SCIENCE NEWS

The effects of alcohol abuse on the body

Prepared for: Mr.Ryan, Title

Prepared by: Valentina Pea
November 23, 2014
Proposal number: English 10th

SCIENCE NEWS

EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN

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Within minutes of drinking alcohol, it travels from the
stomach to the brain, where it quickly produces its effects,
slowing the action of nerve cells. Affects the cerebellum, may
affect in balance loss, memory loss and emotional response.
It affects the limbic system, which controls many tasks
including memory and emotions. Alcohol affects the cerebral
cortex as well, which monitor our abilities to learn, think plan,
behave intelligently and interact socially. This generates an
individual to encounter difficulties when solving problems,
remembering and learning, you can observe all this in a
heavy night drinking.!

Alcohol actually affects the whole nervous system, the effects can
lead to pain, numbness, or abnormal sensations in your feet and
hand. Alcoholism can cause a thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency,
which can result in involuntary rapid eye movements, weakness,
or paralysis of the eye muscles.!

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The major problem with alcohol is that it releases an increased

amount of serotonin and endorphins. The brain tries to make up
for these disturbances, neurotransmitters adapt to create balance
in the brain even though alcohol is present. This attracts serious
effects including alcohol
tolerance, alcohol
dependence, and experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms. !

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Alcohol liver problems affect the brain as well, the liver breaks
down alcohol and the toxins it releases, during this is occurring
the liver cells are damaged. These damaged liver cells don't
function correctly anymore and permit the toxins to travel to the

SCIENCE NEWS

brain. These toxins damage brain cells and lead to a fatal brain disorder known as hepatic
encephalopathy. This disorder causes a variety of complex problems like : sleep disturbances, mood
and personality changes, anxiety, depression, shortened attention span, coordination problems,
including asterixis, coma and death. Generally, to fix this disorder people need a liver transplant. !

Alcohol can affect the brain at any age, including before the individual is born. This is due to prenatal
alcohol exposure, the most serious of the disorders is the fetal alcohol syndrome, these people suffer
with reduction in the brain function and growth. People suffering from this syndrome have a smaller
brain and fewer cells.!

EFFECTS ON THE HEART

Women who drink are at a higher risk to injure the heart.
Long-term heavy drinking weakens the heart muscle,
causing a condition called alcoholic cardiomyopathy. This
causes severe damage to organ and tissues since the heart
cannot pump blood effectively. Symptoms of this condition
are: trouble when breathing,
sore legs and feet and
irregular heartbeat. This can
even cause the heart to fail. !

Long-term drinking and binge drinking lead to irregularly heartbeat

or causes the heart to beet too fast. This effect is known as
arrhythmias. There are two types of arrhythimias : atrial fibrillation
and vernacular trachycardia. In atrial fibrillation the upper part of the
heart does not contract completely, this leads to a group of blood to
stick together. If this group of blood
named clot, travels to the brain it can
cause a stroke, if it travels to other organs a blockage occurs. Blood
clots can lead to heart attacks as well. The ventricular trachycardia
occurs in the lower part of the heart, the beating occurs too rapidly so
it does not obtain enough blood between each beat, therefore the rest
of the body does not acquire enough blood. Ventricular tachycardia
causes dizziness, lightheadedness, unconsciousness, cardiac arrest,
and even sudden death. Alcohol can give a chance of high blood
pressure.

EFFECTS ON THE LIVER

Liver disease is one of
the leading causes of
illness and death in the
United States. More
than two million
Americans suffer from
liver disease caused by
alcohol. The liver stores
energy and nutrients, it
produces proteins and
enzymes your body
needs to function and prevent diseases, it gets rid of dangerous
substances as well. The liver breaks down alcohol however, by
performing this process it releases even more dangerous toxins that
damage liver cells and weakens down protection. Heavy drinking causes fat to build up in the liver,
this is called steatosis. This makes the livers job more difficult and leaves it vulnerable to developing
inflammations like alcoholic hepatitis. As this inflammation gets more severe it enlarges the liver, and
causes jaundice, excessive bleeding, and clotting difficulties. !

Another liver difficulty caused by heavy drinking is fibrosis, this causes scar tissue to form in the liver.
Alcohol changes the chemicals needed to break down this scar and makes the liver function suffer. If
an individual continues to ingest this drug, the scar tissue builds up and creates a condition called
cirrhosis. This condition prevents the liver to manage infections, removing dangerous substances
from the blood and absorbing nutrients. This then can all lead to more dangerous difficulties like type
two diabetes and liver cancer. !

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EFFECTS ON THE PANCREAS
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Each year, pancreatitis sends more than 200,000 Americans

to the hospital. Many of those who suffer from pancreatic
problems are also heavy drinkers. When you drink, this
substance damages the pancreas and all the operations, this
leaves the pancreas open to inflammations. One of these
processes is to shoot enzymes to the small intestine to
metabolize food, alcohol affects this process by stoping the
pancreas from forwards the enzymes to the small intestine. If
an individual continues to consume alcohol inflammation and
swelling of tissues and blood vessels occur. !
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The inflammation is called pancreatitis which occurs a sudden
attack, the pancreas does not work correctly and it can lead to
pancreatic cancer. The dangerous part is that the individual
would not be able to realize these negativities until it leads to
an attack. The symptoms for the attack are abdominal pain,
nausea, vomiting, fever, diarrhea and others. However, this
does not just end there, pancreatitis besides all the pain it , it
also grants digestion, blood and sugar problems. Unbalanced
blood sugar levels can be a dangerous condition, especially
for people with diabetes. It is crucial to remember that
treatment helps but not cures. !

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EFFECTS ON CANCER
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The more you drink the higher are your chances of developing
cancer. For example, a group of scientists reviewed more than
200 studies examining alcohols impact on cancer risk. The
results of this experiment prove the theory, the more you drink,
the higher your chances are. The National Cancer Institute state
that drinking affects these types of cancers: mouth, esophagus,
pharynx, larynx, liver and breast. At least seven out of ten people
with mouth cancer drink heavily. People that drink are likely used
to smoke as well, this increases the risks. Both of these together,
are responsible for 80% of mouth and throat cancer in men. Take
in mind these risks increases no matter the quantity consumed or
the type of alcohol. In 2008 a study showed that 27,000 breast cancers in the United States might
derived from alcohol. !
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Scientists have not figured for certain why or how this beverage
affects cancer. However, some theories have been placed. One

of them states that when breaking down alcohol as mentioned before, the process releases toxins.
These damages genetic cells and are unable to repair. Alcohol also makes cells grow faster and
causes the cells to make mistakes and genetic changes. Cancer is more likely to develop in cells
with damaged genetic material. Another theory states that in recent studies it has been proven that
when breaking down alcohol the body releases additional protein, this protein in particular, promotes
the growth of blood vessels and organ tissues. Additional protein allows blood vessels to grow in
cancer cells that would die on their own, instead of dying they develop into tumors. !

As already mentioned before, alcohol can damage the liver causing cirrhosis which leads to liver
cancer. Alcohol may increase the amount of hormones in an individuals body, an increase of the
hormone estrogen may lead to breast cancer. The question always asked is : Why do some people
who consume a lot of alcohol obtain cancer and others don't? The question was answered in a
research, a team found out that certain people have a gene that permits them to break down alcohol
100 times faster than the ones with the lack of the gene. The bright side is that if an individual stops
consuming alcohol for twenty years the risk of cancer will drop to the same level as a person who
never drank. !
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EFFECTS ON THE IMMUNE SYSTEM

The immune system protects

the body from the germs and
bacteria outside, alcohol
weakens the immune system
making the body more
vulnerable to disease. This is
how it occurs, alcohol reduces
the ability of white blood cells
to swallow harmful bacteria.
This drug also disrupts the
production of cytokines
causing the body to send too
much of these messengers or
too little of these messengers.
These messengers go to the part of the body that is infected. Too much of these messengers can
damage the tissues, however, too little opens the body to an infection. Wrapping up, alcohol reduces
the ability of the immune system to respond and fight even up to 24 hours, it also affects the adapting
part of the body and can lead to an HIV infection. Heavy drinkers are more likely to get pneumonia or
tuberculosis than non drinkers. !

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EFFECTS ON THE REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM
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Erectile dysfunction is a side effect that some men suffer from the abuse of
alcohol, it also affects testicular function and cause infertility. In women the
case is very similar, she might become infertile as well and stop menstruating.
It can affect her risk of miscarriage, premature delivery and stillbirth. !

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EFFECTS ON THE SKELETAL AND MUSCLE SYSTEM

Long-term
alcohol use
makes it harder
for the body to
produce new
bones. Drinking
puts an
individual at
increased risk
of osteoporosis
and bone
fractures.
Muscles become prone to weakness, cramps, and even
atrophy. !

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Even a single incidence of heavy drinking can injure parts of your digestive system. Alcohol abuse
can lead to gum disease, tooth decay, tooth loss and irritate mouth and tongue.!

An image of
tooth decay
is shown
below.