Hi-
Recovering from break-up with alcoholic. It’s been months and saw picture of him and his eyes look a lot more closed, even when sober. You can see this in a lot of sober recovery pictures- people’s eyes tend to look a lot more open after becoming sober.
Is it because when drunk their eye muscles get more relaxed and then muscle deteriorates after continual drinking? Or are there other processes at play?
In: Biology
Alcohol consumption can cause systemic inflammation in the body — including in the face (where its often most noticable). When alcohol is broken down by your body, messenger compounds that cause inflammation, called cytokines, are distributed into your bloodstream.
The mechanisms that produce cytokines include, but are not strictly limited to:
– microbiome disruption — balance of “good” and “bad” bacteria is thrown off, causing intestinal permeability to increase
– increased permeability of the intestines — causes lipopolysaccharides to leak into the bloodstream, which causes inflammation
– direct damage to organs which triggers a defensive inflammatory response
– immune system suppression — if you consume alcohol chronically, your immune system is weakened which can cause infections and therefore inflammation
– increased production of reactive oxygen species — these are highly reactive molecules caused by alcohol metabolism which contributes to inflammation. Alcohol can also inhibit the removal of these compounds as well.
not exactly ELI5 friendly, but further reading here:
– https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/13/7154
– www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6668865
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