Danielle Esche
Jeanne James-Hansen
English 101
17 November 2014
Alcoholism and the Effects on the Body Alcoholism is now defined as one of the most serious kinds of drugs. Not only do a lot of people not know that it can be highly addictive but also very harmful to your body. According to David Freeman alcohol is related to 60 different health related diseases. It can effect your brain, heart, liver, pancreas, and immune system. The brain is one of the most important organs in your body and it is the communication pathway of your body. Just fathom the number of things that could go wrong when your brain is compromised. According to the Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol can affect the way your brain looks and functions. This could lead to change in mood or behavior, inability to think clear, and coordination and disorders. The heart is the main organ that is responsible for pumping blood to the body. Drinking over a long period of time or every a lot at one occasion can damage your heart. The Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says that cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, stroke, and high blood pressure can all occur with excessive drinking. Cardiomyopathy is the stretching or drooping of the heart muscle itself and arrhythmias is the heart beating irregularly. The liver is probably one of the most known organs harmed by alcohol. Heavy drinking can lead to inflammation of the liver and cause many problems like steatosis or fatty liver, alcohol is hepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis says the Institute of Alcohol abuse and Alcoholism. Fatty liver disease is just like it sounds, an excess of fat in the liver. WebMD says that 5-10% of fat in the liver is a healthy amount. Although you can develop non alcoholic fatty liver, it is more known to spur right from alcohol. The Mayo Clinic stats alcoholic hepatitis is the inflammation of the liver from alcohol. Fibrosis of the liver is the accumulation of excess scar tissue states NCBI. This is the result of prolonged inflammation and the death of liver cells. WebMD states that cirrhosis of the liver is also caused by scar tissue. The panaceas is the organ that produces insulin that helps us break down our food so our body can use it. Heavy drinking can effect the pancreas with heavy inflammation called pancreatitis stated in the Institute of Alcohol Abuse