The Effects of Alcohol on the Nervous System

The Effects of Alcohol on the Nervous System

Alcohol is a legal, available, and frequently used sedative hypnotic drug in our society that depresses the central nervous system, making one feel as though they are more relaxed.  The majority of adults drink alcohol moderately on a social basis and obtain a lot of pleasure from doing so.  However, approximately one in five men and one in seven women drink regularly more than the Department of Health suggests is strictly safe for one's health.  Alcohol affects one's health in a variety of ways in which virtually every system can be damaged throughout the body from its harmful consumption.  Alcohol is very dangerous and is associated with more than 60 adverse health consequences and hundreds of physical and mental conditions. 

As alcohol being a depressant of the Central Nervous System, it interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, which occurs from the penetration of the blood-brain barrier, and otherwise slows or prevents the passage of some drugs and other harmful substances from the blood into the Central Nervous System. The disruptions of communication pathways can change mood and behavior, and make it harder for one to think clearly and move with coordination. The degree in which the brain activity slows down is dependent on how much, and how fast, a person consumes.  A few effects individual's may experience include hazy thinking, altered speech, slowed reaction time, impaired vision, dulled hearing, weakened muscles, and foggy memory.  

Although a small amount of alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of a heart attack, for numerous consumers alcohol actually increases the risk of heart disease.  A drink per every two days gives almost all the protection that alcohol has on decreasing the risk of a heart attack and over two drinks per day, the risk of death from heart disease also increases.  Whether the alcohol is consumed as beer, wine, or spirits, it is the alcohol content that really matters.  The ordinary strength of beer and a single measure of spirits are all equal in their impacts on one's health.  The biochemical changes that may reduce one's risk of heart disease results equally to every final unit of alcohol obtained from the beverage.  One's consumption patterns are just as probable to have an adverse impact on the consumer's physical and mental health as the amount of alcohol consumed.  Substantial amounts of alcohol can affect how one's heart works, and in turn, the rest of their body.  If their heart isn't pumping blood throughout the body effectively, further organs may suffer from lack of nutrients or oxygen.  Consuming a lot over a long period of time or too much on a single occasion can aggravate and cause heart conditions such as cardiomyopathy (stretching and drooping of heart muscle) and arrhythmia (irregular heart beat), and can also lead into strokes and high blood pressure. 

One of the main organs that is particularly affected by alcohol consumption is the liver as it is the main organ that processes alcohol.  Heavy consumption over a period of years can damage one's liver, causing inflammations such as stenosis (fatty liver) alcoholic hepatitis, and fibrosis.  Some of the damage comes from free radicals, and a group of molecules that are extremely reactive.  The molecules can attack the closes stable molecule, leading into a dangerous chain reaction that can result in a disease called cirrhosis of the liver.  Cirrhosis of the liver occurs when one's scar tissue replaces normal, healthy tissue and the liver, which needs unrestricted blood flow, doesn't work as it should.  

A comparison of non-consumers and occasional alcohol consumers is that heavy consumption is associated with roughly a 52% increased risk for Colo-rectal Cancer.  The risks of consumption compared with non-consumption appears to begin increasing significantly at an intake of around roughly three drinks per day for Cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, larynx, breast, liver, colon and rectum, liver cirrhosis, essential hypertension, chronic pancreatitis, violence and injuries. 

Alcohol causes one's pancreas to produce toxic substances that will eventually lead into pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of one's blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents the proper digestion of foods.  Alcohol also is not digested like other foods and it avoids the normal digestive process going straight into the bloodstream.  Roughly 20% of alcohol consumed is absorbed in one's stomach, and roughly 80% is absorbed in one's small intestine.  Alcohol increases acid in one's stomach, which in alcohol abusers can lead into severe stomach pain or sores in one's intestines.  A way to help prevent the increasing of acid in the stomach is by eating while drinking, as food slows down the rate at which alcohol is absorbed by the body.  The action of hormone release is very complex in which they must be released at the right time, to the right tissues in the body.  Alcohol can impair the functions of the glands that release hormones and the tissues to which they are being sent.  Heavy alcohol consumption can create a steep increase in one's blood sugar, to which the pancreas responds by producing insulin to decrease one's blood sugar.  If one's blood sugar increases too steeply, the resulting overproduction of insulin can actually lead into low blood sugar which is a condition called hypoglycemia.  Hypoglycemia is extremely dangerous for diabetics, especially diabetics who are taking certain drugs to lower their blood sugar.  Alcohol also affects the endocrine system by interfering with how one's body absorbs calcium which is a chemical needed for strong bones.  As a result, individual's who heavily consume alcohol may be at a higher risk for osteoporosis which is a disease in which bone density diminishes.  If bones one's bones aren't strong, there is a greater possibility of fractures. 

Heavy or hazardous consumption on a single occasion slows one's body's ability to ward off infections, even up to 24 hours after consumption. Over a period of time, chronic consumer's are more prone to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis, than those who do not consume the exceeding recommended guidelines.  Men who consume larger amounts of alcohol can experience the loss of testosterone, a hormone which regulates male sexual function and semen.  As a result, men can experience erectile dysfunction and emotional changes. Women are more affected by alcohol during ovulation or when they are premenstrual because it takes alcohol longer to be metabolized, leading into a higher blood alcohol concentration.  Women who use oral contraceptives may not become intoxicated as fast as they would otherwise, because of the contraceptive's ability to detain the absorption of alcohol into their bloodstream. 

The risk of dependence increases dramatically for men who exceed 7 to 8 drinks per occasion and for women who exceed 5 to 6 drinks per occasion (binge drinking levels).  Heavy steady chronic consumption at sufficiently high levels can lead into psychological changes that result in alcohol dependence causing higher chance of damage to one's nervous system.  


Staff, Mayo Clinic. (July 25, 2015). Alcohol Use Disorder Complications. Retrieved from:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alcohol-use-disorder/basics/complications/con-20020866