The haze of the cigarette smoke in the “bar area” of the restaurant looked like a magic show or Halloween party was about to begin. Jeff would come in every day at lunch, chainsmoke a whole pack of cigs, drink a pitcher of iced tea, and leave a wake of smoke that rivaled some of the fires I would fight years later as a firefighter. And I would just chew through the smoke thinking nothing of it. That was the early 2000’s (probably ~2003) and the days of smoking indoors were fast coming to an end as the public gained awareness about the negative health effects of smoking.
Do you remember this? Do you remember how prominent smoking was in your world growing up and just thinking nothing of it? (Maybe you’re young enough to have not lived through this crazy, hazy time.) I remember my dad and grandparents smoked inside their houses and I remember ornamental ashtrays - remember those gems?
Looking back now, I can barely imagine how that was just life as we knew it. If I walked into a restaurant today with one, let alone dozens, of smokers, I would instantly turn heel.
Uh, Nick, is this post about smoking or drinking?
I draw out the smoking nostalgia because there are not only similarities in changing cultural sentiment, but also because there are similarly evident health implications. Smoking in not a benign vice, and neither is drinking.
Once I started researching, I was pretty surprised to find that the health implications went far beyond liver damage, and the quantities needed for damage were far below what I was drinking. Heck, by waking up in the middle of night all the time, I’d already unknowingly damaged my sleep architecture.
What else is intriguing is that of the below links, all of the linked studies/articles in the brain/heart/cancer areas are from after the year 2000, meaning that I was happily into habitually enjoying alcohol without staying up-to-date on the scientific case against it.
In this post I’ll provide an overview of topics I’ll cover in future posts. And my intent is to alternate these “health posts” with the other “experiential posts” to balance things out.
The Bad News
We’ll lead with the bad stuff so we can end on a positive note. This is not a comprehensive list, but at least an overview of where we’ll go. Reading enough of these articles/studies started to help me form a strong (possibly subconscious) internal dialog about why I needed to quit.
Some of these are cohort studies, some animal studies, some early (not yet peer reviewed) research, and some direct causal… I think taken in totality there is a compelling case that alcohol is more bad for your health than good.
The Brain
Alcohol can damage white matter
Moderate drinking causes accelerated cognitive decline
Studies with animals show that high doses of alcohol lead to a disruption in the growth of new brain cells
I knew I wasn’t at the levels to develop Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, but it sounded awful
Another animal study suggests heavy drinking may rewire the brain in a way that makes it harder for alcoholics bounce back from a traumatic experience
Some brain cells are irreversibly lost from alcohol abuse
Iron in the brain is linked to several neurodegenerative conditions, and it appears alcohol deposits iron in the brain
Alcohol is neurotoxic and nerve cells are damaged by chronic alcohol abuse
The more people drink, the less the volume of their gray matter
The Heart
A-fib patients are more inclined to suffer cardiac events within hours of drinking
A-fib increases your risk of stroke by 5x because it can cause blood clots in the heart
Just 6 pints of beer per week could lead to an increased chance of cardiac events
Drinking just 1-2 drinks a day increased stroke risk by 10-15%
Can result in the oxidizing of LDL cholesterol (the bad one), helping to block arteries
Cancer
The US Dept. of Health and Human Services lists consumption of alcoholic beverages as a known human carcinogen
Light-to-moderate drinking is associated with increased risk of breast cancer
Alcohol increases the risk of cancer of the:
Mouth
Pharynx
Esophagus
Colorectum
Liver
Larynx
Breast
And there is accumulating evidence associating it with pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, and melanoma
The frequency at which you drink can increase the risk of developing esophageal, stomach, colorectal, liver, biliary, and pancreatic cancers
Alcohol is linked to more head, neck, and gastrointestinal cancers than previously thought
Alcohol is estimated to have caused more 740,000 cancer cases in 2016 and even low levels of drinking may be unsafe
Liver
Alcohol can cause alcoholic liver disease
And hepatitis
And of course it can cause cirrhosis
General
Problems with alcohol can lead to an increased risk of major depression
It is horrible for your skin
Alcohol disrupts immune pathways
Alcohol consumption can alter the number, survival, and function of most immune cells
Alcohol, when totaling harms to self and others, is ranked as a more “dangerous” drug than heroin or crack cocaine. (Study link)
Alcohol causes sleep problems and can ruin your sleep architecture
All notes so far have been on long-term effects, and we haven’t accounted for the immediate consequences of alcohol, like drunk driving, violence, and self-harm/suicide
The Good News
Whew… we’re finally here. And believe me, there is good news and I’m living proof of some of it currently. I’ve started to recall older memories. I have less anxiety. Make no mistake, I still have low times, but I generally bounce back faster. I’m more optimistic overall, bullish on the future.
Your skin will probably look a lot better (true for me)
You might lose weight (anectdotal, but true for me - lost 12 lbs.)
Very long-term abstinence resolves most neurocognitive deficits
Some brain damage may be reversed (Study link)
The liver will start to repair itself
Some anecdotal things I’ve found to happen
You’ll eventually stop thinking about alcohol. You won’t plan when you’ll drink/abstain, have more mental cycles for more productive things.
You’ll have more time to pursue hobbies, sports, events, family time, reading etc. I have many more productive hours per day because (1) I’m not buzzed during some of them and (2) I’m not in a haze from the night before
While you may still battle anxiety or depression, you can deal with those straight on rather than compounding them with alcohol
Less worry about the health effects of drinking
Less worry about things you said or did because your judgment is clear(er) when you say/do things
In Conclusion
The TL;DR is that the science around what alcohol does to our bodies is beginning to paint a picture that isn’t positive. While this post was long, I wanted to consolidate a lot of what I had read into one area and use future posts to dive further into any single health-related topic.
I’m not a doctor and none of this is medical advice. If you are struggling with substance abuse, reach out to the SAMHSA helpline.