For many people, alcoholic beverages are an integral part of any holiday or party. Often, when drinking another glass of wine or a glass of brandy, a person does not consider the fact that, apart from pleasant sensations, intoxicating liquids are harmful. Excessive drinking leads to irreversible consequences: at certain stages of alcoholism, serious pathologies of the nervous system and other systems of the body are discovered.
What is wine?
Scientifically speaking, alcohol is directly ethyl alcohol. Ethanol is a colorless liquid with a characteristic odor. This wine is obtained by fermentation or artificial making. Substance used as disinfectant, fuel, solvent. In everyday life, alcohol is called a beverage, which includes ethanol in different concentrations.
What are the harmful effects of alcohol?
When entering the human body, alcohol acts as a solvent, destroying the fatty membrane of red blood cells. As a result, the blood cells stick together. Such formations can block the flow of blood in the small capillaries. The process leads to the fact that the brain does not receive enough oxygen and nutrients, its cells die. Malfunction of the central nervous system contributes to the disruption of the functioning of other organs. Large amounts of alcohol cause chronic, irreversible pathologies.
What happens if you drink
The consequences of drinking are related to the toxic effects of ethyl alcohol on the body of men and women. The severity of drink side effects is related to the strength, amount, and frequency of their intake. Drinking small amounts of alcohol at important events may not be harmful. Excessive use threatens the development of alcoholic encephalopathy, the formation of dependence, disruption of the functioning of internal organs, social deterioration and other negative consequences.
Use it in moderation
According to some experts, moderate drinking in the amount allowed by WHO does not cause much harm to the body, does not form dependence and does not lead to intoxication. Alcohol in small doses can be beneficial for preventing disease because it forces defense systems to work. It should be remembered that this method of prevention is very dangerous, especially for people with a genetic predisposition to alcoholism.
Daily use
The representative of the World Health Organization warned that the daily use of ethanol was strictly prohibited. Drinking alcohol every day, a person runs the risk of gradually becoming addicted. There is a risk of losing control, a desire to systematically increase the dose - this is a direct path to alcoholism, mental and physical health disorders. It is advisable to take a break for a few days so that the toxins are eliminated from the body.
Abuse
The body sees an increased dose of hard alcohol as a poison, so you harm yourself, even if you rarely drink. Large amounts of alcohol negatively affect the brain, liver, cardiovascular system, and digestive tract. Continuous alcohol abuse can cause long-term dependence, with irreversible consequences.
Alcoholism
Once in the body, high alcohol levels can cause persistent addiction. This is explained by the toxic nature of ethanol. Alcoholism is a disease characterized by the continuous, uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, a pathology that attracts intoxication and changes in alcohol tolerance. Experts identify the following signs of the disease:
- The presence of alcohol withdrawal syndrome - when refusing to drink alcohol, the patient experiences negative physical and psychological changes.
- The urge to drink occurs in any emotionally significant situation.
- Changes in behavior were found: impaired memory, aggression, unwillingness to communicate with loved ones, etc. v.
- Without a system, drinking can last for more than a day (drunk).
- Increase tolerance to ethyl alcohol, increase the threshold of alcohol elimination.
- Constant feeling of hangover, want to drink to relieve its symptoms.
- The presence of some external manifestations (bruising, thickening of the veins, rapid skin aging).
When a person is considered an alcoholic
Experts recommend separating domestic drunkenness from alcoholism. In the first case, a person can afford to drink systematically, however, stopping the use of alcoholic beverages does not bring about the serious, aggressive consequences that occur at will. This condition is not classified as a disease. An alcoholic is a person suffering from alcoholism. He has no control over his desire to drink, the amount of alcohol he drinks, and gets drunk easily.
Cause it happened
Anyone can become addicted to alcohol if they can't control themselves, as certain cultural traits encourage people to drink intoxicating drinks during happy hours, sad times and holidays. Two groups of citizens are particularly vulnerable to ethanol addiction. Experts identify the following causes of alcoholism:
- Genetic predisposition. People with alcoholism among their ancestors may have received genetic material that puts them at high risk for alcoholism.
- Psychological factors. Emotional experiences (job loss, unhappy love, death of a loved one) can cause alcoholism. A person tries to drink alcohol to relax, avoid moral trauma. As a result, it has a constant craving for ethanol.
How does alcoholism develop?
A dangerous factor in the development of alcoholism is a prolonged state of addiction that can arise without the patient's attention. A person begins to drink alcohol in the company on a day off or occasionally to calm his nerves. Ethanol may not cause a negative reaction at this stage. Feeling relaxed and happy leads to more frequent drinking. As a result, a person becomes addicted, he begins to show symptoms of alcoholism. Gradually personality decline appeared, physical craving for alcohol began to appear.
Stages of alcoholism
Experts distinguish 3 degrees of alcoholism. Each stage is characterized by the following elements:
- First degree - at the advanced stage of the disease, the patient often has a feeling of wanting to drink alcohol. If it is not satisfied, it will disappear after a while. When a patient drinks alcohol, he loses control of his alcohol intake. People become aggressive, irritable, have episodes of memory loss. Every hangover has one reason or another that the hospital person comes up with to justify. Alcoholics see it as a negative phenomenon.
- The second stage is characterized by an increase in tolerance to alcoholic beverages. At this stage, physical dependence is formed: withdrawal symptoms, headaches, thirst, irritability, tremors of the hands and body, sleep disturbances. When a binge is interrupted sharply, complications can occur.
- The third stage - increased cravings for alcohol. Psychosis occurs, leading to amnesia. Physical, social and personal degradation is on the rise. Drinking hard alcohol severely depletes the body, if its disruption occurs without medical intervention, metallic alcohol psychosis can occur.
Life expectancy of an alcoholic
It is not possible to give a definite answer to the question of how long alcoholics live, because each person's body reacts individually to ethyl alcohol. An important factor is the quality of the drinks and the quantity consumed by them. Drinking a good glass of wine with dinner can lead to a long happy life. According to many scientists, some people may even benefit from this.
The use of cheap, alternative drinks can not only damage internal organs, but also cause acute intoxication. According to statistics, the average life expectancy of an alcoholic is 48-55 years old. At the same time, this phase may be shorter for women, heavy drinkers, and those who started drinking in their teens. Patients with stage 3 addiction have the highest risk of death. They die of serious internal disease, living 6-7 years after being diagnosed as such.
Consequences of drinking alcohol
Excessive alcohol consumption at any age increases the risk of diseases of the body system, disrupting the functioning of the human brain. The consequences of such processes are irreversible changes in the psyche, decrease in social functioning, physical harm to the patient. With regular use, a person suffers from constant poisoning, which causes the deposition of toxic substances inside the body.
Social impact
Alcoholism affects not only the person themselves, but also their family, society and career. The patient has economic difficulties, because he has to spend a lot of money to buy alcohol. In addition, due to addiction, problems can arise at work, such as alcoholics not being able to perform their functions properly, skipping work days due to feeling nauseous.
Continuous drinking also has a heavy impact on the patient's family. This happens because the conflict becomes more frequent, the patient becomes aggressive. The lives of an alcoholic and others are at stake when drunk driving. Driving after drinking alcohol greatly increases the likelihood of an accident. Drunk people are more likely to commit crimes.
Health consequences
Alcoholism has a significant impact on a person's physical and mental health. Drinking too much alcohol can cause the following consequences of alcoholism:
- The toxic effects of ethanol on nerve cells (neurons) and brain structures begin even when small doses of this substance enter the body. Experts note a violation of the activity of the control centers, the failure of the regulatory mechanisms of the cerebral cortex. Such processes contribute to rapid mood swings, partial loss of control over actions, irritability, aggression and the appearance of mental disorders.
- Pathological processes in neurons adversely affect the functioning of the sensory organs, intellectual abilities and memory of the patient. With systematic drinking, chronic encephalopathy is observed, and cerebral infarction can occur. Long-term exposure to alcohol causes Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease.
- Cerebral blood vessels become brittle, aneurysms can form, and then rupture. The risk of blood clots, blood supply disorders, auditory and optic nerve atrophy, and ischemic stroke of the spinal cord and brain increases. Gradually, chronic alcoholism leads to irreversible mental illness, complete deterioration of personality.
- The consequences of drinking alcohol on the cardiovascular system are: cardiomyopathy with the development of heart failure, hypertension with a tendency to rupture of arteries, veins, aneurysms, ischemia, myocardial infarction, blockade and arrhythmia.
- The negative effects of regular alcohol consumption on the human reproductive system are impaired viability and maturation of germ cells, formation of infertility and a high risk of birth defects. . For men, the danger lies in the decrease in erection ability, leading to gradual impotence. In addition, with prolonged use, persistent hormonal disturbances occur.
- Frequent consequences of alcoholism are necrotizing ulcerative processes of the stomach (gastritis, peptic ulcer), damage to the pancreas, which is accompanied by chronic pancreatitis and diabetes mellitus. Gradually, the doctors noted a state of exhaustion of the whole body, associated with metabolic disorders and decreased appetite. The occurrence of cancers of the stomach and intestines is possible.
- Liver diseases are considered by experts to be the most dangerous consequence of systemic binge drinking. The cells of the organ cannot cope with chronic intoxication, so alcoholics often develop fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatitis.
How often can you drink alcohol?
The World Health Organization, which prescribes a certain safe amount of alcohol per day, warns that drinking alcohol every day carries the risk of affecting the body's normal functioning. To prevent pathological conditions from arising, it is advisable to rest. Experts recommend consuming alcoholic beverages no more than once in 3 days, and you need to do it in a minimal amount.
Safe amount of alcohol per day
The standard dose of alcoholic beverages, established by WHO, is equal to the content of 10 g of pure ethanol. This part is called the drink or unit. Its equivalent is 330 ml of beer, 150 ml of dry wine, 45 ml of spirits. The World Organization has established the safe daily dose of alcohol as follows:
- For men - 4 glasses, equivalent to 100 g of vodka, 3 glasses of dry wine, 1-2 cans of beer.
- For women, the safe dose is 3 units, which is 1-2 glasses of dry wine, 80 g of vodka, 1 bottle of beer.