Short-term risks
When you drink alcohol, you can experience a ‘hangover’ the next day: tired and you feel nauseous and have thirst. Fatigue occurs under influence of alcohol because you last longer than you should. The nausea and headaches are caused by chemical by-products in alcoholic beverages (e.g. in wine, there are a zeshonderdtal to detect chemicals) and the negative effects of degradation of the alcohol itself. Therefore do you get dehydrated and you get thirsty.
Alcohol increases the the lust to make love, but it often decreases sexual performance and the duration can potentially cause problems.
People who drink too much too quickly, can experience a “blackout”. While you were drunk you were still conscious, but you may not be able to remember what you did.
When you’re drunk it can be difficult to estimate risks. Everyone knows the dangers of drinking and driving and the possible consequences. Even at work and during leisure time it can lead to accidents, and wrong decisions.
Alcohol may provoke aggression and recklessness and lead to reckless behaviour, brawling, but also to intrusion or sexual harassment.
In the long term
Alcohol Abuse in the long term affects the entire body. The best known is the liver damage (inflammation, fat accumulation, cirrhosis), pancreas and brains. Research shows that there is a link between alcohol consumption and various cancers (mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, colon, breast).
Alcohol is sometimes a ‘nightcap’, but is actually a bad and dangerous sedative. The sleeping effect that you might experience in the beginning, disappears or reduces when you drink regularly, so you tend to drink more (with the risk of dependency). With moderate drinking you sleep badly, often restless, not as long and definitely not refreshingly.
When you drink too much alcohol, you may eventually suffer from obesity. Indeed, the body tends to burn the alcohol first and will not allow the burning of fat, so fat accumulation occurs and you become fat.
Alcohol doesn’t contain enough proteins and vitamins. Thus, it creates deficits and you become weaker and weaker over time.
Long term alcohol abuse, will also cause you to suffer from memory problems, sometimes resembling early dementia.
Alcohol takes away your ability to control your behaviour and emotions. In the long term real character changes occur.
Alcohol Dependence
Created by alcohol abuse both physical and mental dependence create tolerance (the latter means you need more alcohol to feel the same effect).