How Alcohol Affects The Body Essay

Not only does alcohol affect the body in a very destructive way, however, the consumption of the product in heavy quantities, or consistently over a long period of time can have just as negative of an impact on the mind and the brain as it does on the body. Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, making and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination. Once alcohol travels through the intestines, the digestive process, “creates metabolites such as acetaldehyde and other “reactive oxygen species” which are toxic to the brain and other cells in the body.” This reaction is what normally is referred to as a hangover, a state the mind, and sometimes the body is induced into after drinking large amounts of

some alcoholic beverage. Although short term effects such as, difficulty walking blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times, and impaired memory, may seem exactly just that; short term effects, truthfully these side effects, even if they were vague, they can have fatal and life ruining long term consequences that can inevitably take a life (Recreational Marijuana ProCon).

The most severe repercussions of taking in ample amounts of alcohol are blackouts, and memory lapses. “Blackouts occur when alcohol prevents neurotransmitters from imprinting memories from short-term memory to long-term memory”. A report in the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, shows that there are two different types of blackouts caused by alcohol. The first is a partial blackout, and it occurs after you consume a small amount of alcohol. With a partial blackout, basic information, like your address or phone number, or the names of people whom you know well are often forgotten in this state, “the mind is able to recall what happened during a partial blackout, but not without a little help from other observers.” The second type is called a complete alcohol

blackout. Physically, it is possible to be able to function and perform mental tasks but there is a huge lack of common sense and sense of self, “the ability to make decisions and judge actions is impaired during a blackout.” Since there is little or no control over emotions and impulses during this interval of time, behavior can be wildly unpredictable. Blackouts may last for a few minutes or up to a week after drinking, during this episode, it is impossible to retain any memory. Information provided by an outside source will do little to nothing to trigger a coherent memory of a moment that happened during a blackout (Alcohol Induced Blackouts).