Adverse effects of alcoholism

By Tariq Rahim Baig

“All medicines are drug but all drugs are not medicine”, a famous quote which our young blood reversely apply.  If you are someone who drinks alcohol it is likely you have experienced first-hand at least some of its short-term health effects, be it a hangover or a bad night’s sleep. It is the longer term health effects of alcohol that people often only experience once it is too late.

Issues rising day by day from the use of this unethical mean keeps a human in shock all the time. Most of the young generations use alcohol with the intention to get relieved from stress and get comfort. For the time being alcohol can relieve your tension but the consequences that appear to be the worst on your health may be long lasting.

Here is how alcohol can affect your body:

Brain: Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.

Heart: Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart, causing problems including:

• Cardiomyopathy – Stretching and drooping of heart muscle
• Arrhythmias – Irregular heart beatStroke
• High blood pressure
• Research also shows that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may protect healthy adults from developing coronary heart disease.

Liver: Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including:

• Steatosis, or fatty liver
• Alcoholic hepatitis
• Fibrosis
• Cirrhosis
• Pancreas:
• Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.

Cancer: Drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk of developing certain cancers, including cancers of the:

• Mouth
• Esophagus
• Throat
• Liver
• Breast

Immune System: Drinking too much can weaken your immune system, making your body a much easier target for disease.  Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much.  Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk.

Several cases that have been appeared before due to the use of Alcohol and other drugs have adverse effect on our younger generations. Being a civilized and educated society we need to eradicate the use of alcohol and all other drugs from the region. Our younger generation needs to be counselled by our institutions and keep our young bloods busy in healthy activities. The foremost obligation of us all must be a leading role in the campaign against drugs. Nevertheless our society will be a healthy society until and unless such kind of unethical behaviors have been eliminated.  Come forward and be the change maker to make the region peaceful and healthy.

Reference:

1 http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/alcohol/short-term-long-term-effects.html