Overview
- A peer‑reviewed update in the journal Addiction reviews epidemiology and genetic studies and concludes alcohol is a major cause of disease and injury.
- The review maps links to cancers, heart and brain disease, diabetes, liver and pancreas damage, infections, and injuries across everyday life.
- WHO’s ICD‑11 lists more than 60 disorders that exist only because of alcohol use, including alcoholic liver disease, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, and fetal alcohol syndrome.
- Some harms ease after people cut back or quit, with immune and some heart functions improving within days to weeks, though long‑term damage can persist.
- Experts note even one binge can blunt immune responses for up to 24 hours and that impairment at low doses raises risks for crashes, falls, and violence.