alcohol and physical health

Alcohol abuse can damage any part of the body. The damage may be direct, the consequence of alcohol’s effect on a particular cell, tissue, organ, or system, or it may be indirect, the consequence of alcohol’s profound alteration of the body’s internal chemical environment. The most common sites of damage are the nervous system, liver, and blood. The gastrointestinal system, heart, muscles, and reproductive organs also may be damaged. Although the mechanisms by which alcohol destroys cells and damages organs are multiple, complex, and only partly understood, it is believed that alcohol’s ability to penetrate membranes and disrupt membrane phenomena leads to cell death and is one of the most important pathways Alcohol abuse can damage any part of the body. The damage may be direct, theto somatic damage secondary to alcohol abuse.