How alcohol affects your health

Consistently drinking too much alcohol can lead to a variety of alcohol related illnesses. Drinking over the recommended limit can result in severe health problems. In the UK, alcohol related illness costs the NHS £2.7 billion each year.

Short term effects

Alcohol is quickly absorbed by the gut and intestine and into the bloodstream. Higher concentrations of drinks containing alcohol are absorbed at a faster rate. Drinking too much alcohol too fast may result in:

• Dizzyness
• Vomiting
• Loss of coordination
• Headache
• Hangover (the following day)
• Weight gain

Women are advised to drink less alcohol than men because they have, in general, more body fat and less water in their body than men. This means that the alcohol concentrates more in a woman’s body than in a similar sized man.

In addition, a woman’s liver produces less of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase needed to break down alcohol in the liver. This means that the same amount of alcohol will stay in a woman’s body longer than in a man’s.

Alcohol is also high in "empty calories" – in other words, of no nutritional value. This is also why people who are dependent on alcohol are often malnourished.

However, for moderate drinkers, it can help lead to weight gain.

Each gram of alcohol is equal to seven calories. So a standard measure of whisky (25ml, 40% ABV) would contain over 50 calories and a pint of beer (5% ABV) over 160.

Long term effects

Long term over–drinking either leads to or increases your risk of a large number of serious health conditions.

A common mistake is to assume these only develop in very heavy drinkers. These include:

• Liver disease – fatty liver, hepatitis, cirrhosis and cancer
• Increased risk of heart disease and stroke
• Cancers of the mouth, pharynx, oesophagus, larynx, breast, bowel and liver
• Stomach disorders
• Pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
• Mental health problems (depression and anxiety)
• Impotence

An estimated 9,000 people each year die from alcohol related cancers alone.

This article was published on Fri 12 March 2010