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Some 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 from our alcohol and your health tool:
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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 including skin - our 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 including skin - our 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 excessive drinking can increase your risk of developing heart disease, high blood pressure, weakening of the 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 most prevalent cancer among women. Studies indicate 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, therefore, you should stick to the Australian Government’s national drinking guidelines.
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Is drinking putting you at risk of cancer
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Your Pancreas
Continuous and excessive drinking can lead to pancreatitis. This can lead to permanent pancreatic damage and increases the risk of pancreatic cancer.
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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 may cause bowel irritation and may trigger symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Excessive drinking can increase the risk of colon cancer.
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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
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Your Immune System
Alcohol can suppress the immune system, particularly in long-term or excessive drinkers, making you susceptible to illness.
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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 almost all of the body’s cells and systems. Alcohol misuse may cause alcohol-related brain impairment or brain injury.
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Your Stomach
Alcohol may irritate the stomach lining which can bring on nausea, vomiting and sometimes diarrhoea. Long-term, excessive drinking has been associated with increased risk of upper gastrointestinal cancer including 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 excessive drinking may result in the liver becoming inflamed, causing alcoholic hepatitis or permanent liver scarring (cirrhosis) and subsequent liver cancer.
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Your Kidneys
Alcohol has a diuretic effect which means it tends to make you pass more urine. Drinking to excess can cause a substantial increase in urine flow and lead to excessive losses of body fluid and marked dehydration.
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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 can also reduce the amount of testosterone in the blood with heavy consumption of alcohol increasing risk of male fertility problems.
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Alcohol depresses the areas of the brain that controls sexual urges and performance… Read More
Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can affect a woman’s menstrual cycle and ovulation. This may make it difficult to conceive a healthy baby. Women who are planning pregnancy, pregnant and / or breastfeeding should abstain from drinking alcohol.
Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This is a term used to describe a range of conditions that result from brain damage caused by alcohol exposure before birth. Other effects of alcohol exposure during pregnancy can include miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth and low birth rate.
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Pregnancy
Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). This is a term used to describe a range of conditions that result from brain damage caused by alcohol exposure before birth. Other effects of alcohol exposure during pregnancy can include miscarriage, still birth, premature birth and low birth weight.
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