10 Alcohol Abuse Consequences You Wish You Never Suffered

After months or years of alcohol abuse, the brain and body enter into a state of chemical imbalance that causes physical structures and chemical processes to deteriorate over time. According to the University of Maryland, brain chemical imbalances leave drinkers to develop any number of alcohol abuse consequences on both emotional and psychological levels.

Alcohol abuse causes severe gastrointestinal problems.

Likewise, the damage done to cells and tissues throughout the body bring on a whole other set of alcohol abuse consequences as major bodily processes go into a state of decline. According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, the breakdown or metabolism of alcohol in the body produces harmful, free radical byproducts that cause widespread cell and tissue damage.

Alcohol abuse consequences result from the combined effects of alcohol on brain and body processes over time. After years of use, drinkers start to experience serious alcohol abuse consequences that eventually turn into chronic medical conditions of their own.

Here are 10 alcohol abuse consequences you’ll wish you never suffered –

1. Alcohol Intake Amounts

With continued use, drinkers must consume increasingly large amounts of alcohol to experience the same desired effects. Intake amounts will continue to increase for as long as a person abuses alcohol.

2. Depleted Brain Chemical Levels

Alcohol causes brain cells to secrete unusually large amounts of vital neurotransmitter chemicals. Over time, these chemicals become depleted to the point where normal brain functions start to breakdown.

3. Nerve Damage

Alcohol directly interferes with the brain’s ability to regulate nerve signal transmissions throughout the body. Alcohol abuse causes nerve functions and pathways to deteriorate as chemical imbalances persist.

4. Sexual Dysfunction

As alcohol acts a central nervous system depressant, it naturally slows down essential bodily processes. For long-time drinkers, sexual dysfunction in the form of decreased sex drive and impotence become an inevitable alcohol abuse consequence.

5. Family & Relationship Problems

Alcohol impairs a person’s ability to reason and make sound judgments. In time, drinkers start to neglect, and even abuse, important relationships in their lives, especially when these relationships interfere with their desire to drink.

6. Liver Disease

The liver plays a central role in alcohol metabolism processes. Consequently, the liver becomes one of the first major organs to see the most damage from alcohol’s effects.

7. Brain Damage

Alcohol’s effects on the brain inevitably result in damaged brain structures as chemical imbalances persist. As one of the more serious alcohol abuse consequences, brain damage can become permanent over time.

8. Gastrointestinal Problems

Gastrointestinal problems start to develop as alcohol erodes the stomach lining. In effect, stomach lining materials become inflamed to the point where digestion processes start to breakdown.

9. Internal Bleeding

The free radical damage caused by chronic alcohol abuse all but eats up a person’s cells and tissues over time. In effect, this process can produce internal bleeding within the stomach, liver and pancreas.

10. Malnutrition

Malnutrition results from the progressive damage done to the body’s gastrointestinal system. This alcohol abuse consequence impairs the body’s ability to extract and metabolize nutrients from daily food intake.