Alcohol Abuse vs Alcoholism Key Differences for Alcohol Misuse

Below we explore the specific parts of the body alcohol affects. When you drink too much alcohol, it can throw off the balance of good and bad bacteria in your gut. Your gut microbiome is a hotbed of bacteria that help keep your digestive system happy and healthy. The trillions of microbes distinguish between alcohol abuse and alcoholism in your colon and large and small intestines are critical to proper digestion. They also help fend off inflammation and support healthy metabolism. Cirrhosis, on the other hand, is irreversible and can lead to liver failure and liver cancer, even if you abstain from alcohol.

Personalized Medicine

This article discusses the physiological and psychological effects of alcohol and how to change your drinking habits. If you drink every day, or almost every day, you might notice that you catch colds, flu or other illnesses more frequently than people who don’t drink. That’s because alcohol can weaken your immune system, slow healing and make your body more susceptible to infection. In reality, there’s no evidence that drinking beer (or your alcoholic beverages of choice) actually contributes to belly fat. Because denial is common, you may feel like you don’t have a problem with drinking. You might not recognize how much you drink or how many problems in your life are related to alcohol use.

Cultural Norms

So, you don’t have to wait until alcohol use feels uncontrollable before reaching out for help. The most recent edition of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)” includes AUD as a mental health diagnosis. Below, we’ll compare and contrast these two patterns of alcohol use in more detail, plus offer some guidance on identifying your options for getting treatment and support. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism (NIAAA), women who have no more than 3 drinks on a given day and no more than 7 per week are at low-risk for developing AUD. By Geralyn Dexter, PhD, LMHCDexter has a doctorate in psychology and is a licensed mental health counselor with a focus on suicidal ideation, self-harm, and mood disorders. There’s been an uptick in non-alcoholic drink options, as more and more companies are creating alternatives.

Health Categories to Explore

To your body, alcohol is a toxin that interrupts your immune system’s ability to do its job, thereby compromising its function. Your liver produces enzymes that break down alcohol, but your liver can only handle so much alcohol at one time (approximately 1 ounce per hour). Long-term alcohol use can change your brain’s wiring in much more significant ways. Ways that your standard hangover cures won’t even begin to touch.

When Does Alcohol Abuse Become Alcohol Use Disorder (Alcoholism)?

• Alcohol marketing also can lead to youth and young adults developing alcohol brand preferences (Albers et al. 2014; Ross et al. 2015), which can influence their reports of alcohol consumption (Roberts et al. 2014).
• Steatotic liver disease develops in about 90% of people who drink more than 1.5 to 2 ounces of alcohol per day.
• Any amount of alcohol can diminish your judgment and functioning, and even low or moderate alcohol use can have harmful effects on different organs.
• Becoming cognitively impaired from excessive drinking of alcohol can lead to risky behaviors that can result in injury or death of an affected person or of others.

Thanks to generous benefactors, your gift today can have 5X the impact to advance AI innovation at Mayo Clinic. Named after the famous writer Ernest Hemingway, you might not act drunk even if you’ve had a lot to drink. Make sure your loved one will be there but isn’t aware of what’s going on. One analysis of 27 studies and over 10,000 participants showed that AA/12-step programs are the most effective ways to abstain from alcohol. Without realizing it, you could take risks that could put yourself or others in harm’s way.

This health condition is what’s responsible for a person experiencing alcohol withdrawal. If a person abuses alcohol, they are drinking more than the recommended amount for safe drinking habits by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Adolescent brains are more vulnerable to the negative effects of alcohol than adult brains. Misuse of alcohol during adolescence can alter brain development, potentially resulting in long-lasting changes in brain structure and function.

Lifestyle Changes