*Alcoholic Beverages and the Elimination of Waste.*--Causing as it does
such serious diseases as cirrhosis of the liver and Bright's disease of
the kidneys (footnote, page 210), alcohol will greatly interfere in this
way with the elimination of waste. There is also evidence to the effect
that it interferes with waste elimination before the stage is reached of
causing disease of these organs. Researches have shown that alcohol
increases the amount of uric acid in the body and decreases the amount of
urea found in the urine. The conclusion to be drawn is that alcohol
interferes in some way with the change of the harmful uric acid into the
comparatively harmless urea--an interference which in some instances
results in great harm. It has also been shown that malted liquors, such as
beer and ale, contain substances which, like the caffein of tea and coffee
(page 167), are readily converted into uric acid.(76) Wines contain acids
which may also act injuriously. The harm which such substances do is, of
course, additional to that caused by the alcohol.
*Summary.*--As a result of the oxidations and other changes at the cells,
substances are produced that can no longer serve a purpose in the body.
They are of the nature of waste, and their continuous removal from the
body is as necessary to the maintenance of life as the introduction of
food and oxygen.
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