Six reasons to steer clear of alcohol drinks

Alcohol is one of the most favorite drinks across the world, but its intoxicating and dependence-producing properties play a role in violence, child neglect and abuse, shattered relationships and poor job performance. It also causes:

1 Depression: A number of studies have shown that alcohol increases the risk of depression. Nearly one-third of all people with major depression have an alcohol problem, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

Depression may be a particularly significant trigger for alcohol use in women, who are more than twice as likely to start drinking heavily if they have a history of depression.

2 Risky sexual behaviour: Alcohol is a leading cause of risky sexual behaviours such as unprotected sex and sex with multiple partners and produces an increased risk of sexual assault.

These behaviours often result in unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections such as human papilloma virus (HPV) and HIV in both men and women.  HPV is a significant threat and is the leading cause of cervical cancer, the third most common malignancy in women.

3 Cancer: Alcohol is also known to increase cancer of the liver, breast, colon, oesophagus, throat and mouth. Studies have linked the risk of breast cancer to increase proportionally in relation to the amount of alcohol use in women.  The more alcohol consumed, the greater the cancer risk.

4 Heart problems: Heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure can develop from the harmful use of alcohol. Approximately 80 per cent of all cardiovascular diseases are preventable through lifestyle related factors.

Alcohol use is a leading risk factor for poor dietary choices, inadequate physical activity levels and tobacco use.  Recent studies have shown that women who drink excessively are at an increased risk for damage to the heart muscle in comparison to men. 

The findings highlighted that women were at greatest risk even if they had lower levels of consumption.

5 Infertility: Excessive drinking also disrupts a female’s reproductive health and can increase the risk of infertility and even more serious, higher rates of miscarriages, stillbirths and premature deliveries.  Men are more likely to drink in larger quantities, but women commonly have smaller structures and break down alcohol slightly different than men. 

This will result in higher alcohol levels in the blood that ultimately will impact a female longer despite drinking an equal amount.

6 Liver cirrhosis: Alcohol can cause irreversible scarring of the liver, called cirrhosis, a progressive disease that develops slowly over many years until eventually the liver fails.

Heavy female drinkers are more likely to develop symptoms versus men who consume the same amount. Individuals with cirrhosis have a much higher risk of developing liver cancer.  

Men are equally at risk and often drink more, more regular, and experience higher rates of accidents and injuries. Traffic accidents are still the leading cause of alcohol-related death among young men aged 16 to 24.