The kidneys have a very crucial part to play in eliminating all the noxious, unwanted wastes from the body by sluicing them out in the form of urine. Alcohol is one such useless substance. Alcohol provides no nutrition to the body, dehydrates the tissues in your body and builds up calories.
Consuming too much of alcohol can produce uncomfortable symptoms like – frequent urination, increased urgency to pass urine and poor bladder control with involuntary urination. Alcohol ranks very high on the list of bladder irritants. Alcohol irritates the bladder; it is also a diuretic which makes you empty the bladder more frequently. A series of nerve signals is in charge of the bladder-emptying process. Alcohol dulls these nerves, and fills the bladder up without sending signals to empty it, thereby contributing to a leakage.
Given that the kidneys manufacture urine and send it down the bladder, kidney health is essential in the management of an irritable bladder.
How Does Drinking Alcohol Affect The Kidneys?
Kidneys filter out waste materials and also keep the body well hydrated. Your kidneys can handle limited amounts of alcohol, however, when the quantity of alcohol becomes excessive in the blood, the kidneys are forced to work harder than normal and this results in a disproportionate passage of urine, which brings about dehydration in the body.
The kidneys use the anti-diuretic hormone to manage the amount of fluids discarded in the urine, thus maintaining a proper balance between the water levels released and absorbed by the body. Alcohol suppresses the release of the anti-diuretic hormone into the blood, thus causing dehydration, and in due course impairment of the kidneys.
When large amounts of urine are produced, it affects the renal pelvis and causes discomfort, pain and frequent urination. By and large, you will notice that the pain tends to subside as soon as urine is passed.
Alcoholism causes liver disease too, and this in turn affects the way the kidneys function. When the liver gets impaired, the rate of flow of blood to the kidneys gets affected too.
How To Overcome Effects Of Alcohol?
When you experience these symptoms, it is your body telling you that you have crossed the line and have consumed too much alcohol. It is vital that you discontinue drinking before graver symptoms set in.
It is not necessary that you have to be an alcoholic to experience these symptoms. Even occasional drinkers get affected. You need to do what your body wants you to do; listen to it and stop drinking.
Those who are heavy drinkers need to minimize, or better still eliminate drinking alcohol. Ensuring that you are well hydrated is very crucial to revive your body from the dehydrating after effects of alcohol consumption. Confer with your health care provider and seek proper diagnosis and treatment. In case you are an alcoholic, you need to go a rehab and / or seek counseling to manage the condition better.