Alcohol and Your Kidney Health: Heres What to Know

Many studies have shown that alcohol consumption is related to cardiovascular disease, urinary protein, and CKD 3,6,16,45,66–69. This review focused on 21 clinical studies of the relationship between alcohol consumption and CKD, including 13 cohort studies and 8 cross-sectional studies. The characteristics of the study design and other details of these studies are presented in Table 1. Therefore, the effect of ethanol on the kidney is beyond our original understanding. Alcohol can not only directly damage the kidney, but also causes renal dysfunction by damaging other organs.

Abnormal immunoreaction and renal tubular dysfunction to alcohol consumption

Permanent damage to your kidneys happens with regular heavy drinking over time. The amount of time that it takes for kidneys to become damaged depends on genetics, the amount of alcohol consumed, and many other factors. While drinking alcohol in moderation (one or two drinks every once in a while) probably won’t harm your body, excessive alcohol consumption and binge drinking can have negative effects on your physical and mental health. It can also do serious damage to your organs, including your kidneys.

Drink in Moderation, If at All

Drinking too much fluid with kidney disease can cause a build-up of fluid and other severe health conditions. Some kidney disease patients may be required to limit their fluid intake and thus need to factor in the alcohol they consume into their daily fluid allowance. While alcohol mainly impacts the liver, there have been recorded cases where alcoholic liver disease has directly caused kidney disease. This may happen in people with alcoholic hepatitis or alcoholic cirrhosis. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that most adults (2 out of 3) in the U.S. consume alcohol.

Dr. Blake Shusterman

• Although alcohol-related liver disease is increasing across all populations of both genders, we are specifically seeing it more commonly in younger women.
• Therefore, the effect of ethanol on the kidney is beyond our original understanding.
• The altered anatomy influences how alcohol is metabolized in the body and people with a history of bariatric surgery may be at increased risk of developing severe liver disease with less amounts of alcohol as compared to the general population.
• Always consult your healthcare provider to determine what’s safe for you.
• Whereas AKI tends to resolve with time, CKD may worsen over time — although some individuals are able to stay relatively stable with CKD with close monitoring and lifestyle changes, such as quitting alcohol.
• Some studies found that ethanol has an influence on renal damage, such as apoptosis and epithelial mesenchymal transdifferentiation.

There is a lower risk of ischemic heart disease for moderate drinkers without heavy drinking occasions and a higher risk for drinkers with the same average amount who engaged in heavy episodic drinking 76. Moreover, the harmful effect of episodic heavy drinking seems to be more obvious in people with light alcohol consumption, and it may be related to a rise in platelet reactivity and thrombosis after binge drinking 9. Excessive drinking can Sobriety have serious long-term effects on your health.

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Furthermore, approximately 10% of ingested ethanol is excreted by the kidneys in its original form 21. Therefore, excessive alcohol consumption places a major strain on the normal metabolic processes of the kidneys. While binge drinking can cause acute kidney injury, it can also lead to chronic kidney damage.

Alcohol causes an initial dip in blood pressure that quickly elevates, leading to high blood pressure for several hours after drinking. Binge drinking can cause severe increases in blood pressure, while heavy drinking over time causes chronically high blood pressure. For instance, a high intake of sugary beverages or high-sodium foods may strain the kidneys (1, 2), potentially leading to kidney damage over time. Hence, we sought to examine the association of alcohol consumption with the change and rapid decline in kidney function over 12 years in a South Korean population-based cohort study. Occasional drinking, one or two drinks now and then, usually doesn’t harm kidney function.

Oxidative Stress

• Excessive alcohol use can also cause liver disease, which in turn puts more stress on the kidneys.
• Hu et al. found that people who consume high levels of alcohol may have poorer-quality diets than never drinkers and light-to-moderate drinkers; however, the protective effects of alcohol consumption are not offset by their unhealthy diets 83.
• Alcohol consumption, including vodka and red wine, also reduced serum insulin concentrations and enhanced the insulin sensitivity index 24,25.
• It’s important to note that refraining from alcohol is preferable for overall health and well-being.

However, as alcohol consumption how does alcohol affect kidneys can lead to adverse events, such as hypertension, cerebral hemorrhage, alcohol addiction, and tendencies toward violence, clinicians should not advise non-drinkers to start drinking. Some studies found that ethanol has an influence on renal damage, such as apoptosis and epithelial mesenchymal transdifferentiation. Nesreen and Sayed discovered that alcohol consumption significantly increased renal caspase3, caspase8, and caspase9 activity, and ethanol toxicity can increase the ratios of Bax and Bcl-2 in kidney tissues compared to a control group 24,25. This indicates that long-term ethyl alcohol consumption can activate both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways of apoptosis in the kidneys (Figure 1).

• As a consequence, oxidative stress not only propagates kidney failure, but it also contributes to the progression of chronic heart failure (Pacher et al. 2005) and leads to a vicious cycle in alcohol-induced cardiovascular complications.
• Heavy drinking is considered more than three drinks in a day (or more than seven per week) for women and those assigned female at birth, and more than four drinks in a day (or more than 14 per week) for men and those assigned male at birth.
• It is possible that the contradictory findings are the result of varying effects of different types of alcoholic beverages on the kidney, or the result of different alcohol consumption patterns in different countries.

Effects of Ethanol on the Kidneys

AKF works on behalf of 1 in 7 Americans living with kidney disease, and the millions more at risk, to support people wherever they are in their fight against kidney disease — from prevention through post-transplant living. Certain autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and vasculitis, may cause inflammation that affects the kidneys. There are a lot of misconceptions out there when it comes to how alcohol affects your kidneys and what creates kidney problems. Below, we separate fact from fiction when it comes to your overall health and alcohol. Liver disease related to alcohol use has become one of the leading causes of severe liver injury in the U.S. and is even being diagnosed in people in their 20s and 30s.

Again, alcohol is more of a catalyst or contributing factor to bladder cancer rather than a direct cause. Nonetheless, it’s safest to avoid alcohol consumption if you have bladder cancer, especially heavy drinking. Considering that alcohol can significantly irritate the bladder, this could worsen symptoms. Therefore, we need more evidence to determine whether abstinence can relieve and heal the kidney damage caused by long-term alcohol consumption and the effects of alcohol abstinence on the prognosis of patients with CKD. How long the person engaged in heavy alcohol use, the presence of other health problems and the types of kidney damage that occurred play an important role in how recovery progresses.

• In fact, alcoholism is a serious problem in Asia, where 10.6–23.67% of men and 1.84–5.3% of women have a history of excessive alcohol consumption 3–9.
• He has been recognized as a “Top Doc” by Phoenix Magazine and is a two-time recipient of the Medical Director Excellence Award for DaVita’s Westside Division.
• While a short-term problem, it is often very serious and can even be life-threatening in some situations.
• In addition, some studies proved that alcohol consumption aggravates kidney injury in diabetic nephropathy rats 64.

If you have kidney disease that leads to kidney failure, you will need regular dialysis or a kidney transplant. People who tend to experience alcohol and bladder-related problems also struggle with kidney problems. Considering how connected these organs are in terms of function, any alcohol-related bladder damage can have a domino effect, starting with the kidneys.