The information provided in the article is for informational purposes only and cannot be used to make a diagnosis or prescribe treatment and does not replace a medical appointment.Contact your doctor!
Psyche and nervous system
Alcohol is a poison and a drug that causes nausea and headaches in the morning and, in the long term, earlier aging and illness.However, the number of addicts continues to grow and the Ministry of Health warns against thisDamageWhen drinking alcohol, they remain without due attention.
Ethyl alcohol causes an uncontrollable craving for alcohol, in which a person either does not perceive information about the dangers of alcohol or believes that the pleasure from intoxication is worth the harm it causes.Ethylalcohol
The reason for this are paradoxical changes in the human psyche.Many processes associated with the work of neurotransmitters in the brain are disrupted, hence the dependent ones:
- cannot experience a feeling of joy and pleasure without alcohol;
- becomes depressed and may attempt suicide;
- becomes aggressive, his character and behavior change dramatically.
Even in the second stage of alcoholism, a dose of alcohol can still cause pleasant sensations.Depending on the dose and the characteristics of the nervous system, the addict may feelQuietand relaxation, if ethanol has a relaxing effect on him, or joy and urge to move, if the euphoric effect of alcohol predominates.
In the final stageSeeksa person is no longer able to feel joy.A dose of alcohol relieves the symptoms for a short time, but after a few minutes the person needs alcohol again.
In addition to the increased need for ethyl alcohol, patientsdevelopand other complications related to the functioning of the psyche:
- Due to the toxic effect of alcohol on neurons, the cognitive functions of the brain slow down, the person becomes forgetful and absent-minded;
- A person's coordination is impaired when intoxicated, which is why drunks are prohibited from driving and doing work that requires high levels of concentration.However, coordination problems are also present in a chronic alcoholic when sober;
- Ethanol changes a person's personality, making them inhibited or lethargic, or irritable and short-tempered.
In the early stages of addiction, a person may feel that drinking helps them relax, relieve stress, and feel better.Unfortunately, that is the impressionincorrect: Alcohol quickly destroys the nervous system and it is not always possible to restore brain functions lost due to addiction.
immunity
The myth that alcoholics never catch a cold, don't get sick, and generally have extremely good health is based on the fact that a large number of addicts suffer from itchronicDiseases or factors that trigger their development, they are either forced to give up the bad habit or die from the complications that arise.The rest can actually drink alcohol in large quantities for a long time, survive complications relatively unperturbed and be an example of the false statement that “nothing takes alcoholics away.”
Human immunity, regularconsumingAlcohol disrupts and causes various pathologies.
- When the immune system cannot resist the antigens surrounding a person, the patient begins to suffer from persistent respiratory diseases, food poisoning, dermatological, genital and other infections.
- When the immune system begins to work actively, but incorrectly, it overreacts to factors that cannot cause significant harm to the body.This leads to an intolerance to certain foods, pollen, plant and synthetic ingredients, etc.
- Among the most serious complications of alcoholism are autoimmune diseases, in which protective bodies begin to destroy their own cells.Such pathologies cannot be completely eliminated and treatment that inhibits their development has many side effects.
Immune system diseases can lead to thisfailuresin other systems, especially nervous and hormonal systems.
This category of complications can beto countand oncology, because a healthy immune system helps fight cancer, prevent its development and quickly destroy pathological cells.
There is a myth that some drinks, such as wine, contain many antioxidants that are effective in preventing malignant tumors.Although natural wines contain beneficial ingredients, these can be found in much larger quantities in any fresh vegetable or fruit.FromstatisticsAddicts often suffer from oncology of various organs, from larynx and esophageal cancer to liver and rectal damage.Oncological treatment of addicts has a more unfavorable prognosis, since it is difficult for a weakened body to fight both the disease itself and the consequences of complex and protracted therapy.
Digestive system
When alcohol enters the body, it first comes into contact with the gastrointestinal tract: the oral mucosa, the esophagus and the stomach.From the stomach, ethanol actively enters the bloodstream and, together with the blood, acts on other organs of the digestive system: liver, pancreas, etc.
List of diseases you may experiencesick, wide As an example we can only name the most common ones.
- inlandBleeding- a fatal consequence of alcohol abuse that goes unnoticed and only causes stomach pain that many do not pay attention to.The phenomenon is caused by the expansion of blood vessels on the mucous membrane of organs: since the walls of blood vessels in alcoholics are often fragile due to high cholesterol and nutritional deficiencies, damage occurs and venous blood begins to flow into the stomach.
- cirrhosis– an extremely serious illness that cannot be cured and for which there is no supportive treatment, such as kidney failure.An alcoholic's liver is under great stress.The organ's hepatocytes become damaged, functional tissue is replaced by scar tissue or fat, and the liver gradually fails.The danger of the disease lies in the fact that liver diseases often occur unnoticed and in a hidden form.
- Pancreatitis– Inflammation of the pancreas, often leading to severe abdominal pain, nausea and dyspeptic disorders.The stomach bloats, the patient suffers from increased flatulence and fatty stools and his quality of life deteriorates significantly.
ConditionworsenOther ingredients contained in alcoholic drinks: coloring agents, preservatives, foaming agents.
urinary system
The kidneys remove half-life products of ethyl alcohol from the blood and therefore often suffer from its toxic effects.There are several mechanismsDefeatsKidney tissue:
- the development of malignant hypertension, in which intrarenal vessels and capillaries are damaged;
- the occurrence of autoimmune processes affecting the kidneys (SLE, glomerulonephritis, vasculitis).
Kidneys canlong termTime to compact the function of dead nephrons, but when the replacement tissue exceeds 50%, the glomerular filtration rate begins to decrease, resulting in:
- Swelling;
- high blood pressure;
- poisoning and vomiting;
- Smell of ammonia from mouth and skin etc.
When organs fail, patients are forced to undergo constant hemodialysis (3-4 times a week for 3-6 hours) or resort to organ transplantation.At the same timeprobabilityThe likelihood that an alcoholic will receive a donor kidney and his body will withstand immunosuppressive therapy after surgery is small.
Heart disease
Diseases related to the functioning of the heart and the condition of blood vessels kill most people in the world.This is the case in countries where alcohol consumption is actively combatedindicatorusually lower, proving the effect of ethanol on the heart.
- When poisoned with ethyl alcohol, the body quickly loses potassium and magnesium, which have an important function in maintaining the health of the organ.The muscle wears out and cardiomyopathy often occurs, in which the heart's volume increases but its health and ability to perform its assigned function rapidly declines.This disease is also called beer heart syndrome.
- Due to disorders of fat metabolism and damage to the organs of the digestive system, the vascular cavity begins to be covered from the inside with cholesterol plaques and triglycerides (brown fat), disrupts blood circulation, including the nutrition of the heart, and increases the risk of cardiovascular accidents several times.
When you're drunk or binge drinking, your heart worksBordertheir abilities: Patients often complain of tachycardia, a feeling of sudden weakness and dizziness.If you do not provide the patient with timely medical care, his condition may worsen due to acute processes: stroke, heart attack.
What determines the complications of alcohol consumption?
People who deny the harm of alcohol to the body cite the example of their friends who drank alcohol for a long time, but did not drink alcoholseriousIllness.
Such isolated examples cannot compete with official statistics and scientific research confirming that alcohol:
- leads to functional and organic disorders of the organs;
- provokes addiction, due to which a person cannot give up a bad habit, even realizing the degree of danger of ethanol consumption;
- causes mental disorders: from pathological intoxication syndrome, when a person loses control of himself after a small amount of alcohol, to suicide due to acute depression against the background of withdrawal.
Which ones specifically?Complicationsarise in a particular person depends on him:
- Age;
- Lifestyle;
- existing chronic diseases;
- hereditary factor and genetic predisposition.
Both the quantity and quality of the “extinguishing water” used are important.Despite the fact that ethanol itselfharmful, although a drink containing it is soldDearB. in a wine market or in a pharmacy under the guise of a medicinal hawthorn tincture, it depends on the quality of other components as well as the degree of purification of the alcohol.
There are many myths about how alcohol affects the body.You should not trust unreliable sources: it is important to remember that the market for the production and sale of alcohol in our country and in the world is a way to replenish the state budget.This means that there will always be people who benefit from the perception of alcoholic beverages as a safe and sometimes healthy pastime.You can find out about the dangers of alcoholism and its treatment during a consultation with a narcologist in a drug clinic.