5 dangers of alcohol abuse and why excessive drinking could kill you
A serving of alcohol once in a while is perfectly acceptable
and is often just a natural part of having a social life.
But getting drunk and making a binge drinking habit will always have consequences.
Some of them aren't obvious until it's too late. If you must drink any alcohol, make sure you
avoid doing so in excess. Keep yourself from binge drinking, which the mayo clinic defines
as four drinks within two hours for females and five drinks within the same period for males.
Additionally, even if you're drinking within your limits you shouldn't do so frequently
as alcohol abuse can cause various health complications that often lead to death.
Before we continue, please like the video
subscribe, and hit the notification bell so that you will be notified when I upload the next video.
Here are 5 of the most common ways excessive drinking can kill you.
1. alcohol poisoning:
Alcohol poisoning occurs when you drink more than your body can process. Too much
alcohol in your system will affect your breathing and heart function.
It might also cause your gag reflex to fail, thereby causing you to choke on your own vomit.
Some people also experience seizures, hypothermia brain damage,
and asphyxiation. This condition is a medical emergency, as it can quickly lead to death.
2. Pancreatitis:
Your pancreas produces toxic substances as it metabolizes any amount of alcohol you consume.
When you drink too much, the toxins can overwhelm your system and cause
severe inflammation in your pancreas. Generally, acute pancreatitis occurs after binge drinking,
while frequent drinkers experience chronic pancreatitis.
No matter how often or how much you drink, however, alcohol strains your
pancreas. It puts you at higher risk of other pancreas-related diseases, like diabetes.
3. Liver failure:
Each time you drink your liver strains, this is why liver failure is among the most common
causes of death in alcoholics. Often, heavy drinkers develop a condition called fatty liver.
Other alcohol-related liver diseases include alcoholic hepatitis, cirrhosis,
and fibrosis. Each of these can affect your quality of life and could lead to death.
4. Heart disease:
A single dose of alcohol affects your heart function, but it is especially damaging when you
drink too much or too often. Alcoholism can lead to severe heart conditions like cardiomyopathy,
where your heart muscles weaken and keep from pumping blood effectively.
You might also suffer from stroke, high blood pressure, and irregular heartbeats.
5. Cancer:
According to the american cancer society, alcohol consumption increases your risk
of various types of cancer. Liver cancer is among the most common, but it is also
linked with cancers of the colon and rectum, mouth, throat esophagus, larynx, and breast.
These cancer risks are significantly heightened when alcohol use is coupled with smoking
or exposure to secondhand smoke.
The pleasure of drinking alcohol is not worth the potentially fatal effects on your health.
There are other dangers too, like getting in car accidents due to drunk driving.
According to the national institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism,
over 10 000 people die of drunk driving each year in the U.S alone.
To reduce your risk of dying from alcohol abuse, keep yourself from drinking more than a drink a
day and avoid doing so every day. Limiting your portions and giving your body time to recover from
each drinking session will significantly reduce your risk of dying from alcohol.
Following are the study references, we used to create this video.