How alcohol affects your health

If you drink too much alcohol, you risk serious consequences for your health. The effects of alcohol misuse on the brain and on almost every other organ can be drastic.

The damage to health is not confined to people with alcoholism. Even those who drink often out of habit and exceed the low-risk limit harm their bodies and considerably shorten their life expectancy.

CorSwiss arranges treatment in Switzerland for alcoholism at the very highest level. Guests are cared for by internationally recognised specialists, stay in five-star hotel surroundings and can enjoy the beauty of the local countryside. Treatment for alcoholism in Switzerland is provided in cooperation with leading rehabilitation centres and clinics such as Bad Ragaz and Kusnacht Practice.

What happens in your body when you drink alcohol?

Alcohol:

  • enters the bloodstream through the walls of the stomach and small intestine
  • reaches every part of the body, including the brain
  • slows down the brain and affects almost every part of the body
  • affects the way you think, feel and behave.

In an average healthy person, alcohol takes only a few minutes to reach the brain.

The harm caused by excessive drinking

You risk developing these conditions if you drink alcohol too often or in too large quantities:

  • Liver disease: the liver is responsible for breaking down alcohol and suffers particularly from excessive drinking. The female liver is much less efficient at breaking down alcohol and is therefore especially at risk.
  • Brain damage: long-term, regular drinking can lead to a loss of brain tissue. First, memory and the ability to concentrate decline. Judgement and intellect are also permanently impaired.
  • Cancer, in particular of the liver, mouth, throat and oesophagus, rectum and (female) breast
  • high blood pressure and heart disease
  • Personality changes: irritability, anxiety, exaggerated jealousy, various fears, depression and even suicidal thoughts. The diagnosis “mental and behavioural disorders due to alcohol” has become the second most common reason for hospital admission.
  • Impotence: alcohol lowers potency and reduces the capacity for sex in both men and women.
  • Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
  • Inflammation of the stomach lining (gastritis)
  • Obesity and the typical beer belly

Many of the effects of alcohol are irreversible. Moreover, if you often drink out of habit, you not only harm your body but also run the risk of developing alcohol dependence over time.

The consequences of alcoholism

Alcohol affects everyone. How it affects you depends on how much you drink, your health, your age and other factors. Excessive drinking can have harmful short-term and long-term consequences. It can affect your physical and mental health, your work, your finances and your family.

It differs from person to person

How alcohol affects you can depend on a number of factors, including:

  • Sex
  • mental health
  • physical health
  • the use of other drugs and medicines.

Alcohol may affect you more quickly if you:

  • drink on an empty stomach
  • have a lower tolerance for alcohol
  • have a lower proportion of muscle mass
  • are young
  • are slim
  • do not usually drink alcohol.

Alcohol is a major risk factor for social problems, illness and even death. When you drink alcohol, the risk of many injuries, both mental and physical, increases. Alcohol often causes personality changes and can increase the risk of violence and aggression.

Mortality from alcoholism is three times higher in men than in women. In families affected by alcohol dependence, the consequences are often severe. Parents with alcohol dependence have a very negative effect on their children, both in the short and the long term. If a woman drinks during pregnancy, the foetus may develop various malformations.

Alcohol is also a major risk factor on the roads: one in six road deaths is linked to alcohol. This causes great harm to individuals, families and society as a whole, and it also brings high costs.

So how much alcohol is safe?

The answer is simple: NONE. Even the smallest dose of alcohol affects the body. We may not feel these effects at first, but irreversible changes can still be taking place in our bodies.

The results of the latest scientific research increasingly highlight the profound and far-reaching consequences of alcohol-related harm for individuals and for large population groups. They call into question earlier hypotheses about the potentially beneficial effects of alcohol on certain conditions and clearly indicate that no level of alcohol consumption is safe.