What are the long-term effects of alcohol and what are the related illnesses?
Alcohol is a poisonous substance so having it frequently circulating in your body will harm your health. Regular drinking may damage internal organs even if you rarely drink to the point of intoxication. Several serious diseases occur more frequently in heavy drinkers than in the rest of the population. It is however fair to point out that problems (with the exception of liver cirrhosis) are not caused by drinking alone. Alcohol increases the risk of developing certain diseases, rather than being the only cause. It can also make some conditions worse. Alcohol’s role in ill health is often under-recognised – doctors do not routinely ask patients how much they drink, even in cases where drinking is known to be a key factor.
