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The effects of alcohol essay
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Intoxication Will Slow Down Your Reaction Time
The experiment tests how long it takes the brain to translate visual
information (falling ruler) into your voluntary (or conscious) motor
commands and actions (grasping finger movements) that lead to the
ruler being caught. The shorter the time, the faster your reactions.
That’s if you were paying attention in the first place! Indeed
practice specifically affects the ‘associative centers’ in the brain,
so that you can respond faster to what’s happening in your visual
world. The flow of information along the ‘visual’ and ‘motor’ nerve
pathways is relatively constant even with lots of practice.
ALCOHOL CONSUMTION
==================
Alcohol is classified as a depressant because it slows down the
central nervous system, causing a decrease in motor coordination,
reaction time and intellectual performance. At high doses, the
respiratory system slows down drastically and can cause a coma or
death.
Alcohol can be taken up by any body surface but is most efficiently
taken up as it is usually consumed; after drinking an alcoholic
beverage. Alcohol is absorbed over almost the entire length of the
digestive tract. Absorption from the mouth and oesophagus (canal
between mouth and stomach) is minimal. Ethanol absorption from the
stomach may vary between 10 and 30 %. The remainder of the ethanol is
absorbed from the duodenum and small intestine. Overall, more than 90%
of all alcohol consumed is absorbed, irrespective of the presence of
food in the stomach. Uptake is slowed down in the presence of food and
uptake is faster-- when alcohol concentrations are higher.
After uptake a...
... middle of paper ...
... results I think
that I would like to investigate what other effects alcohol has on the
body. Such as does it affect heart rate, etc. or the other root I
could take is to investigate what other things effect someone’s
reaction time, such as drugs and caffeine. Another interesting study
which I would like to investigate further is to do an investigation
similar to this but give each participant the same amount of alcohol
but then change it so one participant hasn’t eaten anything and then
that each of my other participants have eaten the same thing but at
different times throughout the day, and see if this has any effect on
how the body absorbs the alcohol after food consumption. Then this
could be modified by giving participants different types of food. For
example bread. Because this is mend to absorb alcohol quicker.
One topic that is a big part in the experiment, testing how reaction time is affected by the influence of peppermint candy, is reaction time. Reaction time can be defined as the amount of time an organism takes to respond to stimulus, or a thing or event that evokes a specific functional reaction in an organ or tissue. For example, the International Encyclopedia of The Social Sciences explained reaction time
Zeigler, Donald. "The neurocognitive effects of alcohol on adolescents and college students." Preventive Medicine 40. (2004): 23 – 32. Web. 10 Apr. 2014. .
"Alcohol's Effects on the Body." National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. . (tags: none | edit tags)
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Driving while drunk is one of the very dangerous things in the life of a driver. Drivers who work under high Blood Alcohol Concentration also known as (BAC) usually expressed as a percentage of ethanol in the blood consisting of alcohol per volume of blood or alternatively mass of alcohol per mass of blood. These drivers are at a great increase of car risk accidents, vehicular deaths as well as highway risks. Drinking under the Influence commonly known as DUI simply refers to driving a motor vehicle while one has level of alcohol in their blood exceeding the legal limit. This is not limited to alcoholic content but covers other drugs that include but are not limited to prescription drugs. This leads the driver to lack coordination, experience double vision, brief blackouts and have a slurred speech. Driving under the influence causes brain impairment leading to a person feeling that they can manage a situation just like they have always handled it before. This is always as a result of poor reasoning and judgment which leaves one vulnerable to the deadly effects of drunk driving.
Alcohol abuse can be very dangerous because it can come at a time when a person is going through the bad times in their life. The only thing drugs do is worsens people’s lives because the behavior of the victim can change dramatically. Many drink at social events, to celebrate or relax. The problem is that many of the drinkers end up drinking more than what the body can withstand. According to the National institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism (2014), alcohol enters the blood as soon as the first sip and affect the body in as early as ten minutes. The amount then increase depending on the amount of drinks and the effects range from impairment, breathing problems, slurred speech, and coma. Some can even experience death as a result of becoming intoxicated because of having too much alcohol in the bloodstream. National institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism (2014). A young adult is more likely to experience a change in their mood and behavior because they are goi...
Alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse involve drinking patterns in which periods of heavy drinking followed with periods of abstinence. Alcohol generally has a suppressive effect on the central nervous system (CNS): It reduces the activity of excitatory neurotransmitters and enhances the activity of inhibitory neurotransmitters and thus their receptors. After long-term alcohol exposure, the body activates a set of mechanisms to counteract the effects of alcohol’s persistent presence in the brain. These mechanisms promote the activity of excitatory neurotransmitter systems and suppress the activity of inhibitory neurotransmitter systems, thereby attempting to return brain function to a “normal” state in the presence of alcohol. When the individual stops drinking, however, these adaptive changes result in an imbalance in inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmission, resulting in CNS hyperexcitability that produces as alcohol withdrawal (AW) symptoms. This essay will focus on the main inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmission systems and the symptoms produced in AW due to the imbalance in the brain. Followed by outlining other physiological changes alterations that are associated with AW.
Almost every adult you encounter can say they have been drunk or slightly intoxicated some point throughout their life, but how many can admit to drunk driving. The use of alcohol when driving is completely frivolous and endangers the lives of others that share the road or is even a passenger in the vehicle. Penalties for DUIs should be harsher as if it was attempted murder or drug use. With the slightest mistake or misjudgment can cost you your own life or the life of someone else.
Alcohol is a large part of American culture. All over the United States drinking is not only acceptable but a social norm from teenagers to adults. This is not only the case in the U.S., but all over the world, where some drinking ages are 18 and 19 years of age. In America specifically, alcohol has been around for centuries and is a large part of many social gatherings. Although this is the case now, in the early 1900’s during the prohibition period, all alcohol was banned and deemed illegal to possess. Even though illegal, the task was just too heavy and alcohol was too much a common practice for most Americans. As time went on the prohibition period ended and the laws were revoked, making it legal again to possess alcohol. The drinking related problems that were around during prohibition pale in comparison to the problems alcohol has caused since then.
Roger E. Meyer writes this article to explain the effects of alcohol and how it affects the body. Once alcohol is taken into the body it is absorbed from the stomach and the small intestine and into the bloodstream. If too much alcohol is taken in the stomach may secrete a mucous that will slow absorption. One tenth of the alcohol exits form the body as sweat or urine, as the rest is slowly broken down by the body. This article and information can be helpful to me because it will give me a background and information on alcohol and what happens when one consumes it.
“When I was 13, my dad started drinking more and more. Every day he would come home from work and have beer, lots of it. I didn’t think much of it at first, but then he started getting more angry and violent. He would shout at my mom and me. It was like my father had gone and been replaced with another guy” says an anonymous kid who lives with an alcoholic parent in “How my dad’s drinking problem almost destroyed my family”. The kid depicts that he is so confused, angry and upset especially when his father got fired for going to work drunk. This is one of many children’s voices who suffers having an alcoholic in their family. Most of them are depressed because alcohol has destroyed their family. This is an addiction that does
(2004, October ). The. Retrieved 2012, from Alcohol Alert: http://pubs.niaa.nih.gov/publications/aa63/aa63.htm. Zelman, K. (1995, Dec).