Alcohol Kingdom

The physical effects of alcohol

From the second you take your first sip, alcohol starts affecting your body and mind. After one or two drinks you may start feeling more sociable, but drink too much and basic human functions, such as walking and talking become much harder. You might also start saying things you don’t mean and behaving out of character. Some of alcohol’s effects disappear overnight – while others can stay with you a lot longer, or indeed become permanent.

If you’ve drunk heavily the night before, you’ll almost certainly wake up with a hangover. Alcohol irritates the stomach, so heavy drinking can cause sickness and nausea and sometimes diarrhoea. Alcohol also has a dehydrating effect, which is one reason why excessive drinking can lead to a thumping headache the morning after.

On the Drinkaware website you’ll find useful clinically approved facts and information about the effects of alcohol on your life and lifestyle designed to help you make positive decisions about your drinking. Select the topic you’re interested in to find out more.


Appearance

If you’re trying to watch your waistline, drinking too much alcohol can be disastrous! A man drinking five pints of 5% ABV lager a week for a year consumes the same number of calories as someone who eats 292 glazed doughnuts in a year. 

Drinking too much alcohol isn’t great news for your skin either. As well as causing bloating and dark circles under your eyes, alcohol dries out your skin and can lead to wrinkles and premature aging. If you drink heavily you may develop acne rosacea, a skin disorder that starts with a tendency to blush and flush easily and can progress to facial disfiguration, a condition known as rhinophyma.

Find out more in our How alcohol affects your appearance feature.


Alcohol poisoning

More than 35,000 people were admitted to hospital with alcohol poisoning in England in 2010/11 (16,200 men and 19,800 women) – that’s more than 600 every week (1)
In the worst cases, alcohol poisoning can cause lung damage (as you inhale your own vomit) and even lead to a heart attack.
Many traditional ‘cures’ for alcohol poisoning, such as drinking black coffee; just don’t work – or even make things worse.

To find out the best way to respond, read our Alcohol poisoning factsheet.


Diseases and cancers Liver disease

While rates of liver disease are falling in the rest of Europe, they are rising in the UK. In England, there has been a 25% increase in deaths from liver disease in under a decade (2) (from 9,231 in 2001 to 11,575 in 2009).
Liver disease used to affect mainly drinkers in middle age, but now sufferers are getting younger. – more than 1 in 10 of deaths of people in their 40s are from liver disease, most of them from alcoholic liver disease.
Find out more in our Alcohol and liver disease factsheet.


Cancer

Alcohol misuse is an important factor in a number of cancers, including liver and mouth cancers, both of which are on the increase (3) (4). Alcohol is second only to smoking as a risk factor for oral and digestive tract cancers.
Evidence suggests that this could be because when you drink, the alcohol in your body is converted into a toxic chemical called acetaldehyde. This can damage your DNA and stop your cells from repairing that damage, which can lead to cancerFind out more in our Alcohol and cancer factsheet.
Find out more in our Alcohol and cancer factsheet.


Pancreatitis and diabetes

Pancreatitis is when your pancreas becomes inflamed and its cells are damaged. Heavy drinking can cause pancreatitis. Around half of people with chronic pancreatitis develop diabetes. This is because the damaged pancreas cannot make insulin (which you need to regulate your blood sugar) (5).
For more information read our Alcohol and pancreatitis factsheet and Alcohol and diabetes factsheet.


Heart disease

With alcohol and the heart, it’s a benefit and risk trade off. So, for example, alcohol’s anti-clotting ability, potentially protective against heart attack, may increase the risk of haemorrhagic stroke (when a blood vessel bursts inside the brain), or bleeding within the brain. Beyond the daily unit guidelines, alcohol’s potential benefits on the heart are outweighed by the risks of developing other illnesses, such as liver disease or cancer.
Find out more in our Alcohol and heart disease factsheet.


Mental health

Alcohol alters the brain’s chemistry and increases the risk of depression. It is often associated with a range of mental health problems A recent British survey found that people suffering from anxiety or depression were twice as likely to be heavy or problem drinkers.

Extreme levels of drinking (defined as more than 30 units per day for several weeks) can occasionally cause ‘psychosis’, a severe mental illness where hallucinations and delusions of persecution develop. Psychotic symptoms can also occur when very heavy drinkers suddenly stop drinking and develop a condition known as ‘delirium tremens’.

Heavy drinking often leads to work and family problems, which in turn can lead to isolation and depression. For heavy drinkers who drink daily and become dependent on alcohol, there can be withdrawal symptoms (nervousness, tremors, palpitations) which resemble severe anxiety, and may even cause phobias, such as a fear of going out.