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McKesson Clinical Reference Systems: Women's Health Advisor 2002.2
Alcohol-Related Problems
What are alcohol-related problems?
People who drink too much alcohol risk having physical,
mental, and emotional problems. Alcohol can start causing
health problems when men have more than 2 drinks a day, or
when women have more than 1 drink a day.
How do alcohol-related problems occur?
Drinking too much for a long time can damage your body's
cells and tissues. When you drink too much you may
not eat a healthy diet. Alcohol affects your appetite and
takes the place of nutritious foods.
Physical Problems
Alcohol can affect your body in the following ways:
- Alcohol increases the acid in your stomach, which can
damage your stomach lining. Alcohol can also damage
your small intestine and keep it from absorbing nutrients.
- Alcohol keeps you from getting deep sleep, which may
mean a less restful night's sleep. Also, drinking
alcohol can make insomnia worse. Although it may help
you go to sleep, when the drink wears off you may wake
up earlier. You may also wake up more often to urinate.
- Alcohol can cause gout. Gout is the buildup of uric
acid, which causes inflammation in your joints. Alcohol
can keep your body from getting rid of uric acid.
- Drinking too much alcohol increases your risk of
cancer of the liver, pancreas, mouth, tongue, pharynx,
larynx, and esophagus. This risk is even greater if
you also use tobacco products.
- Besides liver cancer, alcohol may cause fatty liver,
hepatitis, cirrhosis, and other liver disease.
- Drinking too much alcohol makes you lose protein,
minerals, and vitamins, especially thiamine (vitamin B-1)
and other B-complex vitamins. Your nerves, muscles,
heart, and brain need thiamine to work normally. Not
having enough thiamine can cause:
- Wernicke's encephalopathy, which can involve problems
with eye movement and walking. The disorder
also may cause confusion and coma.
- Korsakoff's psychosis, a chronic condition which
causes short-term memory loss and affects your
nerves, brain, and spinal cord. It can cause pain,
cramps, numbness, tingling, and weakness in your legs
and hands.
- heart failure.
- Drinking too much alcohol also may contribute to high
blood pressure (hypertension) and strokes. Alcohol can
damage heart tissue and lead to heart muscle disease
(cardiomyopathy).
- Fetal alcohol syndrome occurs when a woman drinks
alcohol while she is pregnant. Drinking may cause
problems in the baby that show up after birth. Also,
women who drink may be at higher risk of having
miscarriages, premature births, stillbirths, and
low-birth-weight babies. According to the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA), 6 drinks a day can cause a major
risk to the fetus, and 2 drinks a day can cause
developmental disorders. Many doctors advise women not to
drink any alcohol while trying to become pregnant, during
pregnancy, or while breast-feeding.
The irritating effects of alcohol may cause:
- gastritis (inflammation of the mucous membrane that lines
the stomach)
- pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
- peptic ulcer (a raw area in the lining of the
gastrointestinal tract)
- increased blood sugar levels, which makes diabetes worse
- interactions with medications
- worsening of most other medical problems (heart disease,
kidney disease, circulation problems)
- injuries from falls and other accidents.
Psychiatric and emotional problems
When you drink heavily you can have changes in moods and
emotions, which make you angry and irritable. You can have
personality changes, such as becoming suspicious, jealous,
or possessive. Your loved ones find it hard to cope with
these outbursts and changes. Family members may also
develop emotional problems. Your children are at high risk
of becoming alcoholics as adults.
When you drink too much alcohol, you lose proper judgment.
As drinking problems become worse, arguing can lead to
fighting at home, at work, and in social settings. These
arguments can lead to domestic violence, child abuse, and
losing your job and friends. Many violent crimes, child
sexual abuse, assaults, and murders are related to alcohol
abuse.
Regularly drinking too much alcohol also can cause major,
even life-threatening, mental, emotional, and behavioral
problems including:
- anxiety (feelings of uneasiness and fear)
- depression (feelings of sadness and hopelessness, a loss
of interest in life, and a reduced feeling of
well-being).
- confusion (both short-term and permanent)
- addiction.
Alcohol can make other mental health problems, such as
bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and
schizophrenia, worse.
Drunk drivers cause about half the deaths from vehicle
accidents in the US.
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