Your Brain - Alcohol is a depressant that slows brain activity. While one or two drinks makes most people feel relaxed, more alcohol may cause feelings of anxiety, depression, and often aggression. As you consume more alcohol, and it reaches the cerebellum, your coordination and perception are affected, and you can have memory blackouts. As the alcohol reaches your mid-brain, reflexes diminish, you experience confusion, stupor, and may lapse into a coma. Once the alcohol finally reaches the medulla, or inner core of the brain, your heart rate drops and breathing ceases, resulting in death.
Research suggests that continued alcohol use can cause depression.
Alcohol robs brain cells of water and glucose, the brain's food, contributing to a hangover the next day. The stomach is irritated by alcohol, causing increased stomach acid production, causing heartburn and eventually ulcers. Alcohol use is linked to cancer of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, and intestines. The liver, due to its role in breaking down alcohol, suffers the most damage. Alcohol use leads to destruction of liver cells, fat accumulation around the liver, and cirrhosis, which is a fatal condition.