“Habitual drinking increases the risk of cancer,” Scientists believe the increased risk comes when the body converts alcohol into acetaldehyde, a potent carcinogen (a cancer causing substance). Cancer usually is found in the following parts of the body in persons who engage in a behavior of alcohol abuse –the mouth, pharynx (throat), larynx (voice box), esophagus, liver, breast, and colorectal region. Cancer risk rises even higher in heavy drinkers who also use tobacco.

Heavy drinking, especially bingeing makes platelets more likely to clump together into blood clots, which can lead to heart attack or stroke.

Heavy drinking can cause epilepsy and can trigger seizures even in people who don’t have epilepsy. It can also interfere with the action of the medications used to treat convulsions.

A painful condition, gout is caused by the formation of uric acid crystals in the joints. Although some cases are largely hereditary, alcohol and other dietary factors seem to play a catalyst role. Alcohol also seems to aggravate existing cases and severity of the condition of gout.

Alcohol abuse can disrupt the functioning of the sympathetic nervous system, which, among other things, controls the constriction and dilation of blood vessels in response to stress, temperature, exertion, etc. Heavy drinking — and bingeing, in particular — can cause blood pressure to rise. Over time, this effect can become chronic. High blood pressure or hypertension can lead to many other health problems, including kidney disease, heart disease, and stroke.

Heavy drinking suppresses the immune system, providing an easy foothold for infections, including tuberculosis, pneumonia, HIV/AIDS, and other sexually transmitted diseases. People who drink heavily also are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior and practices. Heavy drinking is associated with a three-fold increase in the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease.

Heavy drinking can cause a form of nerve damage known as alcoholic neuropathy, which can produce a painful pins-and-needles feeling or numbness in the extremities as well as muscle weakness, incontinence, constipation, erectile dysfunction, among other problems. Alcoholic neuropathy may arise because alcohol is toxic to nerve cells, or because nutritional deficiencies attributable to heavy drinking compromise nerve function.

In addition to causing stomach irritation (gastritis), drinking can inflame the pancreas. Chronic pancreatitis interferes with the digestive process, causing severe abdominal pain and persistent diarrhea –and ‘it’s not fixable’. Some cases of chronic pancreatitis are triggered by gallstones, but up to 60% stem from alcohol consumption.