Alcohol has been shown to be directly toxic to the liver. Approximately 90 to 100 percent of heavy drinkers show evidence of fatty liver, an estimated 10 to 35 percent develop alcoholic hepatitis, and 10 to 20 percent develop cirrhosis. Fatty liver is reversible with abstinence, alcoholic hepatitis is usually reversible upon abstinence, and while alcoholic cirrhosis is often progressive and fatal, it can stabilize with abstinence. In addition to liver disease, heavy alcohol consumption causes chronic pancreatitis and malabsorption of nutrients . Alcohol-induced heart damage appears to increase with lifetime dose of alcohol.
Alcohol can damage the brain in many ways.
The most serious effect is Korsakoff's syndrome, characterized in part by an inability to remember recent events or to learn new information. The incidence of alcohol-related brain damage is approximately 10 percent of adult dementias in the United States. Milder attention and memory deficits may improve gradually with abstinence. Additional diseases strongly linked to alcohol consumption include failure of reproductive function and cancers of the mouth, larynx, and esophagus. Hospitalized alcoholics have also been found to have an increased prevalence of dental problems, compared with nonalcoholic psychiatric patients, including missing teeth and nonrestorable teeth.