5 Serious Short Term Effects of Alcohol Abuse

If alcohol consumption is not supervised or moderated, a person can fall into alcohol abuse. Although it doesn’t sound as serious as drug addiction, alcohol abuse can be as debilitating. It can cause a person to harm not just himself or herself but also other people. In fact, even the short-term effects of alcohol abuse are physically disabling. So, it needs to be treated immediately.

Five serious short term effects of alcohol abuse (alcohol in excess doses) include:

• Blurred vision
• Slower thought process
• Ataxia
• Death
• Korsakoff Psychosis

Blurred Vision

Because alcohol prevents the metabolism of glucose in the brain, the occipital lobe that requires glucose is only able to consume a small amount. The cells that also use the glucose to process images properly are unable to function optimally. The effect is blurred vision or the inability to see clearly.

Slower Thought Process

The N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors allow the brain to function for learning and remembering things. Alcohol, when absorbed by brain tissues, prevents the NMDA receptors from functioning. The GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) system that prevents activity in the brain is also activated by alcohol. With the NMDA receptors unresponsive and the GABA system activated, the brain is unable to complete the stages of memory formation.

Ataxia

Ataxia refers to a lack of muscle coordination which may affect speech, eye movements, the ability to swallow, walking, and other voluntary movements. Appendicular, gait and truncal ataxia results in uncoordinated limb movements and involuntary jerking.

A person who has taken too much alcohol will end up walking clumsily and in a swaying movement. Often, he or she will also stumble while walking. Ataxia results from the effect of alcohol on the cerebellum.

Death

Overdose of alcohol leads to poisoning and prevention of the respiratory system from working properly. Because of the poor functioning of the respiratory system, a person ends up experiencing respiratory depression, which could then lead to death.

Korsakoff Psychosis

This condition is an effect of alcoholism when an already present complication of excessive alcohol ingestion, such as Wernicke encephalopathy, is not treated. In Wernicke encephalopathy, a person experiences ataxia, ophthalmoplegia, impairment of short-term memory, and confusion.