The effects of alcohol on the human body

Alcoholism is one of the most difficult problems in modern society.Alcohol and its effects on the body are discussed by scientists from various disciplines who are trying to determine the reasons for the rapid increase in incidence, ways to get rid of this disease, as well as risk factors for the development of a tendency to regular alcohol consumption.

Alcohol-related changes in internal organs are not initially characterized by severe dysfunction.But over time, the influence of alcohol on a person increases, leading to acute disruptions in the activity of vital systems of the body and breaking the chain of complex mechanisms of its neurohumoral regulation.

Features of the mechanism of action

How does alcohol affect the body?Once in the human stomach, alcohol is almost immediately absorbed into the bloodstream.Few people know, but alcoholic drinks begin to decompose in the oral cavity, so the blood is saturated with alcohol from the first minute of its contact with the body.From this moment, the harmful effect of alcohol on human organs begins.About 20% of alcohol is neutralized by the liver enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, which deactivates substances containing alcohol poisons.

Most of the alcohol continues to act in the small intestine.From here, alcohol penetrates into all aqueous areas of the body to be excreted partly in sweat, urine, saliva, etc., and partly to oxidize and accumulate in most organs over several days.During this period, alcohol acts like poison, slowly poisoning all the cells of the body and impairing the development of a person, the state of his psyche and the functionality of internal structures.

The effects of alcohol on systems and organs

The harmful effects of alcohol on the human body are manifested not only in dysfunction of the brain and liver.Alcoholism negatively affects all organs and systems of the human body.In short, regular consumption of alcoholic beverages completely destroys the patient's model of normal body functioning, has a detrimental effect on his full functioning, and is one of the main causes of death among people of working age.

Effects on the psyche

Probably each of us knows how alcohol affects the human psyche.Heavy drinkers may experience hallucinations, an overwhelming feeling of anxiety, apathy, and persistent depression.Alcoholics completely lose their own self.These people become antisocial, pay little attention to their appearance, stop worrying about everyday human worries, take care of their family and the like.

The consequences of alcohol consumption on the human body

Each phase of addiction has certain symptoms and characteristics.There are 4 of them in total.

For the initial phasecharacterized by a gradual increase in the dose of alcohol consumed, the emergence of dependence and the influence of alcohol at the psychological level.

In the second phaseThere is a desire to increase the dose of alcohol.Addiction develops on a physical level.

On the third- Destruction on a physical and psycho-emotional level, development of dementia.

The fourth stage is untreatable and results in the death of the addict.Failure of the body's systems and death occurs.

25 reasons to quit alcohol

Many people see nothing wrong with drinking alcohol in the evenings, on weekends or on holidays.But few people have a sense of proportion and willpower.And a seemingly harmless hobby turns into a bad habit.This article lists 25 reasons to avoid alcohol and discusses the harmfulness of alcohol and its effects on the human body.

1. Alcohol is the cause of many diseases, meanness, indiscipline, wasted talents, senseless conflicts and poverty.
2. There is hardly a greater evil than alcohol, which so profoundly and mercilessly affects the health of millions of people, so dramatically destroys all human tissues and organs (especially the cerebral cortex), the mind and personality of a person, and ultimately leads them to early death.The insidiousness of this poison lies in the fact that serious consequences of harm caused by alcohol do not appear immediately, gradually and imperceptibly.
3. The influence of alcohol on a person's life is evidenced by the following facts: 50 percent of accidents, 1/3 of suicides, 80 percent of deaths from mouth and esophageal cancer are due to alcohol abuse.
4. As a result of research conducted using cutting-edge technology, Australian scientists have come to the conclusion that a gradual decrease and shrinkage of the brain occurs in both alcoholics and moderate users.One glass of alcoholic beverages destroys 1000-2000 cells in our brain.These data were confirmed in 95% of alcoholics and 85% of moderate drinkers.

5. Studies have shown that drinkers are 15 times less likely to give birth to a healthy person than non-drinkers, the mortality rate of their children is 5 times higher, and morbidity is 3.5 times higher (note that these are only drinkers, not alcoholics).Alcohol affects children even before they are born.Even in families that drink alcohol moderately, children are born with slow development, mental retardation, and even stillbirth.Due to alcohol and drug addiction, women in America alone give birth to thousands of premature babies every day.Drinking parents are the worst thieves, stealing from their own children the happiness of future discoveries and the happiness of a fulfilling life (according to F.G. Uglov).
6. Experiments with chicken eggs showed the following: 160 eggs were placed in an incubator in a barn, in the basement of which alcohol was brewed.The alcohol vapor affected the eggs.When the time came, the following result was achieved: only half of the chicks hatched, 40 of them were not viable, 25 were mutants (without beaks, without claws, etc.).
7. If one person's genetic code is damaged, the entire generation is at risk.Today, 96% of violations of the genetic code are due to various drugs (alcohol, cigarettes, other drugs).
8. Alcohol as a drug, in any form and in any dose, is harmful to the human body because it acts like morphine or marijuana, that is, it creates the illusion of goodness and happiness, while, like any other poison, it causes irreparable harm.
9. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), one in three people on earth dies from the effects of alcohol consumption and one in five people dies from the effects of smoking.This means that in Russia we lose almost one and a half million people every year for these reasons, which is 20 times higher than the number of victims of the nuclear explosion in Hiroshima.
10. Prohibition had been successfully operating in Russia for more than ten years at that time.During this time, the number of sick people decreased, prisons were emptied, families were at peace, and homes were prosperous.All these data can be verified using a large medical encyclopedia and many scientific works of that time.
11. The assertions of some heavy drinkers that they feel relief after drinking are pure self-deception caused by a paralysis of the attention and self-control centers.After each dose of alcohol, the patient falls into a state of euphoria and everything, even his own illness, appears rosy.In fact, drinking alcohol in any quantity only aggravates the process and harms the person.

12. It is not for nothing that they say: “A river begins with a stream, and drunkenness begins with a glass.”Let's think about this fact.From the point of view of the contagiousness of the habit of drinking alcohol, non-drunkards and alcoholics are more dangerous, because looking at them, no one will feel the desire to imitate them.More contagious is the example of those who drink “moderately” and “sophisticatedly,” who “observe a ritual,” etc. Unfortunately, our media has “worked hard” to portray the celebration more broadly and seductively.Rarely is a film without glasses, lavish celebrations and toasts.After these toasts, people drink enthusiastically, almost mystically hoping that an empty glass or shot glass is the surest way to fulfill their cherished desires.And children become spectators and witnesses and then accomplices in drinking because they imitate their parents on an unconscious level.
13. Many researchers have shown that when children are invited to play at a birthday or wedding, they reproduce and copy the attributes of an adult celebration in games - they sit at a common table, open bottles, clink glasses, say toasts and walk with a breathtaking gait.A survey of 100 boys in one of the kindergartens showed that 97% of children described alcohol poisoning well.From kindergarten age, the idea of alcohol as a special, obligatory accompaniment at celebrations and meetings, an attractive symbol of adult life begins to be formed.By the age of 11-12, adolescents develop fairly stable stereotypes regarding attitudes towards drunkenness.In this they imitate their parents and relatives.
14. Young people claim who drinks more.Euphoria is cultivated in such companies.Young people project their ideas of courage, masculinity and maturity onto alcoholism;They trick each other into seeing who is drunker, who screams or laughs or squeals louder, who behaves bolder.There is a lot of ostentatious, demonstrative, hysterical behavior.Loud music is usually played, which increases destructive behavior.
15. According to statistics, people who drink alcohol live, on average, 10-15 years shorter.Smoker for 8 years.This directly shows the harm of alcohol to the human body.
16. The short answer to the question of why people drink is: they drink because it is a widely advertised and freely sold drug.They drink because alcohol has become a legal drug and is sold at a cheap price.

17. There is a misconception that alcohol should be drunk “to have fun.”In fact, fun and laughter are very important moments in a person's life.They give the brain peace, distract the thoughts from everyday worries, thereby strengthening the nervous system and preparing it for new work and worries.But laughter and fun are only useful when they occur in a sober person.There is, and cannot be, any fun in the scientific and rational understanding of this condition.Drunk "fun" is nothing more than excitement under anesthesia - this is the first stage of anesthesia, the stage of excitement that surgeons observe every day when they give the patient other drugs (ether, chloroform, morphine, etc.), which are identical in action to alcohol and, like alcohol, are drugs.This phase of excitement has nothing to do with fun and afterwards there is no rest for the nervous system.On the contrary, instead of calm, depression sets in with all its consequences (headaches, apathy, weakness, unwillingness to work, etc.).What is never observed in sober fun.So alcohol is not a friend, but an enemy of fun.This eliminates the time a person spends on fun and relaxation.Instead, he gets headaches and fatigue.Alcohol works the same way when you are tired.A person is given a day off so that he can rest physically and mentally and, after recovery, go to work with renewed strength and new enthusiasm for work.
18. Alcohol creates the illusion of stress relief.In fact, the tension remains in the brain and throughout the nervous system, and when the hops wear off, the tension is even greater than before drinking wine.But with this comes a weakening of the will and a weakness.
19. An innate need to drink beer, wine, vodka, etc.Humans don't have it.If there were no alcoholic beverages and traditions of drinking them in the world, one could live peacefully without them and not harm one's body and loved ones.
20. In order to make a conscious decision “to drink or not to drink”, you need to know how alcohol affects our body.“Advertisers” can make up any legends about the benefits of alcohol.In television commercials they describe beer as “real”, “life-giving beer”, “for real men” and try to “associate” alcoholic products with sexual, patriotic, national and high-ranking characteristics of people.In order not to be deceived, you must have objective information yourself and learn to counteract advertising.
21. After drinking alcohol, the amount of urine excreted increases (diuresis), which means water and salts are lost.After poisoning, there is a strong thirst that “pulls” for brine and mineral water.A brief systematic review of the real effects of alcohol on all types of metabolism in a living organism leads to one conclusion: all types of metabolism are disrupted.It is this combination of “killer effects” that determines the antiseptic effect of ethyl alcohol and should constitute an obstacle to its use as a drink.

22. The phrase “alcoholic beverages” is incorrect.“Beverages” must have nutritional value and contain nutritionally relevant substances.These include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins.They are not found in alcohol.There are very few cognacs, wines and beer.To achieve their daily amount, you need to drink a lot of these liquids, the alcohol content of which is several times higher than the lethal dose.
23. For example, you can buy a car with the money you spend on alcohol.You can calculate for yourself how much money you spend on alcohol over months and years.
24. Reference is often made to studies by foreign scientists, for example some Munich institutes, which show that beer helps with many diseases.First, it should be noted that all such studies were conducted with financial support from the alcohol industry.Therefore, such results are disseminated in the media, but they are difficult to find in reputable scientific journals, since such journals usually require authors to indicate the source of funding for the research, and if it is the alcohol or tobacco industry, publishing such studies is perceived as a sign of bad taste.
25. You have the power to get rid of another addiction, become free and happy!