Symptoms and Complications
Alcohol is poisonous to many types of human cells. In small quantities it can suppress their activity. In large doses, it can kill them. While most drugs that act on the brain stimulate production of brain hormones like serotonin and dopamine, alcohol actually reduces levels of these chemicals while increasing levels of some others. It's a depressant in that it has the opposite chemical effect to a prescribed antidepressant. Nevertheless, since it also depresses activity in the part of the brain that restrains and inhibits our behavior, most people find the effect pleasant while quantities are taken in moderation.
At higher doses, it quickly becomes apparent that alcohol is, in, fact toxic. The main symptoms are vomiting, stupor, behavioral changes, and major impairment of the central nervous system, followed by dehydration, and a whopping headache. At high doses, alcohol can kill you by shutting down breathing or stopping your heart.
Even non-lethal doses can kill. Aspiration pneumonia is a condition that occurs when people, sleeping off a very heavy night's drinking, may suffocate when their own vomit is inhaled into their lungs. There is a gag reflex that should automatically prevent this, but it can malfunction when the nervous system is depressed.
Anyone who drinks alcohol after going a long time without food can have an attack of hypoglycemia, a sudden shortage of blood sugar, causing nervous symptoms like stupor or abnormal behavior and, in severe cases, coma or convulsions. If your stomach is empty enough, you could end up in hospital with hypoglycemia despite being under the legal driving limit for alcohol. This is especially dangerous if you have diabetes and are already taking insulin to lower your blood sugar.
Long-term heavy drinking can cause a range of chronic problems. These include:
- arrhythmias - abnormal heart rhythms that can instantly kill even young people if they are abusing alcohol
- beriberi (vitamin B1 deficiency) - lack of vitamin B1 (thiamine), is common in those dependent on alcohol and can accelerate heart damage and mental degeneration
- brain damage - alcohol kills brain cells
- diabetes
- heart damage (cardiomyopathy) involving changes in the heart's size and structure
- hypertension (high blood pressure)
- liver disease such as cirrhosis
- loss of feeling in hands, feet, and elsewhere due to effects on nervous system
- stomach ulcers and gastritis (inflamed lining of the stomach)
These are just a few conditions closely linked to alcoholism. In fact, heavy alcohol use increases the risk for almost all diseases.
Drinking during pregnancy has been shown to have a negative effect on babies. Research shows that even small amounts of alcohol consumed during pregnancy can lead to neurological changes in the developing fetus. Moderate amounts of alcohol consumed during pregnancy can lead to the birth of a child with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) - a severe neurological syndrome that causes permanent intellectual and mental impairment.