Alcohol is a colorless, volatile flammable liquid that is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel. Alcohol is a drug and it is classed as a depressant, meaning that it will slow down vital functions. Alcohol is made out of a chemical called ethanol. To make alcohol, they need to have the grains, fruits or vegetables go through a process called fermentation. Fermentation is when yeast or bacteria react with the sugars in food “(Alcohol ingredients and chemicals).” Using alcohol can result in slurred speech, disturbed perceptions, unsteady movements, inability to react quickly “(Foundation of the drug-free world).” Alcohol manufacture started in an organized …show more content…
Alcohol is often served at social gatherings and is a normal part of the setting at places such as clubs or bars where people go to hang out with others. Many people believe that alcohol can give an individual social confidence and promotes relaxation in the company of others. People enjoy the psychoactive effects of alcohol for various reasons. It provides a sense of relief and disassociation from reality. A sense of adventure or perhaps a spiritual search is often given as the causative reason for alcohol consumption “(Why people drink).” Most of the reasons for alcohol use are because of peer pressure. Many adolescents and college students find themselves in situations where alcohol is present. Because younger people often lack self-confidence or the refusal skills to handle the pressures of such situations, they often begin to experiment with alcohol because they want to fit in and not made fun of so they take the challenge of drinking …show more content…
“Alcohol use during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol syndrome, fetal death, spontaneous abortion, and stillbirth,” says Deborah A. Appello, MS. Drinking alcohol while a woman is pregnant can be really harmful to the baby. The amount of alcohol that is in a woman’s blood is also in the baby 's blood. Alcohol can hurt the baby 's development. That 's why alcohol is much more harmful to the baby than to women during the pregnancy. Alcohol can lead the baby to have serious health conditions, called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The most serious of these is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Fetal alcohol syndrome can seriously harm your baby 's development, both mentally and physically. Alcohol can cause these defects in the baby such as having birth defects, vision and hearing problems, intellectual disabilities, learning and behavior problems. Alcohol can affect women’s reproductive systems, and damage fertility. Even small amounts can affect a woman’s menstrual cycle and reduce the chance of conceiving. Alcohol can reduce a man’s testosterone levels, leading to loss of libido. It can also damage the quality, structure and movement of sperm by stopping the liver from properly metabolizing vitamin A, which is needed for sperm development “(Alcohol and Reproduction).”Consuming alcohol prior to driving greatly increases the risk of car accidents, highway injuries, and deaths. The greater
It is impossible to give a clear answer to whether or not alcohol is bad or good for the body. However, one can conclude that heavy alcohol consumption only presents adverse effects. Everybody is different, and the effects of alcohol on a person varies depending on the person’s age, gender, stage in life, genetic makeup, family history, and current fitness level. One must also consider that these benefits and adverse effects of alcohol are influenced by nutrition and physical activity habits. The positive effects are inhibited if someone is not active or mindfully eating healthy. Conversely, the negative effects are enhanced with a similar lifestyle. The facts are presented in this article about the composition and effects of alcohol on the human body and culture. One ought to take into consideration whether the rewards outweigh the risk of drinking alcohol, and if so, what quality and quantity. Whatever the position, one cannot deny the benefits of healthy, active
“80 percent of teen-agers have tried alcohol, and that alcohol was a contributing factor in the top three causes of death among teens: accidents, homicide and suicide” (Underage, CNN.com pg 3). Students may use drinking as a form of socializing, but is it really as good as it seems? The tradition of drinking has developed into a kind of “culture” fixed in every level of the college student environment. Customs handed down through generations of college drinkers reinforce students' expectation that alcohol is a necessary ingredient for social success. These perceptions of drinking are the going to ruin the lives of the students because it will lead to the development alcoholism. College students who drink a lot, while in a college environment, will damage themselves mentally, physically, and socially later in life, because alcohol adversely affects the brain, the liver, and the drinkers behavior.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggestion that a pregnant woman should not drink alcohol during pregnancy (Advisory on alcohol use in pregnancy 2005) has been widely criticized as being unnecessarily paternalistic, but the CDC goes further into explaining that, “Alcohol consumed during pregnancy increases the risk of alcohol related birth defects, including growth deficiencies, facial abnormalities, central nervous system impairment, behavioral disorders, and impaired intellectual development” (Advisory on alcohol use in pregnancy
... excluded potential risk factors for preterm birth including previous pregnancies and multiple births. Thus, these results should only be applied to the risk of alcohol consumption for primiparous mothers with singleton pregnancies. However, despite the lack of risks identified in this study, alcohol use during pregnancy has been linked to disabilities. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP, 2011), its adverse effects include fetal alcohol syndrome, learning disabilities, social ineptness, depression, and anxiety. The AACAP strongly recommends against pregnant women consuming any form of alcohol at any level. Despite the data presented by Dale et al. (2016), the question of the other risks of alcohol consumption on the fetus was not explored and thus alcohol use during pregnancy should not be condoned solely based on this study.
Women who are pregnant, but drink moderate amounts of alcohol still pose many dangerous threats to their unborn child. A fetal alcohol effect is one of them, with slight deformities, mental retardation, and learning disabilities. Fetal alcohol effected children not only have physical differences from normal children, but also suffer with psychiatric problems and at more apt to get in trouble with the law. Pregnant women who drink not only run the risk of having a baby with fetal alcohol syndrome, but of having a child with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder. Alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder occurs when children have prenatal exposure to alcohol. These babies have cognitive and behavioral problems that are alcohol-related, without the severe facial or growth deformities babies with fetal alcohol syndrome have. Pregnant women who drink expose their baby to teratogen ethanol- the active ingredient in alcohol. The fetus exposure is longer and more intense compared to the mother who is able to metabolize the teratogen ethanol.
Insecurity is another incentive to why students binge drink. Drinking alcohol has been a large part of society for many years. People find that it is easier to meet people when they have been drinking. Drinking has also been used as a way to get close to some one. There are also many social events drinking has created. There are cozy bars “where every body knows your name,” cocktail parties, and the high school favorite, house party.
These factors may include what a woman ingests and exposes her embryo or fetus to. Sadly, alcohol use during pregnancy is an ongoing problem that can have detrimental effects on the fetus, including Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). Choosing to drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy is a choice, a risky choice. Unfortunately, some women don’t even know they are making a risky choice by consuming alcohol because they are in the early stages of pregnancy. It is common for a female to not find out they are pregnant until at least the fifth or sixth week after fertilization.
The National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome states "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the name given to a group of physical and mental birth defects that are the direct result of a woman's drinking during pregnancy" (NOFAS 1). Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the only disease that is one hundred percent preventable if the mother refrains from drinking while pregnant. Drinking liquor at all during pregnancy is not advisable. There is no way of measuring how much alcohol one can consume before defects occur, and no proof that small amounts of liquor are safe. As little as one drink a day can cause a baby some degree of harm and interfere with their normal development.
Alcohol has been in the world for many centuries and has become a pain but also somewhat of a solution to society. It can be viewed as something to be a social gathering that brings friends together or it can be taking as destruction to someone. Over the years alcohol has played many roles in the world but it plays an even bigger role in substance abuse. Doctors have made several points that it is okay to have a drink every now and again but people need to realize when one drink has become too many. The ideal of having a drink with friends or going out and having an occasional drink is acceptable; However, is it still acceptable when a person find their selves having a drink first thing in the morning or runs to a drink to solve their people.
Let’s ask a question: why do people start using alcohol at the first place? And why they start doing it at such young age? Well, just “like other adult drinkers, college students expect alcohol to produce a series of positive effects – relaxation, socialization, sexuality – and the strength of these positive expectancies is related to drinking” (Walters & Baer, 2006). And who wouldn’t take a couple drinks to gain a group of friends? It lowers social inhibitions, so it is very well known among shy individuals as well. However, this activity can be also pressurized by peers. In this case, pressure wouldn’t be effective on people who do not accept or see positive aspects of occasional drinking. That means, everyone starts by saying ‘yes’ to a glass.
“Alcoholism (alcohol dependence) is a more severe pattern of drinking that includes the problems of alcohol abuse plus persistent drinking in spite of obvious physical, mental, and social problems caused by alcohol” (Ringold, M. S.). Alcoholism is a major social problem in today’s world. People can agree that alcoholism threatens the lives of the person and the people they care about. Alcohol is one of the drugs that have caused serious problems for the younger generation. Alcoholism is greatly influenced by peer pressure. To get stress out, sometimes an alcoholic will drink heavily. Alcohol consumption is associated with your health. Drinking heavily can be the cause for liver cancer. Also, you can be intoxicated and could be driving drunk
There are a number of reasons why teenagers feel the urge to drink. Social environment, peer influence, stresses, and even factors such as media influence contribute to underage drinking. Peer pressure is as well known use among teens. Americans have a burning desire to be accepted and liked by their peers. Everyone wants to feel a sense of belonging. Many adolescents feel that they need to drink alcohol to gain this acceptance by the others around them. Stress is also another reason why teens may feel apt to drink alcohol. Stress causes teenagers to look for a quick escape from the problems, which they face, in their day-to-day lives. This quick escape can be found in the shape of a bottle. In the eyes of an underage drinker, alcohol is the cure to all problems, a way to forget all of stress and pressures that are facing them. They feel that it will numb their pain and continuing to use alcohol will result in maybe another problem, substance abuse.
Alcohol is like a drug to many people. It is a worldwide fact that alcohol is the most drug utilized in America. There are many types of alcohol such as spirits, liquors, wines/champagne and beer. Most of these have the same kind of effect on you. Many people drink alcohol because it’s always available, or because alcoholism, and lastly to drown in their sorrows.
Alcohol is a class of organic compounds that is characterized by the presence of one or more hydroxyl groups (-OH) attached to a carbon atom. Alcohol was unknowingly produced centuries ago when fermentation occurred to crushed grapes (Pines, 1931). In today’s society alcohol is produced for the use of household products such as varnishes, cleaning products, but is more commercially important in the liquor business. A chemical process called fermentation accomplishes the production of ethanol, the alcohol or liquor. From there, the ethanol goes through distinct processes to become the dark and clear liquors on the store shelves.
The problem of alcohol use is very relevant nowadays. Today alcohol consumption characterized by vast numbers in the world. All of society is suffering from this, but primarily jeopardized the younger generation: children, teenagers, young people, and the health of future mothers. Because alcohol is particularly active effect on the body that are not formed, gradually destroying it. The harm of alcohol abuse is evident. It is proved that when alcohol is ingested inside the body, it is carried by blood to all organs and has harmful effect on them until destruction. Systematic use of alcohol develops a dangerous disease such as alcoholism. Alcoholism is dangerous to human health, but it is curable as other diseases. The big problem is that most of the alcohol products which are made in private places contain many toxic substances, defective products often leads to poisoning and even death. All this has negative impact on society and its cultural values.