Too much alcohol consumption increases risk of long-term health complications, physician warns

A public health expert, Dr. Taiwo Obembe ha cautioned against excessive consumption of alcohol, noting that it increases the threshold of alcohol tolerance and risk of long-term health complications.

According to Obembe, alcohol tolerance is the ability of persons to consume larger amounts of alcohol before feeling its effects.

Obembe, who is a public health specialist at the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, explained that regular consumption of huge volumes of alcohol usually increases tolerance level thus making the individual less tipsy or drunk.

He explained further that drinking alcohol regularly makes the body get accustomed to it while withdrawing from such also adjusts how the body responds to alcohol intake.

“When you stop taking alcohol your body tolerance for alcohol starts to reduce. If one used to get tipsy on two bottles before you’d start getting tipsy on one.”

“When you consume alcohol regularly, you’d begin to have an increased threshold to getting drunk. I think that is really what plays out with individuals having different thresholds,” he said.

He, however, stated that higher alcohol tolerance is not good, noting that it gives a false impression of how drunk someone really is.

Also, a report published by HuffPost – an American news blog, stated that people with high alcohol tolerance are at higher risk of long-term effects of excessive drinking and complications related to alcohol consumption.

“These include cirrhosis of the liver, brain disease, neuropathy, pancreatitis, and gastritis or stomach cancer,” the site added.

An online medical site also stated that high alcohol tolerance can signal an impending problem.

According to the site, tolerance to the effects of alcohol can influence drinking behaviour and consequences in many ways.

It noted that high alcohol tolerance can encourage greater alcohol consumption, contribute to alcohol dependence, cause organ damage, affect one’s performance of tasks, contribute to the ineffectiveness of medications and contribute to the risk of alcoholism.