Harmful Effects of Alcohol
Alcohol consumption has many a side effect. The most obvious ones are the damage it causes to the brain as well as the liver. It effects on the brain are very noticeable especially for those who are under the influence. Slurred speech, weakened eyesight, short-term memory loss and decreased motor skills.
Severe as well as long-term drinking has many dangerous side effects. Such effects include liver failure, brain damage and death. One of the immediate side effects of alcohol consumption is having a black out.
Having a black out, also known as “passing out”, is more harmful than many believe. When a person blacks out, they are often the butt of jokes. There are many times when someone who blacks out cannot remember what he or she did the previous night. It is a common situation because of too much alcohol intake within a very short amount of time. One attends parties, drinks too much and eventually wakes up in a place he or she does not remember going to. What this person remembers is usually not a good one. Unplanned as well as unprotected sex, property damage and driving under the influence are only a few of the activities one can unwittingly participate in whenever there’s too much drinking involved. This just goes to show that alcohol can really do a number on the brain. Aside from that, studies have found that women are more prone to black outs compare to men.
Other harmful side effects of alcohol are:
1. Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome – this occurs when the body lacks vitamin b1. Such a vitamin is vital and can be found in many diets across the first world. As a result, people in the first world do not get diagnosed with such a condition. However, 80% of alcohol addicts suffer from this condition. Symptoms of this condition include eye nerve paralysis, confusion and a decrease in muscle coordination. Those who have been diagnosed with this have difficulties looking for a way out of a room or have a hard time moving about. The most well-known symptom of this condition is short term memory loss. For example, a person with this condition will be in a conversation but will forget about it even happening after an hour.
2. Liver disease – this is probably the most common condition that accompanies alcohol abuse. The liver does the job of making alcohol non-toxic while it is traveling in the bloodstream. The liver recovers if the alcohol consumed is small in amount. If too much alcohol is introduced during a lifetime, the liver gets swollen and thus becomes seriously damaged. In this case, complex surgical procedures must be done. Sometimes though, a patient dies or he or she will be in dialysis for a long period of time, until such a time that a liver can be transplanted.
To sum it up, the harmful effects of alcohol is very much destructive, most especially when alcohol has been consumed for a long time. Damage to the liver and the brain, as well as loss in coordination, are all due to too much alcohol consumption
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