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ooh, sounds tempting, but I think Ill pass:
"Blackouts, or loss of memory for a period during drinking, are a physical effect of alcohol on the brain. They occur as alcohol cuts off the supply of oxygen to the brain. Lack of oxygen supply to the brain can kill tens of thousands of brain cells every time a person becomes intoxicated.
One effect of drinking alcohol is "blood-sludging" where the red blood cells clump together causing the small blood vessels to plug up, starve the tissues of oxygen, and cause cell death. This cell death is most serious, and often unrecognized, in the brain. With this increased pressure, capillaries break, create red eyes in the morning, or the red, blotchy skin seen on the heavy drinker's face. Blood vessels can also break in the stomach and esophagus leading to hemorrhage, even death.
Other effects of alcohol on the blood include: anemia; sedation of the bone marrow (which reduces the red and white blood count, and weakens the bone structure); lowered resistance to infection; and a decrease in the ability to fight off infections.
The stomach, the small and large intestines, and the pancreas are each affected by alcohol. Alcohol increases acid in the stomach. That can result in gastritis or stomach or intestinal ulcers.
Alcohol reduces blood flow to the muscles, including the heart, causing muscle weakness and deterioration. One outcome is cardiomyopathy (sluggish heart) which is common in alcoholics. Another outcome, arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), or "holiday heart,"is often treated in emergency wards after several days of party drinking.
Muscle aches are a common symptom of excessive-drinking "hangovers."
This system controls the body's hormones and includes the pineal, pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal glands, and the ovaries or testes. Alcohol sedates these glands, resulting in under-production of hormones; effects include increased susceptibility to allergies.
Alcohol can effect sexual functioning in various ways. In low doses, it lowers inhibitions and may make a person feel sexier; but in higher doses, it can decrease sexual functioning: in men, by decreasing the frequency of erections, decreasing the maintenance of erections, decreasing penile size during erection, and increasing the amount of time between erections, in women by interfering with normal processes of sexual stimulation, and blocking orgasmic response. With chronic and prolonged use of alcohol in men, there is a shrinkage of sex glands and an increase of the "female hormone" estrogen. This produces secondary sexual characteristics, such as enlarged breasts and a decrease in body hair. Prolonged use of alcohol can cause infertility in both men and women" |
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