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What Is Alcohol Doing To Me?

by

Rahul Nag

The complete resource to inform you of the physical,

psychological and social effects of excess drinking

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER:
Please note that the information contained in this report is for information and educational purposes only.
None of this information constitutes medical advice or replaces medical advice from your own
practitioner. You are strongly recommended to consult your medical practitioner if you have any
alcohol dependence issues whatsoever. Also, if you have significant alcoholism issues, you are
highly recommended to consult alcohol support groups depending upon how serious
your condition is.
The authors, publisher and interviewed experts can be held in no liability for your use or misuse of
this information and you hereby agree to take responsibility for your use of this material. If you do
not agree with these terms, please return the report to info@alcoholfreesociallife.com
Your reading and keeping of this copy hereby affirms you understand and agree with this disclaimer

© Rahul Nag, 2010. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may
be used without the express permission of the copyright holder

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: What is Alcohol?

Exactly what happens to you when you drink - where does the alcohol go?

Chapter 2: What Impact Does Alcohol Have on You?

The effect of each drink on your behaviour and your body

Chapter 3: Effects on the Liver

The liver has to deal with 90% of the alcohol you drink so here are the issues

Chapter 4: Effects on other parts of the body

Learn what alcohol drinking does to your kidneys, skin and your brain

Chapter 5: Psychological Impacts of Drinking

How alcohol can worsen depression and lead to mental health problems

Chapter 6: The Long-Term Effects of Drinking

What are some of the long-term damages you are doing to your health

Chapter 7: Dealing with Your Drinking

How you can either moderate your drinking or give it up

Appendix

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Introduction

1. Getting to know the facts about alcohol

Alcohol is a socially acceptable and legal drug; something which you may have
been consuming for years without really knowing what it is and what impact it has
on your body apart from the hangovers from drinking to excess.

This report details exactly what alcohol is and what it does to you from the first
sip. It answers your questions about how the body processes it, and most
important, how the body, mind and the brain is affected by alcohol. You’ll learn
about the short-term and long-term effects of drinking alcohol.

2. Safe Drinking Limits

Before we start, let’s establish some facts about excess drinking. Standard units
of drinking are what you’ll need to establish. Very roughly, 1 Glass of Wine = 1
Cocktail = 1 Shot = ½ Half Pint of Beer = 1 Unit of Alcohol

For men, more than 21 units a week constitutes a potential health risk. For
women, that level is 14 Units. The National Health Service in the UK
recommends that men not drink regularly more than 3-4 units of alcohol per day
and 2-3 units per day for women.

Different authorities have different figures, with the United States Center for
Disease Control classifying heavy drinking as more than one drink per day for a
woman and 2 drinks per day for a man, with binge drinking classified as 4 drinks
or more on one occasion for a woman and 5 or more drinks on one occasion for
a man.

However, this book will stick with the 21 units per week for a man and 14 units
per week for a woman. If you are around this level or above it, please read
carefully about the long-term damage you may be doing to your body and brain

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What is Alcohol?

1. What is Alcohol?
The A-Z Encyclopaedia of Alcohol
and Drug Abuse by Thomas
Alcohol is a drink containing ethyl alcohol, or ethanol.
Nordgren describes alcohol as:
Ethanol is a by-product of the fermentation process
(1) Any intoxicating beverage (when yeast and sugar are mixed together and react).
containing ethanol. Ethanol dissolves easily in water, so it can be rapidly
absorbed from the digestive tract and circulate
(2) A solvent used in drugs,
throughout the body in the blood.
medical products, cleaning
solutions, explosives and
Ethanol acts as a central nervous system (CNS)
intoxicating beverages.
depressant on the body. This means that it slows
(3) Also called ethyl alcohol or down the brain's activities and the activity of the spinal
grain alcohol. cord. Many people assume alcohol is actually a
stimulant because of the feeling it gives you but this is
(4) A sedative/hypnotic drug with
actually just the short term feeling.
effects of reducing the function of
the lungs, heart, and brain.
Ethanol does contain calories but does not have any
(5) A drug that, when used to minerals, vitamins, carbohydrates, fats or protein
excess, can cause bodily poisoning associated with it.
and death due to failure of vital
organs. The body actually assesses ethanol to be a poison,
and therefore has many mechanisms to try to deal
(6) An addictive substance that
with it and render it harmless
results in physical and
psychological dependence and
2. What happens to you when you drink alcohol?
severe bodily damage to the heart,
brain and liver.
When you take a drink of alcohol, it rapidly enters the
bloodstream, and passes to all body organs and
tissues. In pregnant women, alcohol passes through
the placenta and affects the development of a fetus.
The effects of alcohol depend on a variety of factors, including your size, weight,
age, experience with alcohol and gender, as well as the amount of food you have
already consumed before drinking.

Let’s examine with how alcohol is absorbed in the body. The first effect of
drinking is felt of course in the mouth. Some forms of alcohol can cause a
‘burning’ taste on the back of your throat. This burn is caused by the pain

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receptors in your taste buds. Essentially, the body is warning you against
consuming alcohol because it sees it as a toxic substance.

Next, the stomach wall absorbs 20% of the alcohol as it enters the blood stream.
Depending on the time of day and when you last ate, the alcohol may be readily
absorbed or slowly absorbed. If your stomach is empty, the alcohol is quickly
absorbed. Essentially, only a few minutes after you have started drinking, there
will be alcohol throughout your body. The remaining 80% of the alcohol is
absorbed in the small intestine.

We all have an enzyme in our stomachs designed to process ethanol into a safer
substance. The enzyme in use is called alcohol dehydrogenase. Alcohol
dehydrogenase in men is 70-80% more effective than the same enzyme in
women. There are also age differences - women and men in their 20’s and early
30’s have the most difficulty coping with alcohol due to their lack of tolerance to
alcohol. But note that heavy drinkers age 40
and upwards and people with alcohol
dependence (alcoholics) have severely
The “exit valve” from the stomach reduced levels of this important enzyme.
to the small intestine is called the
pyloric valve. When this valve The longer the stomach has to work on
detects a toxic substance like processing this toxic ethanol, the less harm it
alcohol, it closes to prevent the can do to your body. When a meal is eaten
poisonous substance from the exit valve of the stomach to the small
entering the small intestine all at intestine closes in order to digest the food.
once, which would result in death When food and alcohol are consumed at the
by overdose. same time, this prevents the alcohol from
passing quickly into the small intestine from
where it would be rapidly absorbed giving
the enzyme more time to work.

The bigger you are the more blood you have in your bloodstream. Added to this,
the average adult male is made up of 66% fluid, compared to 55% for women.
So if a man and woman of the same weight drink the same amount in one
occasion, the woman will end up with a blood-alcohol level a third higher than the
man's. It will take a third longer for the woman's body to eliminate the alcohol
from the blood. In other words, women become intoxicated more quickly than
men, and stay intoxicated longer than men.

The alcohol that passes through the stomach is absorbed by the small intestine.
The small intestine allows 80% of the alcohol to be absorbed more quickly than
from the stomach. Once in the blood stream, the alcohol spreads throughout the
body. It crosses the blood-brain barrier that normally prevents toxic substances
from affecting the brain. Medical experts are uncertain why alcohol enters the
brain while other toxic substances do not cross the blood-brain barrier.

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Finally, alcohol enters the nerve cells and begins to have an effect on the brain.
Alcohol circulates in the bloodstream until it is processed by the liver. The body
cannot store alcohol, a substance with no nutritional value, so it must be expelled
from the body. Problems occur when there is too much alcohol in the system and
the liver is overworked.

3. The Role of the Liver

Alcohol is then metabolized (or oxidised) by the liver, which means simply
that enzymes break down the alcohol. In general, the liver can process one
ounce of liquor (or one standard drink) in one hour. If you consume more than
this, your system becomes saturated, and the additional alcohol will accumulate
in the blood and body tissues until it can be metabolized. This is why pounding
shots or playing drinking games can result in high blood alcohol concentrations
that last for several hours and can result in fatal alcohol poisoning. Most drinkers
are unaware that excessive alcohol consumption – binge drinking – can result in
coma and death.

The liver works hard to remove the toxins contained in alcohol and is the organ
most affected by alcohol. As the liver works, it produces a poison called
acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde is actually related to formaldehyde, the chemical
used to embalm dead bodies. It is this chemical which makes you feel sick and
causes vomiting after drinking heavily; your body is attempting to rid itself of
poisonous acetaldehyde.

Eventually acetaldehyde is broken down into carbon dioxide, sugar and water but
this is a lengthy process. By the time this occurs, the poison has circulated
through the body more than one hundred times.

One reason why the liver has to work so hard in removing alcohol from the body
is that the vast majority of the alcohol in your body is taken to the liver for
disposal; this is the function of the liver. 90% of the alcohol you take in is
converted and eliminated by the liver with only 10% being excreted through urine
and the breath.

Oxidation involves a process by which the cells combine the nutrients of the food
that has been consumed with oxygen. Heat and energy are released during this
process, causing the oxidation of alcohol by the body cells. The calories from
alcohol cannot be stored in the body for future use. These calories are used
immediately by the body. While the alcohol is being burned off, the fats and
carbohydrates of the body are being stored in cells.

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“Wine is fine, but whiskey’s quicker

Suicide is slow with liquor
Grab a bottle, drown your sorrows
And you’ll wash away tomorrow.”

--Ozzy Osbourne
“Suicide Solution”

What Are the Effects of Alcohol?

1. What does alcohol do to you?

Here is an overview of what the overall effects of drinking alcohol are. Remember
1 Unit of Alcohol = 1 Glass of Wine = 1 Cocktail = 1 Shot = 1/2 Pint of Beer

Number of Units Effects on the Body

1 to 3 Units • Flushing of Skin
• Heart Speeds Up
• Talkative
4 to 6 Units • Judgement is affected
• Giddiness
• Co-ordination impaired
7 to 9 Units • Vision blurred
• Speech fuzzy
• Reaction time slower
10 to 15 Units • Staggering
• Loss of balance
• Double Vision
20 Units Plus • Skin is clammy
• Pupils are dilated
30 Units Plus • Unconsciousness
• Death

2. Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC)

The key factor which decides how drunk you are getting is called the Blood
Alcohol Concentration (BAC) or simply how much alcohol there is in your
bloodstream at any one time. They are measured by mass per volume. So, a

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BAC of 0.01% means 0.01 grams of alcohol per 100 grams of an individual's
blood, or 0.1 grams of alcohol per 1000 grams of blood.

A rough rule of thumb is that if you consume two standard drinks (which contain
20g of alcohol) when you are sober, your BAC will increase by roughly 0.05%.
Two standard drinks are roughly equivalent to two 500ml glasses of beer at
5% alcohol by volume (a pint of beer is 568ml).

This chart taken from Wikipedia shows the level of Blood Alcohol Content and
what impact it has on you and your behaviour. Please remember all of the factors
such as your age, weight, sex, tolerance to alcohol etc will determine how your
BAC varies not just the number of drinks you consume.

Progressive Effects of Alcohol

BAC (%) Behaviour Impairment

• Avg. individual appears • Subtle effects that can be
0.01–
normal detected with blood tests
0.029
• Mild euphoria
• Sense of well-being • Lowered alertness
• Relaxation • Judgment
0.03–
• Talkativeness • Coordination
0.059
• Joyous • Concentration
• Decreased inhibition

• Reflexes Impaired
• Blunted Feelings • Reasoning
• Disinhibition • Depth Perception
0.06–0.10 • Extroversion • Distance Acuity
• Impaired Sexual Potency • Peripheral Vision
• Glare Recovery

• Over-Expression • Reaction Time

• Emotional Swings • Gross Motor Control
0.11–0.20 • Angry or Sad • Staggering
• Boisterous • Slurred Speech

• Stupor • Severe Motor Impairment

0.21–0.29
• Lose Understanding • Loss of Consciousness

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• Impaired Sensations • Memory Blackout

• Severe Depression • Bladder Function

• Unconsciousness • Breathing
0.30–0.39
• Death Possible • Heart Rate

• Breathing
• Unconsciousness
• Heart Rate
>0.40 • Death

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Crime statistics show that in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia, car wrecks
involving drunk drivers occur primarily when the driver’s blood alcohol
The term “disinhibition” means
that your normal, healthy
inhibitions about exhibiting
certain behaviours are no
longer present. Examples:
(1) Picking a fight with
someone who is obviously
bigger, stronger, and more
sober than you; a fight you’re
bound to lose, causing arrest,
serious injury or death.
(2) Becoming physically violent
with your spouse, partner
and/or children.
(3) Becoming verbally abusive
with your family, friends, or
strangers; once said, cruel
words can never be taken back.
(4) Engaging in high-risk sexual
behaviour that could result in a
sexually transmitted disease
such as syphilis, chlamydia, and
HIV.
(5) Committing illegal acts that
you would never do when
you’re sober.
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concentration is within the range of 0.06 to 0.10.
Automobile fatalities are more likely to occur within
this range. Who can forget that Princess Diana’s
driver had a BAC within these parameters when she
was killed?
Inexperienced binge drinkers within this same range
often lose consciousness; an intoxicated person will
usually pass out lying on his/her back. As the body
tries to rid itself of alcohol through vomiting, the
unconscious person will breathe in his/her own vomit,
causing death by aspirating vomit into the lungs.
Crime statistics also indicate that at least 85% of
incarcerated individuals in these countries committed
their offenses while they were intoxicated via alcohol
and/or other drugs. Sexual offenses and domestic
violence have definite, well-researched links to
intoxication and disinhibition. Other violent offenses,
like bar fights and assaults, and robbery are primarily
fuelled by excessive alcohol consumption. Property
crimes like burglary also have a link to disinhibition;
many offenders need “liquid courage” to carry out
their offenses. Voluntary intoxication is not an
affirmative defence in criminal trials.
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1. Damage to the Body in General
Physical addiction to alcohol is
demonstrated by:
(1) Increased tolerance – it takes
more and more alcohol over time
to produce intoxication.
(2) Potentially fatal withdrawal
symptoms if alcohol is abruptly
discontinued without medical
management.
Delirium Tremens (known as
DT’s) is a serious alcohol
withdrawal symptoms; it is rare,
but when it does occur, it is often
fatal. It causes psychotic
hallucinations, extremely high
body temperatures and seizures.
Because of DTs and other
dangerous withdrawal symptoms
like very high blood pressure, a
person addicted to alcohol should
never abruptly stop drinking.
Alcohol withdrawal must be
managed by an addiction
medicine physician.
• Wernicke encephalopathy affecting an alcoholic’s feet and hands.
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Effects on the Liver
The main damage from excessive alcohol drinking
comes on the organs which have to cope with the
detoxification and elimination of the alcohol. This falls
almost predominantly, as we have already seen, to
the liver. Whilst the liver is working to eliminate the
alcohol (and one drink can take 60 to 90 minutes to
eliminate). Meanwhile, the rest of the alcohol
consumed is flowing around the bloodstream causing
damage to other organs. This means it will affect the
rest of the body including the skin, the kidneys, the
bladder, and, of course, the brain.
Excessive and long-term alcohol consumption can
cause:
Alcohol-related brain damage
•
Alcoholic cardiomyopathy (heart damage)
•
Delirium Tremens (can be fatal due to seizures)
•
Chronic gastritis and inflammation of the
•
intestines and stomach
• Hepatitis
• Myopathy (muscle tissue wasting)
• Peripheral neuropathy (numbness of the feet
and hands)
• Inflammation of the pancreas (usually fatal if
not treated)
• Alcohol dependence (alcoholism)
• Pseudo-Cushing syndrome from alcohol-
related build-up of steroids in the bloodstream.
• Scurvy (vitamin C deficiency caused by
alcoholic malnutrition; causes loss of teeth and
spinal cord malformation)
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2. The Liver

What does the liver do?

The liver processes most things a person consumes, including alcohol. The liver
is the only organ involved in processing alcohol, and only a certain quantity of
alcohol can be detoxified over a period of time. Meanwhile, excess alcohol
affects the brain, heart, muscles, and other tissues of the body.

How does alcohol affect the liver?

If too much alcohol is consumed, normal liver function may be interrupted,
leading to a chemical imbalance. Liver cells may be destroyed or altered,
resulting in fatty deposits (fatty liver), inflammation (alcoholic hepatitis), and/or
permanent scarring (cirrhosis). Mixing alcohol and medications like
acetaminophen (Tylenol) also damages the liver.

What are the symptoms of alcohol-related liver damage?

Symptoms of liver damage include fatigue, appetite loss, and lower resistance to
infection, jaundice, abdominal swelling, intestinal bleeding, brain dysfunction, and
kidney failure.

Alcohol and the Liver

If you drink faster than your liver can process alcohol you will start to feel drunk.
As we already know, the liver is the main organ that gets rid of alcohol by
breaking it down eventually into sugar and water. It metabolizes about 90% of
the alcohol in our body while only about 10% is excreted through either our urine
or breath.

The liver needs water to rid itself of toxins in the body but as alcohol acts as a
diuretic, there will not be sufficient amounts of water in the body; the liver is
forced to divert water from other organs including the brain.

The liver also produces more toxins in the body as a by-product of breaking
down alcohol. When the liver is metabolizing alcohol it produces acetaldehyde, a
substance which has toxic effects on our liver, brain and stomach lining, resulting
in headache, nausea, vomiting and heartburn.

As discussed in Chapter 1, the ADH enzyme (alcohol dehydragenase) in the liver

breaks down the alcohol into acetaldehyde, which is even more toxic than
alcohol itself. However this acetaldehyde quickly changes to acetic acid - or
vinegar. The vinegar burns up to water and carbon dioxide and hence the energy
for day to day living.

The other main problems from excess drinking on the liver are:

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• Cirrhosis of the Liver

• Alcoholic hepatitis
• Fatty Liver

3. Cirrhosis of the Liver

Cirrhosis of the liver develops after chronic, long-term heavy drinking. Exactly
how much alcohol equates to heavy drinking differs from person to person. In
women, as few as two to three drinks per day have been linked with cirrhosis and
in men, as few as three to four drinks per day. Alcohol appears to injure the liver
by blocking the normal metabolism of protein, fats, and carbohydrates by its
requirement to focus on breaking down the alcohol.

In cirrhosis, liver cells are killed and injured, and the resulting inflammation and
cell death that is associated with the dying liver cells causes scar tissue to form
on the liver. The liver cells that do not die multiply in an attempt to replace the
cells that have died. This results in clusters of newly-formed liver cells
(regenerative nodules) within the scar tissue.

The scar tissue blocks the flow of blood through the organ. The liver's function
includes storing glycogen (comes from sugars) which it breaks down into
glucose. This is then released into the bloodstream which produces energy. It
processes fat and proteins from digested food and several other critical elements
in removing toxins from the body and helping to digest fats.

Cirrhosis starts to impair these functions of the liver. As the situation worsens,
the liver will start to deteriorate and it will eventually fail to deal with infections
and blood clots and stop bile from passing into the small intestine.

• Celebrities who died from

cirrhosis include
musician Jerry Garcia of
the Grateful Dead and
former New York
Yankees manager Billy
Martin.

The Symptoms of Cirrhosis

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In the early stages of cirrhosis, a heavy drinker may not notice any symptoms at
all. It is only when the scar tissue in the liver has built up that the symptoms start
to appear. The classic symptoms of cirrhosis are:

• Tiredness and weakness in the body

• Loss of appetite, feeling sick and weak
• Tendency to bruise and bleed easily
• Jaundice - yellow skin colour which is caused by bilirubin, a substance
created when red blood cells are broken down
• Itchiness because of the toxins starting to build up
• Changes in personality because of the toxins in the bloodstream affecting
your brain. Things such as forgetfulness, confusion and difficulty in
concentrating

As the cirrhosis gets worse, the scar tissue will further restrict the flow of blood
through the liver. This will cause high blood pressure or hypertension because of
the pressure in the vein that transports blood from the gut. This can even cause
the veins in the lining of the gullet (oesophagus) and stomach to swell. These
swellings are called varices and they often bleed into the gut and the sufferer will
then either vomit blood or pass blood in your stool. Varices in the oesophagus –
the tube that carries food and water from the mouth into the stomach – can
cause such intensive haemorrhaging that the affected person will “bleed out” in
minutes and be declared “dead on arrival” due to exsanguination (massive blood
loss) at an emergency room. This condition is virtually 100% fatal.

Treatment for Cirrhosis

Cirrhosis cannot be treated but can be slowed down by intensive medical

management and the total sobriety of the affected person. However this
depends upon the severity of the condition. There are various drugs and other
options which are used to try and slow down the process.

This can even result in changes in diet such as a low sodium diet or low salt diet
and water tablets so as to reduce the amount of fluid in the body. Then there are
various solutions for the treatment of the symptoms such as drugs to deal with
the hypertension and so on.

With irreversible cirrhosis, the affected person’s life can only be saved by a liver
transplant. In most countries, transplant lists are lengthy; the patient often dies
before a transplant takes place. Medical experts in the UK, US, and Canada site
cirrhosis as a progressive and eventually terminal condition.

4. Alcoholic Hepatitis

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Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver. This inflammation can vary from mild to
severe.

• Mild hepatitis may actually not have any effects on the body. The only
indication of inflammation may be an abnormal level of liver enzymes in
the blood which can be detected by a blood test.
• When the hepatitis becomes more serious, symptoms can include feeling
sick, jaundice and some feelings of abdominal pain in the area of the liver.
• The worst situation is when severe bouts of alcoholic hepatitis lead to liver
failure. This can then cause deep jaundice,
blood clotting problems, confusion, coma,
bleeding into the guts, and death.
There are several types of
hepatitis; the type that most When the hepatitis becomes persistent and chronic,
commonly affects alcoholics is the liver will become damaged and eventually can
hepatitis C. Cumulative global cause cirrhosis as explained above.
medical research indicates the
link between excessive alcohol
5. Fatty Liver
use and intravenous drug abuse,
which is the actual source of
When you drink too much on a consistent basis, fat
hepatitis C. This form of hepatitis
can build up within the liver. It is not generally seen to
can remain dormant IF the
be serious and can be reversed once you reduce or
drinker maintains strict
abstinence from alcohol for
give up alcohol. However it is also seen to be the first
his/her lifetime. Failure to be
step towards cirrhosis of the liver so must be
alcohol-free can cause serious
considered as an important warning sign.
medical complications from
hepatitis that can be fatal. Fatty liver can be detected through some of the blood
tests which indirectly measure liver disease. The
National Health Service in the UK estimates that 20 to
30% of people with fatty liver who continue to drink
heavily will develop alcoholic hepatitis or inflammation of the liver. Of the people
with alcoholic hepatitis, the NHS goes on to say, approximately 10% of people
will then develop full cirrhosis.

6. Overview of Liver Problems

The key issue with liver problems is that there are generally very few early
symptoms of this disease. This is because there are few nerve fibres in the liver
and what pain you might feel will be over the right hand side of the stomach.

Other symptoms to consider are fatigue, loss of appetite, vomiting and diarrhoea,
especially in the mornings. Any excessive drinker who experiences these
symptoms should immediately make an appointment for a complete evaluation
by his/her physician.

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While liver damage is the main source of fatalities with excessive drinkers, other
illnesses – usually fatal – are also noted, such as cancer, multiple organ failure,
and irreversible brain damage, called the “wet brain syndrome.”

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Effects on other parts of the body

1. Overview

The liver is, unfortunately, not the only part of the body which suffers damage
from drinking alcohol. There are other elements which will be explored here. In
particular the kidneys, the skin, the heart and the brain.

2. Kidneys

The kidneys’ role is to eliminate excess water and salts in the body as well to filter and
remove wastes in the bloodstream. The kidney is controlled by the brain. Anti-Diuretic
Hormone (ADH) is the hormone which is used to control exactly how much water is
excreted.

Each kidney contains about 1 million nephron units. These are a collection of thinly
walled capillaries (smallest of the blood vessels) where waste can filter through the cell
walls and can then be removed as urine. The constriction of these capillaries affects the
filtering ability of the kidneys.

When the body needs to conserve water, which is needed as alcohol is a diuretic and
dehydrates the body - the pituitary gland (located in the brain) excretes a hormone called
vasopressin (also known as anti-diuretic hormone or ADH). ADH causes the nephron
filters to become permeable (yielding passage), retaining more water in the blood stream
and allowing less water to be excreted in the urine.

Along with the filtration of excess water, the kidneys also regulate the
concentrations of the ions sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, and
phosphate. These ions have to be in balance in the blood stream to maintain
healthy metabolic processes.

Alcohol can have major impacts on the kidneys. The main ways are from causing cell
damage and enlarging the kidneys to impacting the various hormones that control kidney
function. Alcohol causes an ionic imbalance in the body that can affect many metabolic
processes.

The Impact of Alcohol on the Kidneys

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Alcohol impacts the balance of the ions and water in the body by altering the filtering
ability of the kidney. Kidney problems can also be exacerbated if the person also has
liver damage as detailed in the previous chapter.

Alcohol affects the amount of ADH available which makes the nephrons in the kidney
less permeable to water and so more water travels through the ureters to the bladder.
This is why you may need to urinate only 20 minutes after drinking.

With more water than usual leaving the body ,all of the concentrations of ions in the body
negatively impact many of the essential metabolic processes. The kind of alcohol
consumed can either increase or decrease the concentrations of certain ions in the
blood stream. Beer is low in dissolved nutrients.

When a person drinks beer, large amounts of water enter the body; that lowers the
concentration of metabolic nutrients and because of the effect of ADH impairment, an
equal amount of water does not leave the body in the urine.

Fluid overload in the blood stream decreases the body’s ionic concentrations and can be
very dangerous, especially for advanced alcoholics who also have liver disease.

The Effects of Decreased Ionic Concentrations

When a person drinks hard alcohol (such as whiskey or vodka), the ionic concentrations
can increase in the blood stream. The suppression of ADH causes more liquid to leave
the body as water, and ionic concentrations left in the blood can rapidly increase as
more ions (mostly sodium) are ingested with the alcohol. Alcohol can also impact the
muscle cells of the body, causing them to release ions (i.e. phosphate).

The effects of more ions in the blood stream impacts the water held in the cells of the
body through osmosis. Osmosis pulls the water that resides in the cells into the blood
stream to counteract the ionic imbalance. This drying effect can negatively impact the
normal function of cells and organs.

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Effects of Decreased Ionic Concentrations

Ion Sodium Potassium Phosphate Magnesium

- Impaired - Increased thirst. - Decreased blood acidity - Possible

mental resulting in a breakdown enzyme
activity. - Hormonal of glucose and increased impairment
imbalance metabolic activity.
Effects - Seizure in promoting fluid
extreme cases. intake. - Resulting low blood
sugar.

Source: Montana State University, United States

The Effects of Increased Ionic Concentrations

One alcohol drink can affect the normal function of a person’s kidneys. While only
severe alcoholics suffer from some of the complications, keep in mind that these ionic
imbalances occur each time you have a drink.

Ion Sodium Potassium Phosphate Magnesium

- Osmotic flow - Osmotic flow - Creates a buffer - Possible

of water out of of water out of imbalance in the blood. enzyme
Effects body cells to body cells to impairment.
areas of high areas of high - Increase in blood pH.
sodium. potassium.

Source: Montana State University, United States

Since the kidneys work to eliminate liquid toxins from the body, when they cease
to function, death will occur usually within 7-10 days from uremic poisoning. To
save a patient’s life, a kidney transplant is necessary. Humans can function with
only one kidney rather than two; the first place physicians look for possible
kidney donors are within the patient’s family, siblings in particular. If blood and
kidney types match, a transplant can be successful although the affected person

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receiving a donor kidney must take anti-rejection medication for the remainder of
his/her life.

While waiting to receive a donor kidney, the patient undergoes blood dialysis via
a machine that removes the patient’s blood, filters out toxins, and then replaces
the “clean” blood. Dialysis is a temporary measure, and abstinence from alcohol
is a medical requirement for both dialysis and transplant.

3. Skin

Because alcohol dehydrates your body and skin, this causes redness of the skin
and makes it appear blotchy. This can lead to permanent enlargement of the
peripheral vessels of the skin.

This is particularly more marked with women. Women's skin is thinner than men's
so the effects of drinking on their complexions is more marked. Alcohol dilates
blood capillaries that causes the face to flush while drinking. A tell-tale sign of a
chronic alcoholic is broken red capillaries on the nose. The skin also becomes
greasy and blemished. Alcohol dries the scalp, too, which leads to severe
dandruff and hair loss.

The face can become puffy and bloated because alcohol acts as a diuretic,
forcing water to leave the body in the form of urine. This stresses the kidneys, as
noted above, causing imbalances in the body’s salts, which in turn upset the
balance of fluid in the cells, particularly in the face.

Excessive drinking will lead to the development of telangiectasias or chronic

dilation of the capillaries and a permanent flush on the face. Alcohol also
worsens acne rosacea, a skin disorders that is characterized by redness,
flushing, puss heads, pimply bumps and telangiectasias.

Alcohol also depletes the body of vitamins A and B6 (thiamine), important anti-
oxidants for healthy bodily function. The general malnutrition in the body from
excess drinking combined with the junk foods often consumed after nights out
will further lead to damages in the skin.

4. The Brain

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While alcohol is waiting to be processed by the liver it travels in the blood through
the heart to all the other organs of the body, including the brain. Alcohol is
traditionally called a depressant drug because although it can make people feel
"revved up" at low doses, it does so by closing down different circuits in the brain.
It is both a stimulant and a depressant in small doses. Drinking more than two
drinks further impairs the brain and depressant effects take over, as illustrated in
the following paragraphs.

At low levels alcohol increases the electrical activity in the brain affecting
pleasure and euphoria, (working in a similar way to cocaine and amphetamines).
In this respect it acts like an accelerator. It also works on the circuits targeted by
tranquilizing drugs like Valium, Klonopin, Ativan and Xanax - calming, easing
anxiety, and acting more like a brake pedal. Alcohol also acts on the serotonin
neurotransmitters in the brain which (like Prozac, Zoloft and Effexor) increases
self-confidence and reduces depression and alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

Unfortunately this is usually short lived. Drinking more than a couple of drinks
can ruin any short-term emotional gains. In large amounts, alcohol interferes with
some of the chemical messages in your brain. It can make you clumsy, affect
your coordination and slur your speech. It dramatically reduces your ability to
learn and form memories, which is why people experience "blackouts." Regular
drinking sessions can make it very difficult to learn new skills or retain new
knowledge.

Does Alcohol Actually Kill Brain Cells?

Dr. Roberta J. Pentney, a former researcher at the State University of New York
at Buffalo, found that alcohol disrupts brain function in adults by damaging
message-carrying dendrites on neurons in the cerebellum, a structure involved in
learning and motor coordination. Excessive an chronic alcohol use decreases
biochemical communication between neurons, alters their structure, and causes
some of the impairment associated with intoxication. It does not kill off entire
cells, however, according to Dr. Pentney.

A study in 1999 that examined the brains of alcoholics appeared to confirm this.
Published in the journal Neuroscience, the research found that subjects who
developed Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a severe disorder that ravages the
memory and stems from a thiamine (vitamin B6) deficiency associated with
alcoholism, had a marked reduction in cell density in the cerebellum. Alcoholics
who suffer from Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome have intact long-term memory;
they can recall where and when they were born, for example. However, their

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short-term memory is severely affected. To fill in the gaps of what happened two
days ago, these alcoholics make up far-fetched stories; this is called
confabulation. The alcoholic seeks to prevent others from realizing the severe
extent of their brain damage.

But there was little difference between alcoholics who did not develop the
syndrome and normal subjects, suggesting that it was largely a lack of thiamine
in the Wernicke-Korsakoff patients that killed off their cells. Thus, a primary
treatment involved in recovery from alcoholism involves administration of
thiamine doses on a regular basis.

Other studies, including one published in The British Medical Journal in 1997,
have produced similar findings.

5. Other potential illnesses from alcohol

There are many other ways in which the body is affected by alcohol. They
include:

• Inflammation of the pancreas

• Cancer of the throat and mouth
• Trembling hands and fingers
• Frequent colds and reduced resistance to infection
• Impaired autoimmune system
• Impairment of sexual performance

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Psychological Impacts of Drinking

1. Overview

Many people believe alcohol is a stimulant and is a 'social lubricant'. A good way
of relaxing and freeing yourself from shyness and being more able to socially
communicate and interact with new potential friends or romantic partners.

However, as we have already seen, alcohol is both a poison and a drug. In this
section we will learn how alcohol affects you emotionally and socially, causing
you to become dependent and reliant on its effects.

Unless you deal with the underlying causes of your emotional and social
impairment e.g. low self-esteem, a stressful job, feeling of social awkwardness,
and anxiety in social situations, you will have an additional problem to deal with,
i.e. the serious effects of alcohol rather than just the issue at hand. And it can
also exacerbate these negative emotional feelings and magnify them.

“I hate who I am when I’m sober.

The only time I like myself is
when I’m drunk or high.”

--Robert Downey, Jr.

Actor

So, if you are in a good emotional state and then drink you are more likely to be
able to moderate your drinking. If you are using alcohol to change your emotional
state then excess is a likely possibility as well as frequently drinking in order to
get back to the change in emotional state.

2. Emotional Effects

The most recognised form of emotional effect of drinking alcohol is the reduction
of inhibitions you feel upon drinking. This is because of its role as a depressant.
This means that alcohol starts to change how you act and speak, and it is these
behaviours that cause problems for you emotionally and socially.

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Drunk people can put both themselves and others in danger through aggressive
or inappropriate behaviour. The lack of awareness can put drunk people in
danger of physical and sexual violence. In the US, UK and Canada, researchers
found that most domestic violence incidents (spouse and child abuse) occur
when the perpetrator has been drinking excessively.

Excessive drinking also affects chemical balances within the brain. Such as the
production of serotonin, which regulates moods. So depressive feelings,
insomnia, and a loss of concentration can be the results.

Heavy drinking interferes with the balance of chemicals in the brain. It lowers the
production of serotonin, which regulates to mood - this leads to mild symptoms of
depression, including insomnia, sluggishness, anxiety and loss of concentration.

Magnifying Your Existing Emotions

Alcohol is like a magnifier. If you are depressed, it will make you more
depressed. The same goes for angry people who can become angrier and more
violent.

Psychological Impacts of Drinking

There are also other likely problems that result from excessive drinking:

• Addiction/dependence
• Cravings can develop as you rely on alcohol for mood change and
also to divert attention away from life problems
• Psychiatric issues e.g. clinical depression, dementia, and/or
anxiety and impulse control disorders

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negative thoughts and patterns can be developed and exacerbated

A man died, went to
heaven, and was met at
the Pearly Gates by St.
Peter, who asked him
what good deeds he had
done in his life that
merited his entry into
Paradise.
“Well,” said the man, “I
was drinking in a local
pub. I noticed that a group
of thugs were harassing a
woman who was alone in
the pub. I had another
beer, and then walked up
to the thugs and told them
I would beat them
senseless if they didn’t
leave the woman alone.”
“That’s very impressive,”
St. Peter replied. “When
did this happen”?
“Just a few minutes ago,”
the man answered.
some of these faces were designed to provoke a natural fearful response in the
viewer.
by reliance on alcohol
• Distorted sense of
judgement
• Anti-social behaviour
and negative social
relationships can be the
consequence of
excessive drinking
3. Drinking leads the brain to
incorrectly assess threats
A report published in the April 30 2008
Journal of Neuroscience shows how
alcohol consumption reduces your
biological ability to feel fear. MRI
scans were conducted at the National
Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol
Abuse on 12 volunteers. These had
an average age of 26 - and crucially -
were social drinkers, so they did not
drink everyday although they did drink
every week.
The averages were 1.9 days a week
and 3.6 drinks per day on the days
they would drink. They were injected
either with alcohol or a saline solution
both of them. The test was for them to
look at images of human faces and

The scan was conducted to track activity levels where emotions are processed.
The findings were that the parts of the brain which deal with rewards were
boosted whereas the parts of the brain dedicated to fear were muted.

So even with social drinkers, you can run the risk of the consequences of not
being able to judge dangers which you would normally avoid when sober

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4. Feelings of Shame

Having a problem and not being able to deal with it can lead to you feeling
shameful in revealing the full extent of the problem to yourself and your family.
This can also lead to avoiding people or situations in which the problem can be
exposed. Feeling shameful about some aspect of life is a major trigger to over-
drink. It has long been established that the primary reason for excessive drinking
is to bring about a mood change.

This avoidance, however, will only lead to further isolation and to exacerbate
reliance on alcohol to deal with the pain and loneliness in which you feel trapped.

4. Negative Patterns To Protect Addiction

A lot of people with alcohol problems rely on drinking to relax and deal with
issues such as stress and depression. Thus, it is essentially an addiction that
originates in these kinds of circumstances.

People in these situation will therefore develop thinking patterns to protect the
source of their addiction and preserve their ability to continue with the addiction.
A common saying among addiction counsellors is, “How can you tell when an
alcoholic is lying? When his lips are moving.”

The main issues are those commonly associated with drug dependency which
include obsessive thoughts of obtaining and drinking alcohol. Avoiding the
seriousness of the condition and that recovery is possible, the alcoholic remains
in deep denial.

Hopelessness is a common side effect of alcohol dependence. Nothing and no-

one, least of all yourself can help you so you might as well continue to drink. This
is obviously distorted thinking, or “stinking thinking.” In many ways, hopelessness
is a form of denial of a drinker’s alcoholism.

The main issue is that alcohol becomes an emotional and social crutch rather
than coping directly with the underlying reasons of why you turn to alcohol, e.g.
job stress, family and relationship problems and low self-esteem. If you were to
resolve these issues, often the need and craving for alcohol would naturally
disappear.

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Long Term Effects of Drinking

1. The Long Term Overall Effects of Drinking

This section can be kept short because as you drink large amounts both
frequently and over the long-term, you run the risk of setting in motion the
processes which will affect your body and mind as detailed in the previous
chapters.

Long-Term Physical Effects of Drinking

In terms of the body, it is the liver that is the most likely organ for long-term
damage as it is responsible for breaking down the ethanol in alcohol. Frequent
and excessive drinking will overload the liver and lead to the development of a
fatty liver and usually to hepatitis and cirrhosis.

Another issue is skin damage - you can often tell someone who is a heavy
drinker because of their red cheeks and nose due to broken capillaries. In
addition, there are physical signs - the “beer belly” from the excess calories in
beer, particularly.

Drinking too much too often will cause physical damage, increase the risk of
getting some diseases, and make other diseases worse. Excessive drinking over
time is associated with:

• Hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver

• Gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining) or pancreatitis (inflammation
of the pancreas)
• High blood pressure/Hypertension (which can lead to stroke)
• Certain types of cancer, including mouth, oesophagus, and throat
• Permanent damage to the brain
• Heart failure
• Neurological problems such as epilepsy and peripheral neuropathy (lack
of feeling in the hands and feet)
• Certain types of vitamin deficiency leading to malnutrition

Emotional Long-Term Effects of Alcohol

We also know about the emotional long-term effects; the primary effect is the
likelihood of alcohol addiction or dependence. Using alcohol as a drug to change
your mood, making you feel, in the short term, good about yourself will lead in the
long term to an addiction. This is because it becomes your strategy; you are
psychologically reliant on alcohol to feel good.

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Over the long-term, it becomes a habit to drink and therefore the body and mind
expects it. It can also signify boredom because over a long period you have the
same behaviours; variety is often needed for enjoyment and excitement in life, a
task which alcohol can no longer do for you.

The other issue is hopelessness which can lead to feelings of helplessness and
suicidal thoughts. You come to believe that you cannot help yourself or anyone
else. Only alcohol can do this for you; you believe that you can never change
your destructive alcohol addiction.

Denial of the problem can lead to both guilt and shame and make it harder to
admit you have a problem, especially because the problem has gotten worse
over time. Alcoholism is a chronic, progressive, and terminal illness. Unless
alcoholism is treated, It’s end result is death.

So, the earlier you can deal with any issues with alcohol the better - for you both
emotionally and physically.

The definition of insanity is doing

the same destructive thing day
after day and expecting a
different result.

--An addiction therapist’s view

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Dealing with your Drinking

1. Taking Control of your Drinking

With all of the negative, destructive physical and psychological effects of drinking
we have explored, it is essential that you are able to drink safe amounts of
alcohol. However, to do this is not always easy.

I too had issues with drinking too much alcohol. I was not an alcoholic but I
started drinking 2-3 times per week when I suddenly had a lot more free time
after becoming a freelancer.

This lead me to not knowing my limits and starting to drink too much, waste the
next day and worryingly become dependent on alcohol to feel good and change
my emotional state. As I noticed the drinking was starting to get heavier I decided
to make a change and developed a solution to help me change my relationship
with alcohol.

You can find out more about this solution at the following link:

www.alcoholfreesociallife.com

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Appendix
A Simple Self-Quiz About Your Alcohol Use

(Please answer the following questions about your drinking habits; circle the
correct answer)

1. Do you believe that you can’t have fun socially without drinking? No Yes

2. Do you believe that you drink to excess at times? No Yes

3. Deep down, do you think you have an alcohol problem? No Yes

4. Are friends and family members concerned about your drinking? No Yes

5. Do you have difficulties with your self-esteem and confidence? No Yes

6. Are you experiencing any of the physical, emotional and social effects of
excessive drinking? No Yes

7. Do you drink alcohol to change your mood? No Yes

8. Are you denying that you use alcohol to excess? No Yes

(Please answer the following questions: circle all that apply to you)

1. Reading this book helped me understand the effects of excessive alcohol use.

a. Yes, greatly b. Yes; I have some of these symptoms c. Not much

2. I have experienced the following consequences of excessive drinking:

a. Legal b. Occupational c. Family d. Emotional/Psychological e. Social

f. Medical g. Financial

3. I believe I should modify my use of alcohol in the following way(s):

a. Not at all b. Let limits and drink less c. Become abstinent from alcohol

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Suggested Reading and Resources

For Help and Information
Web Sites:

1. www.alcoholfreesociallife.com

2. www.alcoholdrugsos.com

3. www.familydoctor.org

4. www.e-health-fitness.com/addiction_recovery_solutions.htm

5. www.alcohol-help.co.uk

Books: (hint: Amazon.com may carry these books at a lower price than the
publisher!)

Responsible Drinking: A Moderation Management Approach for Problem

Drinking by F. Rotgers, M.Kern, & R, Hoeltzel. Order from New Harbinger
Publications, Inc. At www.newharbinger.com

Alcoholics Anonymous –Called the “Big Book” available via any AA centre in your
town.

The Small Book: Rational Recovery by Jack Trimpey. Available via the publisher,
www.SimonSays.com

Rational Recovery: The New Cure for Substance Addiction by Jack Trimpey.
Available via the publisher, www.SimonSays.com

The Pathways to Sobriety Workbook by William Fleeman. Available via the

publisher, www.hunterhouse.com

Sober for Good: New Solutions for Drinking Problems by Anne Fletcher.
Available via the publisher, www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com

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