Binge drinking also increases the likelihood of unsafe sexual behavior and the risk of sexually transmitted infections and unintentional pregnancy. Because of the impairments it produces, binge drinking also increases the likelihood of a host of potentially deadly consequences, including falls, burns, drownings, and car crashes. Long-term damage from heavy alcohol use isn’t limited to people with alcohol use disorder. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant that has immediate effects on the body, like intoxication (feeling drunk) and hangovers (unpleasant aftereffects from drinking). While these effects are short-lived, long-term alcohol use can trigger systemic (bodywide) inflammation, which damages the body’s tissues and vital organs over time.
It isn’t linked to a dependency on alcohol, and the CDC frames it as a preventable problem. The cost of excessive alcohol use impacts everyone, whether they drink or not. More research needs to be done on people, but the effects of long-term heavy alcohol use are already well-known.
Understanding the Biomedical Consequences of Binge Drinking
The answer depends on your sex, age, body mass, metabolism, the type of alcohol, and more. Our state-specific resource guides offer a comprehensive overview of drug and alcohol addiction treatment options available in your area. Teenagers and even adults may also binge drink to fit in with peers who are engaging in the same behavior. Moderate drinking is having one drink or less in a day for women, or two drinks or less in a day for men. More researchers are looking at the effects of alcohol on the intestinal microbiome — the bacteria and other organisms that live inside us. Here’s a look at how all that alcohol is impacting the health of Americans over both the short and long term.
Even though binge drinking can be a single event, it could still have severe health consequences (e.g., alcohol poisoning, STIs, heart disease) in the short and long term. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as a pattern of drinking alcohol, typically within a 2-hour period, which brings a person’s BAC to 0.08% or higher. A person’s BAC is the percentage of alcohol in their blood, and in the United States, a BAC of 0.08% means the person is legally intoxicated.
If you feel that you sometimes drink too much alcohol, or your drinking is causing problems, or if your family is concerned about your drinking, talk with your health care provider. Other ways to get help include talking with a mental health professional or seeking help from a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or a similar type of self-help group. Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems. This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism.
Neuropathological Consequences
- This article discusses the long-term effects of alcohol, including the risks to your physical health and mental well-being.
- The National Helpline does not provide counseling, but it does connect callers with local resources such as counseling services, support groups, and treatment facilities.
- A heavy drinking binge may even cause a life-threatening coma or death.
- The liver metabolizes most of the alcohol you consume, breaking it down into acetaldehyde.
- Alcohol is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, contributing to approximately 178,000 deaths annually.
- That’s because drinking during pregnancy doesn’t just affect your health.
According to 2021 data from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 21.5 percent of people in the U.S. ages 12 and older reported binge drinking during the past month. What many people might think of as a fun night out on the town can be very risky — or in some cases, life-threatening, Dr. Streem notes. More than half of all drinking-related deaths are caused by binge drinking. Over the long run, alcohol increases the risk of several cancers, including cancer of the liver, mouth, throat, voice box, esophagus, colon, and rectum. Even a few drinks a week is linked with an increased risk of breast cancer in women. There’s not a lot of research on how long the physical effects of binge drinking last, or whether your body can recover completely.
Binge Drinking Prevention
It has some stiff competition from Germany, Latvia, and the Czech Republic, among others. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism(NIAAA) defines binge drinkingas a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration above 0.08 grams per decilitre. This generally happens when men consume five or more drinks and when women consume four or more Genetic Signature for Drug Addiction Revealed in New Analysis of More Than A Million Genomes drinks within a two-hour period. As far as long-term effects, binge drinking can also lead to internal damage, especially if you’re regularly engaging in binge drinking episodes.
How Alcohol Use Disorder Is Treated
If your pancreas and liver don’t function properly due to pancreatitis or liver disease, you could experience low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. But more recent research suggests there’s really no “safe” amount of alcohol since even moderate drinking can negatively impact brain health. Many people with alcohol use disorder hesitate to get treatment because they don’t recognize that they have a problem. An intervention from loved ones can help some people recognize and accept that they need professional help. If you’re concerned about someone who drinks too much, ask a professional experienced in alcohol treatment for advice on how to approach that person. Drinking alcohol three days in a row is not good for you, but it’s not necessarily considered binge drinking either.
Unhealthy alcohol use includes any alcohol use that puts your health or safety at risk or causes other alcohol-related problems. It also includes binge drinking — a pattern of drinking where a male has five or more drinks within two hours or a female has at least four drinks within two hours. Binge drinking is when someone drinks a large quantity of alcohol in a short amount of time. Many experts define it as drinking enough alcohol during a 2-hour period to bring the BAC to 0.08%. Generally, this is around four drinks for women and five drinks for men. But bodies absorb alcohol differently depending on factors including body type and age.
In some people, the initial reaction may feel like an increase in energy. But as you continue to drink, you become drowsy and have less control over your actions. For as long as there have been guts, beneficial microbes have made a home there, and they play an important role in fending off pathogens. Additionally, anyone who feels they are not able to gain control of their drinking might consider the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Helpline.