Areas of the body affected by alcoholism. Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can seriously harm your health, damaging the liver, kidneys, heart, brain and central nervous system. We already discussed long-term damage to the brain. Over time, alcohol can inflict serious damage on other body parts as well. Liver: The liver is particularly vulnerable to the effects of alcohol because it is the organ in which alcohol and other toxins are metabolized (broken down into less harmful substances to be removed from the body).