Effects of Alcohol on the Body
Alcohol affects the body in many ways and even drinking in moderation can be harmful to your health. Alcohol is classified as a depressant because it slows down the nervous system, leading to a decrease in motor coordination, reaction time and intellectual performance. Once ingested, alcohol goes into the stomach. About 20% of it is absorbed into the bloodstream and the rest moves through the gastrointestinal tract and gets absorbed by the small intestine. The part that is left in the stomach causes irritation and can lead to vomiting.
Once the alcohol enters the bloodstream, it affects every organ. Blood pressure can rise and drinking regularly can contribute to coronary heart disease. When alcohol reaches the brain, the depressant nature of it impairs the nervous system and impairs judgement and coordination. Alcohol can cause many things to happen to the liver. "Fatty liver" often occurs in people and this is the first stage of alcoholic liver disease. Cirrhosis occurs and hepatitis–all from alcohol consumption.
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May 5th, 2008 at 11:03 am
One of the reasons i started drinking when i was young is that at the time the effect produced from ingesting alcohol was that more of an upper rather than a depressant. Alcohol lifted my depression as well as my anxiety and fears which made me feel free and happy. As time went on and the more and more alcohol i consumed my body and mind finally caught up with what happens to people who consume alcohol obsessively. I developed a bleeding ulcer early on from alcohol and other substances where i would wake up in the morning vomitting, and in so much pain it was hard to walk. I didnt think much of it at the time but i knew that if i drank, the pain in my stomach went away. Thats how a lot of my drinking and use went, my body would shut down in certain ways or i would develop problems like the shakes, anemia, and unhealthy weight loss. I never thought of those things as being related to my drinking and use though. I’m grateful and very fortunate to come out the other side with little internal damage done to my body, i still have some of the physical reprocussions of being a drunk but those i can live with. Today, i know when i feel bad it either means i’m sick, have allergies, not drinking enough water, drinking to much caffeine but those are small things i can deal with. I’m glad i havent had to go to the hospital in a long time because i’m throwing up blood, or dealing with a fractured bone from a drunken escapade the night before. Recovery has given me lots of gifts and i feel like one of the ones i appreciate most is my well being, i used to enjoy doing everything outside, hiking, climbing, riding bikes, taking walks and those all went by the way side when i was drinking. Now today those are all options for me and i dont have to drink before i go out to feel ok.