Common sense walks out the door when you drink heavily, because you’re risking life and limb by keeping that bottle on your lips. Alcohol is a harmful substance when you don’t know when to stop. Worse still, you maybe can’t stop because alcoholic cravings have taken command of your mind, thus exposing your mind and body to dependency issues.
The Effects of Alcohol on the Liver and Heart
Too much of anything is a bad thing, says the maxim. This is exactly what happens when excess alcohol consumption becomes a way of life. The liver can no longer handle toxins, leading to inflammation and cirrhosis, a medical term that translates to permanent scarring. The heart is damaged as muscles are weakened. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy causes shortness of breath, an irregular heartbeat, and numbness in bodily extremities. The heart and liver support blood transportation and filtration. Cut back on alcohol intake and give these organs a chance to recover.
Alcohol Compromises Judgment Choices
Alcohol-related road accidents account for 30 Americans’ deaths every single day, with serious injuries sending many more drivers and passengers to emergency wards. This statistic is a hard-hitting fact, one that informs us of the indirect hazards heavy drinking can have on health. An aggressive criminal defense attorney will deal with the DUI cases generated by alcohol, but you can step in earlier in this downward spiral by taking charge of your consumption levels. If in Texas, for instance, call the Law Office of Eric Harron when you or a relative’s DWI case needs to be fought with passion and authority, but this should be a last option. Become empowered yourself by cutting your drinking habit before it gets you in trouble.
Physiological Changes As Caused by Alcohol
We’re all familiar with the scenario here, yes? A friend drinks through the evening and soaks up the social atmosphere, but he ends up so inebriated that he can’t stand upright. The chemistry of the brain is temporary changed by the mood-altering properties of alcohol. You know you’ll recover in the morning, albeit with a nasty hangover, but these changes can become permanent, resulting in addiction if you binge drink.
On top of this possibility, the brain actually begins to shrink. Typical neurotransmitter levels become disrupted. You can gain a certain amount of tolerance to these detrimental effects, but this apparent benefit is actually another negative effect. The apparent building of tolerance only leads you deeper down into a spiral that terminates in alcoholism because you need more alcohol to reach that drunken state.
When Wondering If These Effects Are Reversible
The simple answer here is it depends. Your genetic makeup can help you bounce back from alcohol damage, and you’ll once again lead a full and healthy life. Some damage can’t be shrugged away so easily. Liver damage is permanent, a condition that can only be resolved by cutting back on healthy activities or putting your name on a transplant list. It’s the same with heart damage.
The answer regarding brain alterations is a little more fuzzy. Heavy drinkers can give up alcohol, but they can also hit bottom, a state of dependency known as alcoholism. Thankfully, detox centers and counseling helps keep an alcoholic away from liquor, though this will be a lifelong battle.
One driver or passenger dies every 51 minutes on our American roads, all because alcohol consumption affects judgment and a foolish, over-the-limit driver gets behind the wheel. Help reduce those figures by remembering where this road leads. This is a metaphorical path to road accidents, to heart disease and a compromised immune system. Stay safe and treat your body like a temple by drinking sensibly or not at all.
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