ALCOHOL consumption has a long history in Nigeria, especially in the southern region, where it is served for multiple societal functions. It flows during celebrations and significant events like the coronation, new yam festivals, child naming ceremonies and even funerals.
In the past, only adult men were culturally allowed to drink. It was a taboo for young people to drink alcohol because then, it was generally believed that “drinking is a sign of adulthood.” But even this has changed. Many young people drink alcohol – whether it’s out of curiosity, ignorance, peer pressure or other reasons.
In a recent study on alcohol consumption among Nigerian students from six Nigerian federal universities, spread across the six geopolitical zones and published in the Journal of Substance Use, about one third (31.4 percent) of the students reported past 30 days alcohol use. Also, 16.8 percent of students were consuming at low-risk levels; and 14.6 percent of students were consuming at high-risk levels (including heavy alcohol use and alcohol dependence).
Excessive drinking includes binge drinking, heavy drinking and drinking by pregnant women or minors.
Alcohol packaged in different sizes, particularly in sachets, at many motor parks in big cities makes such drinks come handy for commercial bus drivers and other buyers.
Nigeria is a key market for competing multinational alcohol companies. To gain market share, these companies have developed sophisticated and aggressive marketing methods targeted at young people, including adolescents. So, the number of heavy drinkers has increased. Consequently, alcohol-related issues such as cancer, violence, sexually-transmitted infections and truancy are also rising.
Health experts believe this development poses potential significant health risks to almost every part of the body, including the brain, bones and heart, insisting there is the need for greater regulation and awareness about the dangers of alcohol consumption.
Alcohol is a powerful chemical that can have a wide range of adverse effects on almost every part of the body. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), alcohol is responsible for three million deaths each year globally and accounts for more than five percent of global burden of disease as measured by Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), a health metric that combines healthy years of life lost due to mortality and disability.
Continuous consumption of alcohol is a known cause of liver disease, be it sudden onset hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, fibrosis, fatty liver or liver cancer, said Dr Kolawole Akande, a consultant gastroenterologist at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
Drugs and alcohol are processed in the liver. In the course of handling them, some of their breakdown products over time damage the liver and cause alcohol-induced hepatitis.
Dr Akande added: “it is not everybody that takes alcohol that will have a liver disease for whatever reason, maybe about 20 percent, depending on their genetic makeup, the type and amount of alcohol taken, the pattern of taking it and so on.
“But we don’t know who will end up with liver disease due to alcohol use. This is why we preach against continuous consumption of large amounts of alcohol, especially consumption of more than two bottles of beer per day for a man and one bottle of beer per day for a woman.”
He said it is not safe for anybody with a liver problem, including hepatitis B infection, to take any amount of alcohol.
“Hepatitis B infection will damage the liver; alcohol will damage the liver. So, it is like having two enemies of the liver. It is easier to be defeated by two enemies than one, all things being equal. So we encourage people with hepatitis B infection to say no to alcohol and for the general population, it shouldn’t be too much,” Dr Akande added.
Moreover, the liver, although responsible for filtering out toxins, like alcohol, can only filter a certain amount of alcohol at a time. For every alcoholic beverage consumed, it takes the body approximately one hour to process it.
If excessive alcohol is consumed, the unprocessed percentage circulates throughout the bloodstream and goes to other organs and tissues in the body, including the brain and heart. This is how people become intoxicated or drunk.
For many older people, drinking is an important and enjoyable part of social life. However, alcohol intake is not a lifestyle that is advisable for anybody, especially because of its effect on organs such as the liver and the brain.
“Ageing makes the body and its functioning more prone to the debilitating effects of alcohol, so we do not want them to drink alcohol,” Dr Bayo Akinosun, a consultant chemical pathologist, UCH, Ibadan, also added.
There is, however, no safe limit for alcohol and it can make certain-age related health problems become worse. According to Dr Temitope Farombi, a consultant neurologist at the Chief Tony Anenih Geriatric Centre at the UCH, Ibadan, alcohol can cause brain function to decline, especially in an intoxicated state.
According to her, “alcohol can worsen any brain abnormality. As a result of prolonged exposure to alcohol, the brain can shrink and this can come with irreversible memory impairment. It can lead to balance problems and so, older adults that drink are at a higher risk for hip and arm fractures, alcohol-related falls and other kinds of accidents. Also, drinking can increase the blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels, both of which are major risk factors for heart attacks and strokes.”
Alcohol has a suppressing effect on the brain and central nervous system. Research has shown that when alcohol is removed from the body, it activates brain and nerve cells, resulting in excessive excitability (hyperexcitability). This can lead to behavioural symptoms such as seizures.
Alcohol produces many damaging short and long-term effects on the brain. The short-term effects include memory impairment, loss of cognitive abilities and blurred vision. Particularly, alcohol can have adverse effects on the mental health and state of well-being.
In fact, the National Alliance on Mental Illness states that approximately one-third of people struggling with alcohol abuse also suffer from mental illness, including feelings of depression, anxiety and sleep disorders. Chronic, long-term use of alcohol is also linked to brain shrinkage and dementia.
There is a long-standing belief that alcohol has health benefits and that drinking has cardio-protective effects – a “little wine is good for the heart.” However, Dr Akinyemi Aje, a consultant cardiologist, added: “That is why in cardiology, we tell people to avoid taking alcohol. No one takes a glass of red wine and stops, though it is commonly said that a glass of red wine is good for the heart. That is not common; people just drink once it is available.”
The United Kingdom (UK) Department of Health recommendation appears to be moving away from this long held belief that a small amount of alcohol is good for the heart. The guideline said “there is no justification for recommending drinking on health grounds or for starting drinking for health reasons.”
It also said evidence in support of drinking alcohol in small amounts to maintain good health is “weaker than it was at that time in 1995.”
Professor Yomi Okunlola, a kidney expert at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex (OAUTHC) in Ile-Ife, Osun State, said chronic drinking can also cause kidney disease, including kidney failure.
According to him, excessive alcohol consumption can also lead to high blood pressure, which can increase the risk of developing kidney disease. Over time, alcohol use can lead to a sustained rise in blood pressure.
“If you combine a large dose of alcohol or a mixture of alcoholic drinks, it can cause both the kidney and liver to fail. The kidney or liver failure can either be acute, in which case, the organs with prompt and appropriate treatment will recover or chronic, whereby the failed organs will not recover. The chances of organ failure is higher also if the person is a binge drinker who does not eat well and is dehydrated.
“Alcohol poisoning can also occur when excessive amounts of alcohol in the blood start to interfere with the body’s functions like breathing, heart rate and gag reflex, which prevents choking. Moreover, alcohol poisoning can cause a person to fall into a coma and could lead to their death,” he said.
Signs of alcohol poisoning include confusion, vomiting, seizures (fits), slow breathing, pale or bluish skin, cold and clammy skin and unconsciousness.
According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), there is a widespread agreement among scientists that alcohol can cause several types of cancer, like head and neck cancer, liver cancer, colon cancer and breast cancer.
While drinking might appear as fun, this is outweighed by the harms of alcohol consumption. Better understanding in changing motives for drinking could inform interventions that can help stop harmful drinking practices and ensure abstinence and moderation in alcohol use.
and then