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. For example, a 2018 meta-analysis found a significant increase in alcohol use and binge drinking over the past 10–15 years, but not among all demographics. It was middle-aged and older adults who showed the most substantial increase in binge drinking.
Alcohol’s health effects: What you need to know
Binge drinking is behavior that raises blood alcohol levels to 0.08%. That usually means four or more drinks within two hours for women and five or more drinks within two hours for men. The term fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) describes a range of adverse effects that may occur following alcohol exposure during the prenatal period.
How quickly a person’s body absorbs alcohol may depend on their sex, age, and body size. But it typically takes four or more standard drinks for women and five or more standard drinks for men to reach a BAC of 0.08% during a 2-hour binge drinking period. 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 what is tusi drug made of legally intoxicated. 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.
Risks of moderate alcohol use
Dehydration-related effects, like nausea, headache, and dizziness, might not appear for a few hours, and they can also depend on what you drink, how much you drink, and if you also drink water. Some of these effects, like a relaxed mood or lowered inhibitions, might show up quickly after just one drink. Others, like loss of consciousness or slurred speech, may develop after a few drinks.
- The term fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) describes a range of adverse effects that may occur following alcohol exposure during the prenatal period.
- How quickly a person’s body absorbs alcohol may depend on their sex, age, and body size.
- Drinking alcohol three days in a row is not good for you, but it’s not necessarily considered binge drinking either.
Chronic drinking can affect your heart and lungs, raising your risk of developing heart-related health issues. Over time, drinking can also damage your frontal lobe, the part of the brain responsible for executive functions, like abstract reasoning, decision making, social behavior, and performance. But more recent research suggests there’s really no “safe” amount of alcohol since even moderate drinking can negatively impact brain health. Past guidance around alcohol use generally suggests a daily drink poses little risk of negative health effects — and might even offer a few health benefits. Alcohol can cause both short-term effects, such as lowered inhibitions, and long-term effects, including a weakened immune system. Many people drink alcohol as a personal preference, during social activities, or as a part of cultural and religious practices.
Too much alcohol affects your speech, muscle coordination and vital centers of your brain. A heavy drinking binge may even cause a life-threatening coma or death. This is of particular concern when you’re taking certain medications that also depress the brain’s function. 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.
What’s Considered Binge Drinking?
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has information on how alcohol impacts your health. It also has resources to help those looking to change their drinking habits. Heavy drinking is believed to cost the U.S. economy more than $200 billion a year in lost productivity, health costs, and property damage. The cost of excessive alcohol use impacts everyone, whether they drink or not. In order to know how much alcohol you’re consuming, it’s good to understand how much goes into a drink you’re pouring for yourself. As there are many different kinds of malts, liquors and wines, it’s important to pay attention to the labels and serving sizes.
How to avoid the risks of binge drinking
After a single night of binge drinking, some of the short-term effects will go away. Many people assume the occasional beer or glass of wine at mealtimes or special occasions doesn’t pose much cause for concern. But drinking any amount of alcohol can potentially lead to unwanted health consequences. For women, more than three drinks on any day or more than seven drinks a week is heavy drinking.
Excessive alcohol use can harm people who drink and those around them. You and your community can take steps to improve everyone’s health and quality of life. 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. Alcohol withdrawal can be difficult and, in some cases, life threatening.
