The effects of alcohol on your health

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

It is not only those with alcoholism who suffer health damage. Even those who drink frequently out of habit and exceed the low-risk limit damage their bodies and significantly reduce their life expectancy.

CorSwiss organises treatment in Switzerland for alcoholism at the highest level. In addition to being treated by internationally recognised specialists, you will stay in a five-star hotel and enjoy the beauty of the local nature. Treatment of alcoholism in Switzerland is carried out 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.
• enters all parts of the body, including the brain.
• slows down brain function and affects almost every part of the body.
• affects the way you think, feel and behave.

Alcohol only takes a few minutes to reach the brain in the average healthy person.

Harms of excessive alcohol consumption

You risk getting these diseases if you drink alcohol too often or in too large amounts:

• Liver disease : The liver is responsible for breaking down alcohol and is particularly affected by excessive drinking. Women's livers are much worse at breaking down alcohol and are therefore particularly at risk.
• Brain damage : long-term and regular alcohol consumption can lead to a reduction in brain tissue. Firstly, memory and the ability to concentrate are reduced. Judgement and intelligence are also permanently impaired.
• cancer particularly of the liver, oral cavity, pharynx 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 of "alcohol-induced mental and behavioural disorders" was the second most common reason for going to hospitals.
• Impotence : Alcohol reduces potency and decreases the ability to have sex in both men and women.
• Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
• Inflammation of the gastric mucosa (gastritis)
• Obesity and the typical beer belly

Many of the effects of alcohol are irreversible. In addition, if you drink alcohol frequently out of habit, you are not only damaging your body, but also risk becoming  alcohol dependent over time.

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 lead to harmful short-term and long-term effects. It can affect your physical and mental health, your job, your finances, your family.

It is individual to each person

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

• Gender
• mental health
• physical health
• Use of other drugs and medicines.

Alcohol can affect you more quickly if you:

• drink on an empty stomach
• have a lower ability to tolerate alcohol
• have a lower percentage of muscle mass on your body
• young
• thin
• do not usually drink alcohol.

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

Alcohol-related deaths are three times higher in men than in women. In families where alcohol addiction occurs, the consequences are often great. Parents with alcohol addiction have a very negative impact on their children, both in the short and long term. If a woman drinks during pregnancy, the foetus can get various malformations.

In road traffic, alcohol is also a major risk factor and one in six road traffic deaths are alcohol related. This not only causes great harm on an individual level, within families and society as a whole, but also has a great cost.

 So what is a safe amount of alcohol?

The answer is simple: NOTHING. Even the smallest dose of alcohol affects the body. We may not feel these effects at first, but that does not mean that irreversible changes are not occurring in our bodies.

The results of recent scientific research increasingly highlight the profound and widespread effects of alcohol-related harm on individuals and large populations, challenge previous hypotheses about the potentially beneficial effects of alcohol on certain conditions, and clearly indicate that no level of alcohol consumption is safe.