Often we really don’t realize the risks we are taking with
our health until it’s too late, or until we read an
article that explains what life would be like if we
continue doing a certain habit.
Here you’ll read about nine long-term effects from the
frequent and heavy consumption of alcohol. Give them some
thought and then make your decision on how much alcohol you
want to include in your daily diet.
1 Risk of cancer
Did you know that alcohol consumption increases the risk of
breast cancer and also esophageal, mouth and tracheal
(windpipe) cancer? Even though alcohol by itself is not a
carcinogen, it acts as a co-carcinogen, enhancing other
carcinogens. Alcohol also may increase the production of
advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) or advanced
lipoxidation endproducts (ALEs) that are linked with rapid
aging, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
2 Holiday heart syndrome
Although you will often hear that a little alcohol is good
for your heart, the fact is that large quantities of
alcohol can cause cardiomyopathy, better known as
“holiday heart syndrome.” This enlargement of the heart
can lead to arrhythmias. Arrhythmias can create additional
trips to the emergency room and are also linked with
nutritional deficiencies. They can possibly lead to death.
3 Cirrhosis
Having liver cirrhosis is not fun and not pretty. Expect
your abdomen to swell to the point where you look like
you’re pregnant, along with a lot of abdominal pain. In
severe cases, something called caput medusa appears. This
is where the veins back up and look like they’re all
twisted, like snakes. It’s visible on the abdomen.
4 Brain damage, showing up in long-term memory.
Chronic alcohol consumption starts out affecting short-term
memory so you forget what you walked into the kitchen to
get. Over time, the brain physically changes from
consumption of alcohol at moderate to high levels,
affecting nerve cells in the brain and causing their death.
This causes long-term memory.
5 Nutritional deficiencies
Alcohol interferes with the absorption of nutrients that
are absorbed in the small intestine and nutrients stored in
the liver: folic acid, B vitamins, zinc, calcium, magnesium
and others.
Folic acid deficiency causes poor memory, anemia, and
intestinal disorders.
B vitamin deficiencies will leave you constantly tired,
anemic, give you dandruff, nervous disorders, cracks and
sores in the mouth, loss of appetite, restlessness, muscle
weakness, depression and cause you to retain water. Not a
pretty picture, is it?
Zinc deficiency results in stretch marks, delayed healing
of wounds, loss of taste and appetite, impaired resistance
to infections and diabetes.
Calcium and magnesium deficiencies result in softening and
brittle bones, insomnia, irritability, depression,
nervousness, tremors, delerium tremens (DT), and muscle
jerks.
6 Atrophy of the vermis.
The vermis is part of the cerebellum of the brain that is
responsible for making you walk straight without wobbling,
making your gait slow and steady or fast and straight.
Chronic consumption of alcohol causes this part of the
brain to wither away, affecting your gait and making you
look like you’re stumbling even when sober.
7 Perception by others as an alcoholic, someone who makes
poor judgment and has mental disorders. Since alcohol is
considered the great mimicker of mental disorders, you can
expect heavy drinking to bring on bouts of depression,
paranoia, delusions, anxiety and extreme elated feelings.
8 Increased cortisol
Biochemically, alcohol is a stress on the body. Once you
start drinking, stress hormones such as cortisol are
released. This results in belly fat being deposited at
record levels. Stress hormones also cause the body to be
primarily broken down, instead of being built up stronger.
9 Increased risk of fractures
Alcohol can take its toll on your bones and increase your
risk of fractures, osteoporosis (brittle bones), and even
is associated with the necrosis (dying) of the neck of your
hip bone.
The long-term effects of alcohol consumption can be summed
up like this if one becomes a heavy drinker: expect cancer,
heart problems, liver disease, brain damage, stomach issues
and the impaired ability to maintain your balance while
standing or walking. You’ll spend the golden years in and
out of hospitals instead of cruising the waters of the
world. You can also expect to feel stress and expect others
to perceive you as someone who is not morally sound.
Learn how to stop drinking alcohol and moderate your drinking now
