How Alcohol Affects Your Body

Your Brain-Alcohol, even in small amounts,causes irreparable damage to the brain cells;some die and others are altered.

Your Heart- Alcohol increases the risk of hypertension, stroke,and damage to the heart muscle.

Your Lungs-Alcohol; depress respiratory functions.

Your Reproductive System-In men, alcohol can damage cells in the testes, causing impotence, sterility, and possibly enlarged breasts. In women, alcohol can can cause irregular menstrual cycles and malfunctioning of the ovaries.Alcohol has also been linked to birth defects in infants and to fetal alcohol syndrome.

Your Liver-Because your liver must filter alcohol from the blood, alcohol affects it more than any other organ of your body:

• Excess calories in alcohol are stored as fat in the liver.
• Functioning liver cells die from alcoholic poisoning.
• Scar tissues replaces dead cells, causing cirrhosis.

Your immune system-Alcohol weakens the body's defense against infection and breast cancer.

From the book, You -Turn by Hans Diehl and Aileen Ludington.