Most people who are partying through the night at bars and nightclub aren't wondering how alcohol affects their nervous system. The main goal is to get drunk and have a good time. Yet alcohol inhibits the brain's ability to send signals to the spinal cord and nerve endings. The nervous system slows down greatly because it is absorbed right into the blood stream. Alcohol works the same as a sedative without the benefit of going through your digestive system. Because it enters directly into your blood stream, it is very dangerous.

Your nerves control the speed in which your organs operate. They also manage your heart rate and breathing. And since you can't control the way your nerve manage these functions, over drinking can cause shallow breathing or worse. This is because the brain can't understand the signals correctly.

There are many short and long term affects to your system that alcohol can cause. These affects depend on how much you consume and for how long. Some people have higher tolerance levels than others which also accounts for certain affects. As you drink for a long period of time your cells become thicker and cause your body to take longer to fight off infection. Many serious conditions and problems can result in this thickening of cells. Heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and dementia are just a few things that can happen as a result of alcohol.

So when you are considering going on your weekly or nightly bender, remember that thousands of people die each year in the US alone because of alcohol. We illustrated the way alcohol damages your health, but even before that it could still kill you. Drunk driving is a serious problem, and this is due to the signal delay between the brain and the body's response. The driver often believes that he or she is under complete control of the vehicle, but because of the brain's inhibited function, the driver can't accurately determine things like distance, speed, or depth. So the next time you drink, you should look at yourself seriously and not deny the situation. This may be a perception that could save your life or the life of someone else.