Introduction

Virtually every organ system is affected by alcohol. Drinking in moderation may cause problems to one's body, and drinking heavily over the years can cause irreversible damage. However, most diseases caused by excessive drinking can be prevented. Examples of alcohol's effect on organ function are shown below.

Liver

Even moderate social drinkers can experience liver damage. Diseases such as "fatty liver," hepatitis, or cirrhosis can develop from heavy alcohol consumption.

"Fatty liver" is the earliest stage of alcoholic liver disease. In this condition, liver cells become swollen with fat globules and water. If drinking is stopped at this point however, the liver is capable of healing itself.

Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, which causes soreness and swelling. Hepatitis can be caused by many things, such as drinking too much alcohol and taking some medications. Viruses are also a cause for hepatitis. Advanced liver damage makes it difficult for your body to break down waste products (such as bilirubin) in your blood, therefore causing jaundice, a condition where your skin turns a yellow-orange color. Waste products in the bloodstream can also cause itching, nausea, fever, and body aches.

Another serious liver disease is cirrhosis that can develop by exposure to harmful chemicals. However, the most common cause of cirrhosis in this country is drinking too much alcohol. This is better known as alcoholic cirrhosis. Alcoholic cirrhosis causes the cells of the liver to be damaged beyond repair. As liver cells die, scar tissue forms. When this scar tissue builds up, blood can't flow through the liver properly.

Normally, toxins and wastes in the blood get filtered (cleaned) out when blood passes through the liver. If scar tissue keeps blood from flowing normally through the liver, the blood doesn't get filtered. Toxins and wastes can build up in the body. This can lead to mental confusion, agitation, or tremors (shaking). In serious cases it can even lead to coma. Once scarring has progressed, nothing can be done to repair the liver or cure cirrhosis. Treatment is aimed at avoiding further damage to the liver and preventing and treating complications such as bleeding from broken blood vessels. Liver transplantation is the only option.

More than 25,000 Americans die each year from chronic liver disease. Experts say that about 70 percent are due, at least in part, to alcohol abuse. Transplants, an effective treatment for diseased livers, are not easy to come by, especially if you are currently drinking.

Heart

The heart has the important job of getting oxygen to every cell in the body. Accomplishing this task is not that easy for such a small organ, as it weighs between 7 and 15 ounces.

Some research has indicated that having some alcohol can provide health benefits to the heart. However, drinking alcohol, even in moderation, can create health risks such as a slight rise in blood pressure. High blood pressure associated with heavy drinking makes the heart work harder than it needs to and can be a key risk factor for coronary heart disease, leading to heart attacks and strokes. In addition, with increased intake of alcohol, levels of some fats in the blood can become elevated (high blood triglycerides), which could cause heart problems.

Excessive drinking of alcohol (binge drinking) can also lead to stroke and other serious health problems. These other problems can include cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle), cardiac arrhythmia (abnormal contraction patterns of the heart) and sudden cardiac death.

Stomach

The stomach is designed to process and transport food. Ingesting healthy foods makes this organ run smoothly.

After ingestion, alcohol travels down the esophagus into the stomach, where some of it is absorbed into your bloodstream. The unabsorbed alcohol continues to move through the gastrointestinal tract. The majority of it will enter the small intestine and get absorbed into the bloodstream through the walls of the small intestine, or it can stay in the stomach and cause irritation.

While in the stomach, alcohol acts as an irritant and increases digestive juices (hydrochloric acid) that are secreted from the stomach lining. Intoxicating amounts of alcohol can halt the digestive process, robbing the body of vital vitamins and minerals. Chronic irritation may lead to damage to the lining of the stomach.

Drinking alcohol and taking medication that causes stomach irritation, such as aspirin, can cause gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining), ulcers, and severe bleeding.

Brain

The human brain is like a command center for the body. It alerts body parts and organs when something should happen and how to react. It only takes about 30 seconds for the first amounts of alcohol to reach the brain after ingestion. Once there, alcohol acts primarily on nerve cells deep in the brain.

The most highly developed part of the brain is the cerebral cortex, which encompasses about two-thirds of the brain mass and lies over and around most of the remaining structures of the brain. It is responsible for thinking, reasoning, perceiving, and producing and understanding language. The cerebral cortex is divided into specific areas involved in vision, hearing, touch, movement, and smell. The nerves in these parts of the brain talk to each other by electrical impulses that are enabled by neurotransmitters.

Alcohol acts as a depressant to the central nervous system and causes some neurotransmitters to become inhibited. Judgement and coordination, two processes of the central nervous system, become impaired.

Heavy drinking can inhibit the firing of the nerve cells that control breathing, a condition known as respiratory depression. This condition can be fatal. Even if the inhibition of the respiratory nerve cells does not cause death, drinking excessive alcohol may cause vomiting. When drunk and unconscious, a person may inhale fluids that have been vomited, resulting in death by asphyxiation.

Research now shows that significant brain development continues through adolescence. Therefore, alcohol may have quite different toxic effects on adolescent brains than on those of adults. Heavy alcohol use can impair brain function in adolescents, and it is unclear at present whether the damage is reversible.

Conclusion

Alcohol's effects on the body are numerous. To find out more information on alcohol and issues related to college drinking, please visit www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov.

Last Modified April 28, 2003

Last reviewed: 7/11/2007