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Short note on the effects of alcohol in the human body
Effect of alcohol on our body essay
Effect of alcohol on our body essay
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Do you know what alcohol does to a human body over time? Alcohol has many characteristics that affect people differently. The different kinds of alcohol will affect individuals differently because of other variables such as body physique, how full one’s stomach is and how quickly the alcohol is consumed. Alcohol is considered to be a drug. It is under the class of a depressant, which means it slows down the vital functions. After drinking too much, alcohol can slur speech, produce unsteady movements, disturb perception, and slow reaction time. It also reduces a person’s ability to think rationally and distorts his or her judgements. Blood alcohol concentration is used to determine the level of intoxication of an individual by the weight …show more content…
There is hard liquor, such as vodka, rum and gin. Beer and wine are two other types of alcohol. Each kind of alcohol has different concentrations of alcohol and the amounts affect people differently. The higher the percentage, the higher concentration of alcohol it contains. Drinks containing a higher percentage of alcohol can get you intoxicated faster. For example, vodka has anywhere from 40 percent to 50 percent alcohol. Beer only has around 2 percent to 6 percent alcohol. The hard liquors usually have a higher percentage alcohol and get you drunk faster. Alcohol percentages are not the only factor in how much alcohol you can handle. Your body type is a huge factor in how much alcohol you can drink before getting drunk. Some of these factors are your weight, and gender. Body weight determines the amount of space through which alcohol can diffuse in the body. For example, if a person who weighs 200 pounds drinks the exact same amount of alcohol as someone who weighs 130 pounds, the person who weighs 200 pounds will have a lower BAC. Alcohol is metabolized at different rates in men and women. It has been proven in a study that women have less enzymes that break down alcohol than men do. Eating on an empty stomach can affect you differently than if you drink on a full stomach. Drinking on an empty stomach can upset your stomach and digestive system. Eating a lot of …show more content…
One of the most common diseases is alcoholism. According to the article “What is Alcoholism,” the definition of alcoholism is, “a chronic, progressive, and potentially fatal disease. It is characterized by tolerance and physical dependency or pathologic organ changes, or both--all the direct or indirect consequences of the alcohol ingested” (Flavin, 1991, p. 4). It is a severe form of alcohol abuse and is very dangerous because it can lead to many other problems. There are three levels of alcoholism: early, chronic and end-stage. Early alcohol abuse is usually prevalent in individuals who are high school students or young adults. They usually do not drink very often, but binge drinking can put them at risk of developing alcohol use disorder. They usually are getting an introduction to the different kinds of alcohol and they are experimenting with them. The next level of alcoholism is chronic, which is characterized by frequent consumption of alcohol. These people usually have an emotional or psychological attachment to drinking. Lastly, the end-stage level of alcoholism is the most severe. Usually when individuals get to this point, they cannot stop themselves from drinking. If they try to withdrawal from drinking, it can be very painful for the person (Flavin, 1991, p 4). There are five different subtypes of alcoholics, that are- young adult alcoholics, young antisocial
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.
Once ingested, food must be digested so it is available for energy and maintenance of body structure and function. Alcohol inhibits the breakdown of nutrients into usable molecules by decreasing secretion of digestive enzymes from the pancreas. Alcohol impairs nutrient absorption by damaging the cells lining the stomach and intestines and disabling transport of some nutrients into the blood. In addition, nutritional deficiencies themselves may lead to further absorption problems. For example, foliate deficiency alters the cells lining the small intestine, which in turn impairs absorption of water and nutrients including glucose, sodium, and additional foliate. Even if nutrients are digested and absorbed, alcohol can prevent them from being fully utilized by altering their transport, storage, and excretion. Decreased liver stores of vitamins such as vitamin A and increased excretion of nutrients such as fat, indicate impaired utilization of nutrients by alcoholics.
Frey and Schonbeck explain that it is estimated that over 76 million people worldwide are affected by alcohol abuse or dependence. The chance of having an alcoholic in one’s life is very high. Children that grow up in an environment with an alcoholic may increase that child’s chance of becoming an alcoholic themselves. In the United States, the most commonly abused drug among youth is alcohol. Even though the legal drinking age is 21, nearly 20% of all alcohol consumed in the United States is by people under the legal age (83). In fact, when youth start drinking at social events in their teenage years, they are greatly increasing their risk of developing alcohol problems (85). Alcoholism can affect people of all ages. Furthermore, some experts try to differentiate between alcoholics and social drinkers. Typically, they base this off of five categories. Social drinkers do not drink alone. They consume minimal amounts of alcohol during social functions. Situational drinkers may not ever drink unless they are stressed out. These drinkers are more likely to drink by themselves. Problem drinkers can be described as a drinker that alcohol has caused problems in their life. However, they usually respond to advice given by others. Binge drinkers are out of control in their alcohol consumption. They may drink until they pass out or worse. Alcoholic drinkers have found that their lives have become unmanageable and that they are completely powerless over alcohol (84). Alcoholics should be cautious of their surroundings to prevent
What is alcoholism? Alcoholism is a complex chronic psychological and nutritional disorder associated with excessive and usually compulsive drinking. Alcoholic abuse is a destructive pattern of alcohol use, leading to significant social, occupational, or medical impairment. A persons alcohol tolerance can be measured by how many alcoholic beverages they can drink before becoming intoxicated. Being an alcoholic has several downfalls, such as the withdrawal symptoms. Some of the withdrawal symptoms consist of sweating or rapid pulse, increased hand tremor, insomnia, nausea or vomiting, anxiety or grand mal seizers. There are two types of drinkers. The first type, the casual or social drinker, drinks because they want to. They drink with a friend or with a group for pleasure and only on occasion. The other type, the compulsive drinker, drinks because they have to; despite the adverse effects that drinking has on their lives. The cause of alcoholism is a combination of biological, psychological, and cultural factors that may contribute to the development of alcoholism in an individual. Alcoholism seems to run in families. "Although there is no conclusive indication of how the alcoholism of families members is associated, studies show that 50 to 80 percent of all alcoholics have had a close alcoholic relative" (Some researchers have suggested that in several cases, alcoholics have an inherited, predisposition to alcohol addiction. Studies of animals and human twins h...
Increased abuse of alcohol leads to physical damage to the body. Alcohol is absorbed directly into the brain, dulling one’s senses and weakling one's will power. According to the article from the Mayo Clinic Health Information, “Excessive use of alcohol can produce several harmful effects on your brain and nervous system. It also can severely damage your liver, pancreas and cardiovascular system. Alcohol use in pregnant women can damage the fetus” (Mayo 1). Continued ingestion of alcohol affects every organ in the body. Every organ in the body is affected. The liver has serious effects that may lead to cirrhosis and death.. At first the liver adapts and tolerates alcohol. It works harder and finally damages itself in time. Alcohol leads the liver to the inability to metabolize facts. Furthermore, it leads to increase in cholesterol and triglycerides leading to clogged arteries. Red blood cells are also affected leading the individual to become anemic.
The first to advocate alcoholism as a disease was Benjamin Rush (1785-1843), and he even proposed that hospitals should be established to aid in the treatment of this disease (Cox, 1987). Since Rush, there have been many more definitions of alcoholism including the Statistical Abstracts (1979) account that an alcoholic is defined as ?one who is unable consistently to choose whether he shall drink or not, and if he drinks, is unable consistently to choose whether he shall stop or not. ?Alcoholics with complications? are those who have developed bodily or mental disorders through prolonged excessive drinking? (O?Brien & Chafetz, 1982, p.26). Further, Mark Keller of Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcoholism in March of 1960 stated that alcoholism is a ?chronic disease manifested by repeat implicative drinking so as to ca...
To understand alcoholism, it must first be understood what this affliction is dependent on. Alcohol is a substance that is made by the fermentation of fruits, grains, or miscellaneous other organic materials. The chemical, alcohol, is a depressant and acts on every cell in the human body. Due to this, the central nervous system, along with the pleasure centers of the brain, are affected resulting in a feeling of euphoria and a sense of well being. After repeated exposure, the brain becomes dependent on this drug to unburden itself whenever it feels the compulsion. Several factors that contribute to alcoholism are the individual’s psychology, genetics, culture, and the individual’s response to physical pain.
Alcoholism is defined as a destructive addiction to alcohol while alcohol abuse is defined as a destructive abuse of alcohol. Alcoholism is the most severe form of alcohol abuse but there are many different factors that contribute to a person becoming an alcoholic. Alcoholism is genetic but usually influenced by someone’s environment growing up and their present environment. Having a abusive childhood or a hard life in general can trigger feelings that turn into a need to drink. An alcoholic can not control his/her intake of alcohol because he/she does not have control over it. There are many signs and symptoms to determine if someone is in fact an al...
Drinking alcohol is associated with many adverse health problems in the short and long-term. These include cancer, stroke, heart disease, miscarriage, premature birth and unintentional injuries. Despite the fact that alcohol brings many negative impacts, many people still choose to drink and do not overcome their drinking habit. They have been successfully seduced by alcohol until drinking has become their addiction. However, some of them try to quit drinking, but they still cannot break the addiction. Basically, quitting alcohol is difficult and almost impossible for them because of brain-craving, lack of belief and support, and weak willpower.
When the liver consumes alcohol for the first time the body treats it like a negative foreign substance. The consumption of alcohol has a similar effect on every person’s body. The greater the amount of alcohol that a person drinks, the greater the changes of developing some kind of problem with the body. Some research has been done to test how alcohol addiction is classified in individuals. In their experiment, researchers “analyzed the characteristics of 1,484 people participating in the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions who fit the criteria for alcohol dependence” (Elliot, 2007). The analysis found that 31.5% could be considered as “young adult” drinkers that tend to drink less frequently, but when they did, it was to excess and more likely to be involved in dangerous drinking. 19.4% of people could be considered as “functional” drinkers because they earn more money than other drinkers and had a higher chance of having college degrees. Another 18.8% were “intermediate familial” since they had bigger chances of having a disorder or a relative with a similar disorder. According to the study, 21.1% were considered “young antisocial” since they were the most likely to start drinking early and develop alcohol problems. There was also one last category, where 9.2% were labeled as “chronic severe” because they are “most likely to have other
I observed an educational health presentation on alcohol, presented by a group of future health education students at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. There were three presenters, Brook, Ian and Kelsey. At the beginning of the presentation the presenters asked everyone in the audience to come up with three words that came to their mind when they thought of alcohol, then the audience said their favorite word that came to mind and the presenters made a word cloud. Brook, Ian, and Kelsey then discussed how the word cloud represented the way people think of alcohol, which was mostly in a positive fun party hard kind of way. The group presenting used a powerpoint and really got the audience involved by asking questions and engaging the audience
Alcoholism is of interest to many people in the world today. This paper examines what has recently been learned about alcoholism, especially how serious of a disorder it actually is. Some of the aspects that are explained are what exactly alcohol abuse involves, the negative effects alcohol has on the human body, and options for treatment.
According to the article The Deadly Drinking Mistakes Smart Girls Make by Nicole Blades, there are several risks an individual runs when consuming alcohol. For instance, if someone is not a frequent drinker or are a light drinker, they could be at an even greater risk of alcohol poisoning than the average consumer because they either don’t know their limits or are not able to tolerate alcohol in high doses. Genes, gender, and weight are all factors that affect how quickly your body processes alcohol and for most beginning drinkers, they are unaware of how much their body can handle. They also generally tend to misinterpret the signs of when enough drinks are enough due to their inexperience’s, causing for greater risk of alcohol poisoning. Drinking alcohol without time in between can also be deadly because your body doesn’t have enough time to metabolize the alcohol, causing it to circulate throughout your body at a rapid pace. This can lead to “loss of inhibitions and euphoria, followed by ...
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.
..., cancer, liver and pancreas disease etc. There are many factors why do people drink, such as: make friends, forget problems, to feel happy, to relax, to feel less anxious, to feel confident and the genes, in my opinion play the key role in this problem. Some people don’t realize that this is a big deal, the big problem until it’s late. Once someone tried alcohol and become dependent it is hard to realize that person needs help to stop it. Also drinking alcohol is closely linked with use of other drugs, legal and illegal. Smoking, drinking and drug taking often co-exist. I chose this article to review because I think it has good examples to show people what causes alcohol dependence and what conditions one can get if drinking alcohol often. People need to remember that we live ones and it is important to keep ourselves healthy and none of bad habits worth our life.