Healthplus With Dr Hanna (MBBS, MRCS): Alcohol – The Silent Major Killer!

By
Femi Adeoya
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Having recently visited Nigeria, I observed a very worrisome alcohol drinking culture and would like to use this week’s article to address this issue.
 
I know there have been many research on the internet about the benefits of alcohol (most of them sponsored by alcohol companies), but people fail to remember that the so called advantages of alcohol can never be equated to the level of negative impact it has on our body-from the crown of our head to the sole of our feet.
 
It's no secret that alcohol consumption can cause major health problems, including cirrhosis of the liver and injuries sustained in automobile accidents. But if you think liver disease and car crashes are the only health risks posed by drinking, think again: Researchers have linked alcohol consumption to more than 60 diseases, this is 60 diseases too many and the worst is for a country still struggling to develop a better healthcare package for its citizens, only God knows how many premature deaths related to alcohol we have had and still having.
 
This I believe is a national epidemic and should be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
 
"Alcohol does all kinds of things in the body, and we're not fully aware of all its effects," says James C. Garbutt, MD, professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and a researcher at the university's Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies.
 
LOW RISK GUIDELINES
 
It can be a bit tricky to understand and remember how much alcohol is in drinks, and how this can affect our health. The low risk guidelines can help with this, if you choose to drink.
 
 
No-one can say that drinking alcohol is absolutely safe, but by sticking within these guidelines, you can lower your risk of harming your health if you drink most weeks:
Men and women are advised not to regularly drink more than 14 units a week (women are actually advised to drink less than 14 units weekly). If you are pregnant DO NOT DRINK AT ALL.
 
If you want to cut down how much you’re drinking, a good way to help achieve this is to have several drink-free days each week.
 
Below is a table showing what units of alcohol is. Go through them if possible keep a copy in your wallet as a reminder if you choose to drink.
 
     
 
 
 
12 SERIOUS DISEASES ASSOCIATED WITH ALCOHOL
 
ANAEMIA
Drinking more than 14 units weekly can cause the number of oxygen-carrying red blood cells to be abnormally low. This condition, known as anaemia, can trigger a host of symptoms, including fatigue, shortness of breath, and light-headedness. I will deal with anaemia as topic in the nearest future.
 
CANCER
"Habitual drinking increases the risk of cancer," says Jurgen Rehm, PhD, chairman of the University of Toronto's department of addiction policy and a senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, also in Toronto. Scientists believe the increased risk comes when the body converts alcohol into acetaldehyde, a potent carcinogen (cancer causing agent). 
 
Cancer sites linked to alcohol use include the mouth, pharynx (throat), larynx (voice box),oesophagus, liver, breast, and colorectal region.
 Cancer risk rises even higher in heavy drinkers who also use tobacco.
 
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
Drinking above 14 units especially bingeing, makes platelets more likely to clump together into blood clots, which can lead to heart attack or stroke. In a landmark study published in 2005, Harvard researchers found that binge drinking doubled the risk of death among people who initially survived a heart attack.
 
Heavy drinking can also cause cardiomyopathy, a potentially deadly condition in which the heart muscle weakens and eventually fails, as well as heart rhythm abnormalities such as atrial and ventricular fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation, in which the heart's upper chambers (atria) twitch chaotically rather than constrict rhythmically, can cause blood clots that can trigger a stroke. 
 
Ventricular fibrillation causes chaotic twitching in the heart's main pumping chambers (ventricles). It causes rapid loss of consciousness and, in the absence of immediate treatment, sudden death.
 
CIRRHOSIS
Alcohol is toxic to liver cells, and many heavy drinkers develop cirrhosis, a sometimes-lethal condition in which the liver is so heavily scarred that it is unable to function. But it's hard to predict which drinkers will develop cirrhosis. Some people who drink huge amounts never get cirrhosis, and some who don't drink very much do get it. 
For some unknown reason, women seem to be especially vulnerable. So if you are a woman and you drink, the chances are you will damage your cells faster than your male counterpart. 
 
DEMENTIA
As people age, their brains shrink, on average, at a rate of about 1.9% per decade. That's considered normal. But heavy drinking speeds the shrinkage of certain key regions in the brain, resulting in memory loss and other symptoms of dementia. 
 
 
Heavy drinking can also lead to subtle but potentially debilitating deficits in the ability to plan, make judgments, solve problems, and perform other aspects of "executive function," which are "the higher-order abilities that allow us to maximize our function as human beings.
In addition to the "nonspecific" dementia that stems from brain atrophy (brain shrinking), heavy drinking can cause nutritional deficiencies so severe that they trigger other forms of dementia.
 
DEPRESSION
It's long been known that heavy drinking often goes hand in hand with depression, but there has been debate about which c ame first — the drinking or the depression. One theory is that depressed people turned to alcohol in an attempt to "self-medicate" to ease their emotional pain. But a large study from New Zealand showed that it was probably the other way around — that is, heavy drinking led to depression.
This can eventually lead to severe mental health issue.
 
SEIZURES
Heavy drinking can cause epilepsy and can trigger seizures even in people who don't have epilepsy. It can also interfere with the action of the medications used to treat convulsions.
 
GOUT
A painful condition, gout is caused by the formation of uric acid crystals in the joints. Although some cases are largely hereditary, alcohol and other dietary factors seem to play a role. Alcohol also seems to aggravate existing cases of gout.
 
HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE
Alcohol can disrupt the sympathetic nervous system, which, among other things, controls the constriction and dilation of blood vessels in response to stress, temperature, exertion, etc.
Alcohol — and bingeing, in particular — can cause blood pressure to rise. Over time, this effect can become chronic. High blood pressure can lead to many other health problems, including kidney disease, heart disease, and stroke.
 
INFECTIOUS DISEASE
Alcohol suppresses the immune system, providing a toehold for infections, including tuberculosis, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases (including some that cause infertility).
People who drink heavily also are more likely to engage in risky sex. Heavy drinking is associated with a three-fold increase in the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease.
 
NERVE DAMAGE
Alcohol can cause a form of nerve damage known as alcoholic neuropathy, which can produce a painful pins-and-needles feeling or numbness in the extremities as well as muscle weakness, incontinence, constipation, erectile dysfunction, and other problems. 
Alcoholic neuropathy may arise because alcohol is toxic to nerve cells, or because nutritional deficiencies attributable to heavy drinking compromise nerve function.
 
PANCREATITIS
This can be a very serious illness sometimes leading to death. In addition to causing stomach irritation (gastritis which can in turn cause duodenal/gastric ulcer), drinking can inflame the pancreas. 
Chronic pancreatitis interferes with the digestive process, causing severe abdominal pain and persistent diarrhoea –and it's not fixable. 
Some cases of chronic pancreatitis are triggered by gallstones, but up to 60% come from alcohol consumption.
 
Prevention they say is always better than cure. With so much researches and debates about alcohol and it’s visible effects and affects, I even though not an authority will advise against it. But if you must drink make sure you stay below the 14 units/weekly recommendation and have 2-3 days weekly free days where you do not drink alcohol at all.
 
If you think you are a heavy drinker, the chances are you actually are and the best way to stop or cut down is to first acknowledging you are and seek help.
 Do not hang around heavy drinkers and do not compete with friends and peer groups on the amount of alcohol you can hold. That will only lead to Binge Drinking- which is very dangerous and very damaging to the liver.
 
LIFE IS TOO SHORT, LIVE IT WELL.
 
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