Everyone has heard it at least once – “How much harm could a couple drinks really do?”
The answer, as it turns out, is a lot. (Seriously.)
Whether you’re 18 or 80, over time, repeated binge drinking can leave you with more than a series of really bad hangovers.
Read on to learn more about the physical, social and psychological effects of binging.
When the liver has to frequently detoxify large amounts of alcohol – READ: your weekly binges – its cells can be damaged or even destroyed. This can lead to serious medical conditions such as fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and liver cirrhosis. If that doesn’t sound bad enough, know that both hepatitis and cirrhosis can kill you.
Binge drinking can cause hypertension, weaken heart muscles and increase the risk of hemorrhagic stroke and arrhythmia.
Bing drinking can compromise the immune system, increasing the risk for all kinds of infectious diseases.
Binge drinking can seriously affect men’s sexual performance. It can also lower men’s testosterone levels and disrupt menstrual cycles in women.
Thousands of Canadians miss work or school because of their drinking. In some cases, they even lose their jobs or fail courses.
Alcohol is a depressant and heavy drinkers may find themselves suffering from depression, anxiety or grief as a result of their drinking.
It’s no secret – drinking can ruin relationships. Family, friends and loved ones don’t take kindly to alcohol abuse.
Excessive drinking can impair good judgment. Unplanned sex, unprotected sex and – in extreme cases – unwanted sex are fueled by alcohol. And that increases the risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease.