Facts about Alcohol What It Is and Its Physical Long Term Effects
There are many facts about alcohol that can explain why a lot of people get addicted to it, what are the physical long term effects of alcohol on your body and how having more than one occasional drink makes cancer prevention a bit more difficult.
What is alcohol? It is one of the oldest recreational drugs known to man. It is a psychoactive drug that initially creates positive changes – euphoria - in your mood when taken in small doses. The person who drinks gets a boost in his self-confidence.
This feeling of euphoria leads the person to desire to feel pleasant again by drinking once more. Until he finds himself abusing alcohol by drinking frequently and heavily.
Alcoholism is a result of heavy and frequent drinking.
What is the main ingredient of the alcohol in your bottle of liquor or beer?
According to facts about alcohol, its main ingredient is ethanol.
Ethanol is a colorless, unstable and flammable liquid. It has long been used by man in alcoholic beverages. It is also called as “spirits".
Ethanol becomes carcinogenic when your body breaks it down and produces acetaldehyde.
Having one drink occasionally, your body makes acetaldehyde in a small quantity and no harm is done. It is when you indulge in too much and frequent drinking that your body produces a high concentration of acetaldehyde.
This seemingly innocent substance is also what gives you hangover. If you wake up with a nasty hangover the next day after a night of alcohol, it means your body has produced a huge amount of acetaldehyde.
Cancer also has surely stood at the doorway of your cells and took a peek inside.
How does acetaldehyde stimulate growth of cancer cells?
A scientific explanation is given by the National Institute in Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the United States: "Acetaldehyde appears to react with polyamines - naturally occurring compounds essential for cell growth - to create a particularly dangerous type of mutagenic DNA base."
Alcohol is one of the known carcinogens to man.
Below are other articles discussing the various implications of alcohol abuse.
Breast and pancreatic cancers are just some of its long term effects to your health.
Damage to the DNA of your healthy cells is one of the serious health effects of alcohol.
Your cells are equipped to repair themselves but if they are exposed constantly and frequently to acetaldehyde, they lose their ability to fix the damage. The once-healthy cells become abnormal and may likely develop into a malignant tumor.
Heavy drinking also leads to other health problems. Some of these health implications are liver cirrhosis, brain damage, low folate levels and poor immune system.
If you drink, do so in moderation. Here are the facts about alcohol drinking: Moderate drinking is defined as one to two drinks per day. One drink is equivalent to 12 ounces of regular beer, or 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor. Having more than 2 drinks a day is too much already.
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