Sometimes it can be nice after a long day or week at work to enjoy a drink or two and relax. Drinking too much, or too often, can have a major negative impact on your body. In addition to the possibility of its addictive nature, it can also slowly destroy your body. Here are some of the ways alcohol affects your body, and remember if you or someone you know is addicted to alcohol, talk to a recovery center in Florida.
Stomach
As alcohol travels to the stomach, it’s absorbed into the bloodstream or passes through to the intestines. Some alcohol does neither of those things though. Some just stay in the stomach and the acidity irritates the protective lining of the stomach. That can lead to corrosion of the stomach lining which can cause ulcers. Even if it passes through the small intestine, it can do damage by interrupting the digestive system.
Heart
As alcohol passes through the heart, it can cause inflammation of the muscle’s walls. Both long-term drinking and binge drinking negatively affect heart rate, disrupting its rhythm by causing it to speed up or beat irregularly. It can also lead to a condition called alcoholic cardiomyopathy, which causes heart muscles to weaken from repeated toxic exposure from alcohol abuse over time.
Brain
The effects of alcohol on the brain is usually what makes it so desirable, but also dangerous. Alcohol increases the release of dopamine in the brain’s reward centers, which is what gives drinking alcohol its pleasurable sensation. It can also lead to impaired brain function such as slowing down the rate at which information travels to the brain.
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