can lead to breathing issues. More research shows that even a single episode of binge drinking can have serious effects on all parts of your body, not just your brain. Many people can hide a problem with alcohol or drug misuse for many years. Learn the signs from an Ohio State clinical psychologist to know when to refer someone to a mental health professional.

What are the short-term health effects of alcohol?

Too much alcohol can also shut down parts of your brain that are essential for keeping you alive. Over the long term, alcohol can increase your risk of more than 200 different diseases, including in the liver and pancreas, and certain cancers. Heavy drinking can affect the liver, which is our body’s natural detoxifying organ. Alcoholic liver disease is a spectrum of disease that includes steatosis, where an excess of fat builds up in the liver, and alcoholic hepatitis, where liver cells are chronically inflamed. The most severe form of liver disease is alcoholic cirrhosis, which is where fatty liver tissue is replaced by scar tissue and can no longer function. Liver damage can lead to irreversible symptoms including jaundice, swelling of legs and abdomen, internal bleeding, fever, brain fog, and nausea.

• Having a glass of wine with dinner or a beer at a party here and there isn’t going to destroy your gut.
• As a result, they eventually need to drink more to notice the same effects they once did.
• In general, the more alcohol a person drinks, the more likely it becomes that alcohol will damage the brain — both in the short and long term.
• It can inflame the stomach lining, causing heartburn and nausea.
• Chronic drinking can lead to low red blood cells (anemia), white blood cells (help fight infection) and platelets (help blood clot).

These conditions are collectively called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs). A 2018 study that followed 9,087 participants for 23 years found that people who did not drink alcohol in midlife were more likely to develop dementia. Dementia risk was lowest among those who consumed 14 or fewer units of alcohol per week. Perhaps the most significant psychological effect, however, is addiction.

It is easy to feel inadequate or afraid of failing, particularly in the workplace. However, the constant stress caused by these fears can be physically and psychologically detrimental. Learning to understand anxiety and its physiology is crucial in getting it under control.

Your liver detoxifies and removes alcohol from your blood through a process known as oxidation. When your liver finishes that process, alcohol gets turned into water and carbon dioxide. Dr. Sengupta shares some of the not-so-obvious effects that alcohol has on your body. Alcohol is also often found in the blood of people who harm themselves or attempt suicide. Get articles and stories about health, wellness, medicine, science and education delivered right to your inbox from the experts at Ohio State. For more information on where to get help for problematic alcohol use, please visit the problematic substance use resource page.