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The effects of alcohol on your body
When enjoyed in moderation, alcohol can form part of a healthy lifestyle that includes good diet and exercise. On the other hand, excessive drinking can have harmful effects on your health. Many Australians enjoy having a drink, but not a lot of people realise how alcohol can affect their physical, social and mental health.
You can find out more below.
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on your body
BrainSkinStomachLiverHeartPancreasBowelImmune SystemBreastsPregnancyKidneysReproductive SystemThe effects of alcohol
on your body
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Male
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Female
Your skin
Alcohol dehydrates your body and this includes the skin - your body's largest organ. Over time, drinking heavily can have other, more permanent and detrimental effects on your skin.
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Your Skin
Alcohol dehydrates your body and this includes the skin – your body’s largest organ. Over time, drinking heavily can have other, more permanent and detrimental effects on your skin.
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Your Heart
Long-term and heavy alcohol consumption can increase your risk of developing heart disease.
Drinking at this level increases the risk of high blood pressure, weakening of heart muscle and heart failure.
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Alcohol and your heart
While some evidence suggests that drinking a small amount of alcohol can be good for you, it’s important to remember that the more you drink, the higher your risk of heart disorders and disease.… Read More
Is alcohol affecting your athletic ability?
If you’re wondering whether drinking alcohol is detrimental to your physical performance, the answer is clear.… Read More
Your Breasts
Breast cancer is the leading cancer among women, and is associated with a large number of individual risk factors. Some recent studies have indicated a relationship between alcohol consumption and the risk of developing breast cancer.
Of course drinking alcohol does not mean you will automatically get breast cancer but it does mean your risk of developing it will be increased. How much you drink over your lifetime is what increases the risk – and therefore you should stick to Government guidelines.
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Is drinking putting you at risk of cancer
Cancer risk associated with the consumption of alcohol is related to patterns of drinking, particularly heavy drinking over extended periods of time… Read More
Your Pancreas
Continuous and excessive heavy drinking can lead to alcohol pancreatitis where the primary breakdown product of alcohol (acetaldehyde) damages blood vessels, cells and tissue.
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Alcohol and your pancreas
The pancreas secretes enzymes to break down and digest food in the stomach. If you drink continuously and excessively, you could develop alcohol pancreatitis… Read More
Drinking and diabetes: What are the risks?
When a person has diabetes their level of glucose (sugar) in the blood is too high. Drinking alcohol can make it even more difficult to manage… Read More
Your Bowel
Alcohol is often linked with bowel irritation and can trigger symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
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Alcohol and your bowel
Your bowel, or small intestine, is designed to digest. But drinking alcohol can limit its efficiency… Read More
Is your drinking putting you at risk of cancer?
Research has shown that drinking alcohol is a risk factor for cancer – and the more you drink, the higher that risk… Read More
Your Immune System
Alcohol can temporarily suppress the immune system so that you are both susceptible to illness and your ability to fight it.
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Alcohol and your immune system
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Alcohol poisoning: When drinking turns toxic
Alcohol poisoning is extremely dangerous and, in some cases, can lead to death without prompt medical treatment… Read More
Your Brain
Alcohol slows down the central nervous system – which in turn impacts on almost all the body’s cells and systems. Alcohol misuse may cause alcohol related brain impairment (ARBI) or brain injury.
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Your Stomach
Alcohol irritates the stomach lining which can bring on nausea, vomiting and sometimes diarrhoea. Long term heavy drinking has been associated with increased risk of stomach cancer.
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Alcohol and your stomach
The ways alcohol can affect your stomach ranges from mild discomfort through to the potential development of diseases… Read More
How is drinking affecting you?
While alcohol affects each of us differently, regularly drinking to excess is likely to cause problems in both the short and long term… Read More
Your Liver
Regularly drinking to excess may result in a fatty liver which can adversely affect your liver function.
Continued heavy or excessive drinking may result in the liver becoming inflamed causing alcoholic hepatitis or permanent liver scarring (Cirrhosis).
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Your Kidneys
Alcohol is a diuretic - meaning it acts on the kidneys to make you urinate more often. Drinking too much alcohol means that your kidneys have to work harder to remove toxins from your blood.
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Alcohol and your kidneys
When you drink alcohol it can alter your kidneys’ ability to function, which then has a flow-on effect to other organs in your body… Read More
Alcohol on the flip side. Know the risks.
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Your Reproductive System
Drinking alcohol can decrease sex drive and performance. Alcohol also reduces the amount of testosterone in the blood with heavy consumption of alcohol increasing risk of male fertility problems.
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Drinking heavy or excessive amounts of alcohol affects a woman’s menstrual cycle and ovulation. This may make it difficult to conceive a healthy baby. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should avoid alcohol.
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Pregnancy
The most severe effect of prenatal alcohol exposure is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This is a term used to describe a range of conditions and a continuum of effects experienced by a person whose mother consumed alcohol during pregnancy. Other potential effects include miscarriage, low birth rate, and attention and learning difficulties. Studies have also shown that the unborn baby’s central nervous system is vulnerable to alcohol.
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Should I drink when I’m pregnant or breastfeeding?
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