HAD one too many? Alcohol can wreak havoc on your immune system from the moment you start imbibing.

Majid Afshar, who treats trauma patients at Loyola University Health System in Chicago, wondered if alcohol consumption might affect his patients’ immune functioning, and hence their treatment.

He and his colleagues asked volunteers to down 4 or 5 shots of vodka within 20 minutes – taking them over the drink-driving limit. They took blood samples from the participants over the next few hours.

The team isolated immune cells from the samples, presented them with proteins found on potentially harmful bacteria and measured their response. They found that, at first, the immune system ramps up, but within a few hours there is an anti-inflammatory phase during which its responses are weakened (Alcohol, doi.org/xvn).


It is the first time immediate effects of alcohol on the human immune system have been observed. If binge drinking can start affecting a person’s immune system – and the way they respond to illness or injury – within an hour, doctors should take this into account, says Afshar.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Booze hits immune system immediately”