Introduction:
Alcohol abuse interferes with the abilities of the bone marrow to produce those cells and makes a person feel tired, weak, and vulnerable to infection. At the same time, excessive drinking destroys both white and red blood cells, and the bone marrow creates platelets which are responsible for blood clotting. Chronic excessive alcohol ingestion reduces the number of blood cell precursors in the bone marrow and causes structural abnormalities in the non-functional mature blood cells.
Can Alcohol Affect the Bone Marrow?
Bone marrow is used to fill the vacant space in the bone as it is spongy and produces red and white blood cells and platelets. This means that alcohol can affect the bone marrow in the same ways that it affects the rest of the body and causes problems with the ability of the bone marrow to produce new blood cells, which can lead to anemia or weaken the immune system. Alcohol also has a bad impact on calcium absorption in the bone marrow, so too much alcohol over a long period may lead to a weak skeleton and an increased risk of injury and disease. Alcohol can also cause fatty deposits in the liver to build up, which makes it harder for the liver to produce proteins that are important for blood clotting. This can increase the risk of bleeding and bruising after injury or any surgery.
How Does Alcohol Affect Bone Health in the Case of Osteoporosis?
When it comes to the question of the amount of alcohol a person can consume in a day, studies say it is generally safe for women to take one drink in a day, and men can take two drinks in a day. But when a person has osteoporosis, it means they have a low bone density with bone thinning at some point that can fracture more easily. Alcohol affects bone density and how much nutrients the body consumes for bone regeneration.
Excess intake of alcohol can harm the body in different ways:
- Vitamin and Mineral Absorption: Excessive drinking has negatively affected bone health as it affects nutrients as well as calcium and vitamin D absorption. Alcohol can decrease the absorption of calcium through the intestine, and it can have effects on the pancreas and vitamin D metabolism, which has the worst impact on bone density. Alcohol disturbs the production of vitamin D and calcium absorption in the body and puts the body at higher risk for fractures after falls.
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Production of Hormone: Research finds that chronic heavy drinking can cause hormone deficiencies in men and women. Alcoholic men may produce less testosterone, that is, cells that stimulate bone formation, and in women, overconsumption of alcohol can decrease estrogen, which hurts bone density. Bone loss is also associated with a decrease in estrogen during menopause, as estrogen can inhibit bone breakdown and may stimulate bone formation.
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Bone Cell Turnover: Excessive consumption of alcohol negatively affects bone-building osteoblast cells and suppresses the formation of bone marrow cells that play an important role and also contribute to repairing bone deficiency. This can increase the risk of bone fracture and other demerits.
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Fall Risk: It is very obvious that the more a person is exposed to alcohol, the more the body will generally suffer while getting unconscious, which can lead to osteoporosis fracture if the bone is already prone to it due to its thin structure.
Is Consuming Alcohol Good for Health?
It varies according to the condition, frequency, and quantity of intake of alcohol. A study found that people who consume about one alcoholic drink a day had a lower risk of hip fractures. Earlier, some researchers concluded that women over 65 who consumed more than five drinks per week had a lower risk of vertebral deformity than those who had one drink per week. There are some estimations done for regular and irregular drinkers:
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People who consumed 0.5 drinks per day had 1.38 times the risk of developing osteoporosis.
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People who consumed one to two drinks per day had 1.34 times the risk of developing osteoporosis.
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People who consumed two drinks or more per day had a 1.63 times more risk of developing osteoporosis.
How Does Alcohol Increase the Risk of Bone Fracture?
There is a huge link between heavy drinking and increased fracture risk:
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In addition, many alcohol-induced bone diseases generally cause bone loss, also known as osteopenia, and can cause deficient bone repair.
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Alcohol’s toxic effects on osteoblast activity are dependent on dose, and this has been proven in human, animal, and cell-culture studies.
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Alcohol-induced bone loss is distinct from post-menopausal osteoporosis and diffuse osteoporosis.
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Alcohol-induced bone loss is associated with abnormalities of cells in the bone marrow.
How Does Alcohol Affect Osteoblast Activity?
Due to chronic consumption of excessive alcohol, skeletal abnormalities occur, such as bone loss and deficient bone healing. Alcohol adversely affects osteoblast activity and suppresses new bone formation, which is needed in both normal bone remodeling and fracture healing. In addition, drinking alcohol may cause bone marrow suppression with a decrease in healthy white blood cell counts that are already compromised by leukemia (blood cancer). Further on, it weakens the immune system, leading to a decreased ability to defend against cancer cells.
What Could Be the Hematological Changes?
Alcohol consumption affects the blood in different ways. They are:
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Anemia: Chronic alcohol consumption leads to nutritional deficiencies that cause macrocytic anemia - enlarged red blood cells.
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Thrombocytopenia: A decrease in platelet count responsible for blood clotting.
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Leukopenia: Chronic alcohol consumption suppresses the production of white blood corpuscles, which compromises the immune system.
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Liver Damage: Excess consumption of alcohol affects the liver, resulting in damage and liver cirrhosis. The proteins involved in blood clotting are produced by the liver. Liver damage results in coagulation issues and bleeding disorders.
The degree of these hematological changes depends on the level and duration of alcohol consumption. Abstaining from alcohol and taking nutritional supplements help in improving blood health.
How It Can Be Treated?
Treatment of the condition relies on dietary modifications and habit withdrawal.
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Detoxification: Medical detoxification is necessary, which helps to manage withdrawal symptoms.
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Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET): This therapy helps to motivate to withdraw from the habit.
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Support Groups: Engaging in support groups helps to focus on self-empowerment and self-reliance. For severe cases, inpatient support groups can be helpful.
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Aftercare Prevention: Aftercare prevention includes ongoing therapy, support groups, and relapse prevention strategies to aid in long-term success.
In extreme cases, medications are required along with the other methods.
Conclusion:
As mentioned above how alcohol can give rise to serious complications in different parts of the body; it can increase the sugar level and promote sexual problems, reproductive health, immune system, central nervous system, digestive system, cancer, circulatory system, and muscle problems. An adequate amount of consumption is helpful for the body, but people use it to overdose, which results in bad health. Bone is an essential part of the body, and consuming alcohol in excessive amounts can affect health badly.
