Does Alcohol Affect The Kidneys: The Truth Revealed

Does Alcohol Affect The Kidneys: The Truth Revealed

Everyone knows that having too much alcohol is not good for health, especially the kidneys. However, having a couple of drinks occasionally won't affect your health. However, alcohol addiction affects kidneys to a great extent and even causes kidney diseases.

Apart from filtering wastes, kidneys balance electrolytes and chemicals in the blood to maintain optimum blood pressure. When you drink too much alcohol, it causes dehydration. As such, the kidneys don't receive much blood and fail to perform effectively over time.

If you or someone you know is struggling with alcohol addiction, it is important to understand the relationship between alcohol and kidneys. And, how they can impact your overall health as well.

Alcohol affects your kidneys.

Keep in mind that your kidneys play a crucial role when it comes to maintaining several functions for your body. For example, kidneys flush out toxins and other substances from your body. Besides, kidneys help to maintain a healthy level of water.

Therefore, if kidneys fail to perform, your body suffers. When you consume alcohol regularly, it affects your kidneys in every possible way. Because kidneys don't function well, their ability to filter toxins are limited. Apart from that, alcohol cause certain changes to your kidneys as well.

The worst part is that the changes reduce the kidney's ability to filter to a great extent. As a result, kidneys work harder. But toxins start building in your blood. In addition, dehydration causes more harm to the kidneys.

In that case, your body loses its ability to maintain normal water levels. That way, other organs in your body are badly affected because of the deficiency of water. Furthermore, frequent drinking can cause kidney failure.

Does excessive drinking cause kidney cancer?

Alcohol has been linked with several types of cancer, such as breast cancer, colon cancer, liver cancer, and neck and head cancer. However, research in 2012 show that consumption of alcohol might be linked with developing kidney cancer. The risks are lower, though.

Drinking alcohol can result in kidney damage over time. Regular heavy drinking might increase the chances of chronic kidney disease, according to the National Kidney Foundation. It is a disease that isn't curable. Chances of developing chronic kidney disease from excessive drinking increase when you smoke.

One of the common risk factors that fuel kidney cancer is smoking. Binge drinking, which is having more than four drinks at a time, might cause a serious issue called acute kidney injury. The situation happens when alcohol builds up in your bloodstream quickly. As such, your kidneys find it hard to maintain the desired fluid balance.

What are the long-term effects of alcohol on kidneys?

There is no denying that excessive drinking can have a severe impact on your health in terms of long-term effects. As per National Kidney Foundation, if you consume two drinks of alcohol or even more per day, it increases the risk of developing high blood pressure.

And, one of the common reasons for developing chronic kidney disease is high blood pressure. In that case, your kidney can't filter blood effectively. Excessive alcohol consumption can result in developing liver disease and it puts more stress on your kidneys.

How much alcohol consumption is too much?

No amount of alcohol is healthy for your body and the same has been proved in a study. Despite that, many experts believe that light to moderate consumption of alcohol won't bring serious health problems. And, the same is true for most people.

Although some experts would argue that any amount of alcohol is too much, some of them are against heavy use of alcohol. Heavy alcohol use for men is having more than fourteen drinks in one week or four drinks in a day.

Heavy alcohol use for women is drinking over seven drinks in a week or drinking more than three in a day. Remember that the effects of alcohol are more for people with other health problems or the elderly compared to the general population.

What are the kidney damage symptoms from alcohol abuse?

Although alcohol abuse is one of the reasons for having damaged kidneys, there are almost no symptoms of kidney damage caused due to alcohol use. Still, kidney damage from other factors or even from alcohol has several symptoms. Listed below are the symptoms of kidney damage that you may experience because of alcohol use.

• Muscle cramping
• Itchy, dry skin
• Difficulty in sleeping
• Foamy urine
• Decreased energy
• Pink or red urine
• Swelling in the feet or legs
• Urinating in smaller amounts or less frequently than normal
• Urinating in larger amounts or more frequently than normal

So, these are the indications that may suggest kidney disease. But these symptoms can't be used to diagnose and confirm that a person has kidney disease. Several types of medical examinations are necessary to find out if kidney damage occurred or not.

The relation between alcohol and kidney disease

As said earlier, several factors lead to kidney disease. In many cases, lifestyle and family history might be the reasons for having a kidney disease. But alcohol consumption dramatically increases the chances of developing kidney diseases.

When you start to misuse alcohol, you can experience many problems relating to your kidneys. Excessive use of alcohol increases these problems. As such, you develop kidney disease or kidney damage. Developing a kidney disease resulting from alcohol addiction can give you other health issues.

Kidney disease from alcohol use leads to the following issues.

• Bone weakness
• Anemia
• Chronic fatigue
• Central nervous system damage
• Fluid retention
• Poor immune system
• Difficulties in breathing
• Seizures
• Sexual dysfunction

Acute kidney injury is an effect of alcohol use

As discussed earlier, even binge drinking can have an impact on your kidneys in the form of acute kidney injury. This injury occurs when there are toxin build-ups in your bloodstream. It happens faster than your kidneys can filter. The injury may lead to certain symptoms such as -

• Fatigue
• Decrease in urination
• Breathing problems
• Swollen face and limbs
• Confusion
• Vomiting or nausea
• Chest pain

Most importantly, if you don't seek proper medical treatment even after having an acute kidney injury, it can result in a coma or seizures.

Alcohol use on kidneys can result in urinary tract infections

Although indirectly, alcohol addiction can lead to urinary tract infections. Typically, it spreads to the bladder and causes kidney pain. Besides, the inner lining of the bladder gets irritated because of the acidity that the alcohol produces.

In addition, alcohol consumption in excess makes your kidneys dehydrated. Also, it is another cause of urinary tract infections. Other than kidney pain, its symptoms are mentioned below.

• An intense feeling of urination even if little fluid coming out
• Pain when urinating
• The urine may contain traces of blood, sometimes
• Smelly or dark urine
• A fever
• Back and stomach pain

Impact of alcohol use on one kidney

Humans have two kidneys. But only one kidney is enough for your body to function well. However, if you have one kidney due to some issues, you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, if you are living with one kidney and still prefer to drink alcohol, the results could be devastating.

A healthy lifestyle should include regular checkups, exercise, and a nutritious diet. It means a person with only one kidney has to stay away from alcohol. The risk of kidney disease increases more if you have one kidney.

It's no secret that a person can lead a happy life even with one kidney. But alcohol consumption can damage one kidney beyond repair. Also, kidney damage can attract other kinds of health issues as well.

Your kidneys play an important role when it comes to balancing body fluid. Additionally, it retains protein in the blood while controlling blood pressure. Alcohol tends to stress your kidneys. Hence, if you have one kidney, alcohol use can result in complete damage to the kidney.

Can your damaged kidneys recover from alcohol use?

Most of the time, kidneys can recover from damage caused due to alcohol use. Studies show that most of the problems resulting from alcohol consumption are resolved within four weeks. And during this period, the person should abstain from consuming alcohol.

In general, the kidneys heal on their own after the stress of heavy consumption of alcohol is over. But there are several occasions where the stress is too much, ultimately damaging the kidneys.

It depends on several factors when it comes to kidney recovery. These might include how long the individual is engaged in alcohol abuse, the type of kidney damage, and the presence of other health problems.

Alcohol addiction treatment

The extent of kidney damage only increases when you continue to use alcohol heavily. If you are experiencing kidney problems, quitting alcohol is the only way. While there are several ways to treat alcohol, you may be surprised to know that you can quit alcohol easily.

And, it doesn't involve medication, rehab, willpower, and so on. All you need to do is sign up for a free quit drinking webinar. The best part is that you can get a free copy of Alcohol Lied To Me' to attend the webinar.

Furthermore, the author performs a live support session on YouTube every Wednesday at 9 am EST. So, what are you waiting for? Reclaim your life by joining the webinar now.