Drinking alcohol to party may seem normal. It helps to relax and facilitates contact with others. But… the consumption of alcohol is accompanied by side effects which intensify with each drink ingested.
In the long term, alcohol increases the risk of stroke, dementia and causes one in five deaths. Infectious diseases, traffic accidents, injuries, homicides, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes: more than 200 diseases have been listed by the World Health Organization as being linked to the overconsumption of alcohol.
The 3 ages most at risk
But there are three periods of life when alcohol consumption seems to have the most detrimental effect on the functioning of our brain. British and Australian researchers have identified them and have just published the results of their study on the British medical journal. It is during gestation (from conception to birth), during adolescence (15-19 years old) and after 65 years that alcohol causes the most damage to brain function.
- A excessive alcohol consumption during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol syndrome, associated with generalized reduction in brain size and cognitive impairment.
- The excessive alcohol consumption in adolescence is associated with poorer development of white matter (essential for efficient brain function) and mild to moderate deficits in certain cognitive functions.
- Among seniors, alcohol consumption multiplies by three the risk of suffering from forms of dementia, and by two the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
Alcohol consumption: what effects on our body?
But in the short term, drinking alcohol is also not without consequences for our body.
A few minutes after consumption, alcohol is transported by the blood throughout our body, especially in the brain. It is then essentially eliminated by the liver (95%) then by urine, sweat, saliva and exhaled air. But before being eliminated, it acts directly on the functioning of the brain (this is the black hole), the stomach (this is vomiting), the liver (hence the migraine), and the nervous system friendly. This is what will cause all the following small inconveniences: