Long-Term Effects of Alcohol Use Disorder
Long-term alcohol use damages the heart, liver, pancreas, esophagus, brain, gastrointestinal tract and immune system, and produces alcohol use disorder, withdrawal and fetal alcohol syndrome.
The short-term effects of alcohol draw most of the attention, and alcohol-related damage extends years down the road. Alcohol use disorder is among the most common mental health conditions people develop, and binge drinking and heavy drinking produce significant health problems.
Severe liver disease, meaning cirrhosis, is the alcohol consequence people know. Alcohol damages six other organ systems alongside the liver.
The sections below set out how drinking produces alcohol dependence, and how the amount a person consumes changes their risk of the other conditions.
What Are the Long-Term Effects of Alcohol Use?
Long-term alcohol use damages 7 organ systems: the heart, liver, pancreas, esophagus, brain, gastrointestinal tract and immune system.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism both publish the health conditions that follow sustained drinking. The risks are severe, which is why anyone who suspects a problem with their drinking needs a healthcare professional rather than a self-assessment.
There are 7 organ systems damaged by heavy drinking:
How Does Alcohol Damage the Heart?
Heavy drinking produces high blood pressure, cardiomyopathy, heart attack and heart failure.
Alcohol reaches the heart first through blood pressure. Raised blood pressure forces the heart to work harder to pump blood around the body, and that sustained effort produces cardiomyopathy, meaning a weakening of the heart muscle.
Heavy drinking also raises the risk of heart attack and heart failure, which is why the amount of alcohol a person drinks matters to the heart specifically.
How Does Alcohol Damage the Liver?
Alcohol produces alcoholic hepatitis, fatty liver disease, scarring, cirrhosis and liver cancer, and the liver takes the damage because it metabolizes the alcohol.
Acute alcohol poisoning irritates and inflames the liver, which clinicians call alcoholic hepatitis. Continued drinking produces alcoholic fatty liver disease, scarring of the liver and cirrhosis. Sustained past that point, the liver fails completely, which is life-threatening.
People who drink heavily also develop liver cancer over time. The liver metabolizes alcohol, which is why it is among the organs most damaged by heavy drinking.
How Does Alcohol Damage the Pancreas?
Heavy drinking produces pancreatitis, meaning inflammation of the pancreas, which is a medical emergency and produces severe metabolic problems when it goes untreated.
The pancreas digests nutrients and regulates the body’s blood sugar level.
Heavy drinking produces pancreatitis, which is inflammation of the pancreas. Pancreatitis is a serious medical condition requiring immediate treatment, and untreated pancreatitis produces severe metabolic problems.
How Does Alcohol Damage the Esophagus?
Repeated vomiting from heavy drinking exposes the esophagus to stomach acid, which damages the lining and raises the risk of esophageal cancer.
Heavy drinking raises the risk of esophageal conditions. Alcohol addiction increases how often a person vomits, and repeated vomiting exposes the lining of the esophagus to stomach acid, which damages the cells there.
That damage raises the risk of esophageal cancer, which is among the strongest reasons to stop drinking.
How Does Alcohol Damage the Brain?
Excessive drinking depletes thiamine and produces Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which presents as confusion, coordination problems, brain damage and memory loss.
Alcohol damages the central nervous system. Excessive drinking produces Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which develops out of a thiamine deficiency and presents as confusion and coordination problems alongside brain damage.
People who drink heavily also develop other mental health conditions, including memory loss.
How Does Alcohol Damage the GI Tract?
Alcohol produces gastritis, stomach ulcers and heartburn even at moderate levels, and heavy drinking stops the intestines digesting food, which blocks vitamin and nutrient absorption.
Moderate drinking produces gastritis, stomach ulcers and heartburn. Vomiting is among the most common short-term effects of alcohol, and heavy drinking goes further by stopping the intestines from digesting food, which blocks the absorption of the vitamins and nutrients the body needs.
How Does Alcohol Damage the Immune System?
Heavy drinking weakens the immune system and lowers the white blood cell count, which raises the risk of pneumonia, influenza and stomach infections.
The immune system protects the body against infection. Alcohol weakens it, which raises the risk of pneumonia, influenza and stomach infections.
Continued drinking lowers the white blood cell count, which leaves the body less able to fight infection at all. Limiting alcohol is what protects that capacity.
Alcohol damages those 7 organ systems, and it produces 3 further long-term effects alongside them: withdrawal, fetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol use disorder itself.
What Happens During Alcohol Withdrawal?
Alcohol withdrawal produces delirium tremens, which brings seizures, hallucinations and fever, and it kills without medical supervision.
A person who builds a high alcohol tolerance drinks more often, and that pattern establishes addiction. Stopping alcohol then produces withdrawal.
Alcohol withdrawal syndrome is life-threatening, because it produces delirium tremens. Delirium tremens brings seizures, hallucinations, fever and other severe symptoms, which is why alcohol withdrawal belongs under the supervision of a medical professional rather than at home.
What Is Fetal Alcohol Syndrome?
Drinking during pregnancy produces fetal alcohol syndrome, which presents as intellectual disability, physical differences and a smooth philtrum, and no safe amount of alcohol has been established.
A woman who drinks while pregnant exposes her unborn child to fetal alcohol syndrome, which produces intellectual disability and physical differences. The most recognizable sign is the absence of a philtrum, the pair of ridges between the nose and the upper lip.
Children with fetal alcohol syndrome develop severe behavioral problems and fall behind their peers at school. Research has not established how much alcohol during pregnancy produces the disorder, which is why abstaining entirely is the only reliable protection.
Begin Recovery
What Are the Signs of Alcohol Use Disorder?
Seven signs mark alcohol use disorder: drinking more than intended, complaints from other people, blackouts, hiding the amount, drink-driving, missed occasions, and financial or legal problems.
The signs below are what separates controlled drinking from alcohol use disorder.
There are 7 signs of a problem with drinking:
- Drinking more than intended on a single occasion
- Drawing complaints from other people about how much they drink when they go out
- Blacking out while drinking
- Hiding how much they are drinking
- Driving while drunk
- Missing important occasions with family and friends because they are drinking
- Running into financial difficulties and legal problems from the amount they drink
The effects of alcohol reach the person’s family and friends alongside the person themselves, which is why contacting an addiction treatment professional matters.
How Is Long-Term Alcohol Use Disorder Treated?
Treatment starts with an inpatient program for medically supervised detox, then continues through outpatient care and group therapy to build relapse-prevention skills.
People who struggle to control their drinking start with an inpatient treatment program, which allows them to detox from alcohol in a safe setting and focus entirely on getting sober.
After an inpatient program, a person continues with a medical professional on an outpatient basis to build the skills that prevent a return to alcohol use disorder. Group therapy runs alongside that, where people learn from others who have developed drinking problems and reached sobriety.
Riverside Recovery of Tampa runs the full range of those programs.
Where Can You Get Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment in Tampa?
Riverside Recovery of Tampa treats alcohol use disorder in Tampa, Florida, and builds each treatment plan around the individual.
The clinical team at Riverside Recovery of Tampa supplies the treatment and the support that carries a person out of alcohol use disorder and into lasting sobriety.
Call our team today to learn how treatment starts and which programs fit your situation.
Rehm J. The Risks Associated With Alcohol Use and Alcoholism. Alcohol Research & Health. 2011;34(2):135-143. National Library of Medicine
Nutt D, Hayes A, Fonville L, Zafar R, Palmer OC, Paterson L, Lingford-Hughes A. Alcohol and the Brain. Nutrients. 2021;13(11):3938. doi.org
Nehring SM, Freeman AM. Alcohol Use Disorder. StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; updated 2022 Jul 31. National Library of Medicine
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alcohol Use and Your Health. Source for the organ systems damaged by heavy drinking. cdc.gov
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol’s Effects on the Body. niaaa.nih.gov
