Today’s article has been written by our physician contributor.
Alcohol. It can make a Friday night interesting and your celebration a little louder. It can make dark times more tolerable. You can drink it a little, or to excess.
Alcohol is one of our most enjoyable – and often, damaging – vices. It is one thing to enjoy a beverage or two for a special occasion or while relaxing with friends. Unfortunately, this can evolve into feelings of “deserving” a drink, and then another. Over time, it can lead to a damaging habit.
The Facts
To standardize our conversation about alcohol, health professionals classify an alcoholic beverage or drink as ONE of:
- 341mL (12 oz) of 5% beer
- 341mL (12 oz) of 5% cider/cooler
- 142mL (5 oz) of 12% wine
- 43mL (1.5 oz) of 40% distilled alcohol/spirit
Health Canada recommends no more than 10 drinks per week for women (and a maximum of 2 on most days) and 15 drinks per week for men (and a maximum of 3 most days). The difference between these numbers is due to the differences between the metabolism of the average male and female.
Per Health Canada, between 10-15% of Canadians exceed these recommended limits on a chronic basis.
The Effects
Alcohol is broken down by the liver. When in excess or if there is underlying liver disease, alcohol circulates in the blood where it can have numerous effects on the body.
In the immediate setting, excessive alcohol consumption can:
- Act as a “depressant” to the nervous system
- Interfere with communication pathways in the brain
- Inhibit the frontal lobe of the brain (executive function, such as judgement, decision-making and problem-solving)
- Interfere with coordination of movement
- Cause mood disturbances
- Increase stomach acidity and cause heartburn
- Promote nausea and sometimes vomiting blood due to small tears in the lining of the stomach or esophagus
- Create extreme drowsiness, where the body is unable to keep stomach contents from being vomited into the lungs (aspiration pneumonia)
- Cause inflammation of the liver (alcoholic hepatitis) or pancreas (alcoholic pancreatitis)
In the long-term (months to years), excessive alcohol consumption is associated with many negative outcomes:
- Liver disease – fatty liver, cirrhosis (more on this below)
- Heart disease – electrical problems (arrhythmias), weakening of the heart muscle (alcoholic cardiomyopathy), high blood pressure, risk of stroke
- Brain disease – early cognitive decline, dementia, degeneration of the cerebellum (the movement center of the brain, causing difficulty walking)
- Pancreas – chronic pancreatitis (significant abdominal pain), pancreatic insufficiency (diarrhea, difficulty absorbing nutrients)
- Cancer – increased risk of oral, laryngeal, esophageal, gastric, colon, liver, lung and breast cancers
Liver Disease
Cirrhosis. Many of us may have heard this term but may not understand exactly what it means. You can think of cirrhosis as irreversible scarring of the liver. It occurs after long-term damage (generally years) to the liver and can be a result of a chronic hepatitis viral infection, an autoimmune disease, or chronic alcohol overuse.
The liver normally has many functions vital to our bodies:
- Cleans and processes blood – metabolizes alcohol, drugs and chemicals, and detoxifies the blood
- Regulates the body’s fuel – produces and stores sugar for quick access in times of need, produces and controls storage of fat
- Creates proteins that help blood clot and fight infections
- Regulates hormones
- Produces bile which aids in digestion
The functions of the liver are so numerous and complex; there is no artificial substitute for the liver. This means that if you develop cirrhosis where the liver is scarred and dysfunctional, there is no “dialysis” for your liver functions. In certain situations, you may qualify for a liver transplant. Otherwise you simply do without these vital functions, which often proves fatal within months to years.
Once a liver has become cirrhotic, the liver can no longer detoxify blood. Toxins build up and can cause confusion or even a coma. The body becomes more sensitive to medications since the liver cannot degrade them properly and the body is more prone to infection. The liver does not create clotting proteins, increasing the risk of life-threatening bleeds as well as life-threatening clots. In the abdomen, blood containing nutrients from a recent meal flows from the digestive system directly through the liver. In a cirrhotic, scarred liver, this blood flows against scar tissue, increasing the pressure in these blood vessels. Blood backs up in the abdomen, resulting in enlarged blood vessels in the stomach which can cause life-threatening bleeding. The backed up blood-flow and low levels of proteins in the blood can also make blood vessels “leaky,” where fluid leaks from the vessels into the abdomen (ascites) and into the legs.
Alcohol can be an enjoyable treat. But its use in excess comes with risks. Hopefully this article has provided some insight into why physicians and health care providers continue to deliver the message, “Please Drink Responsibly.”
For support, please connect with your healthcare team or visit http://www.aa.org/
References
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/alcohols-effects-body
http://www.ccsa.ca/Resource%20Library/2012-Canada-Low-Risk-Alcohol-Drinking-Guidelines-Brochure-en.pdf
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hc-ps/drugs-drogues/stat/_2012/summary-sommaire-eng.php
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