Alcohol Abuse
Alcohol is liquid distilled product of fermented fruits, grains and vegetables
used as solvent, antiseptic and sedative moderate potential for abuse. Possible
effects are intoxication, sensory alteration, and/or anxiety reduction. Symptoms
of overdose staggering, odor of alcohol on breath, loss of coordination, slurred
speech, dilated pupils, fetal alcohol syndrome (in babies), and/or nerve and
liver damage. Withdrawal Syndrome is first sweating, tremors, then altered
perception, followed by psychosis, fear, and finally auditory hallucinations.
Indications of possible mis-use are confusion, disorientation, loss of motor
nerve control, convulsions, shock, shallow respiration, involuntary defecation,
drowsiness, respiratory depression and possible death. Alcohol is also known as:
Booze, Juice, Brew, Vino, Sauce. You probably know why alcohol is abused some
reasons are relaxation, sociability, and cheap high. But did you know that
alcohol is a depressant that decreases the responses of the central nervous
system. Excessive drinking can cause liver damage and psychotic behavior.
A Kranz (wreath) of Kölsch beer.
English: Total recorded alcohol per capita consump...
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little as two beers or drinks can impair coordination and thinking. Alcohol is
often used by substance abusers to enhance the effects of other drugs. Alcohol
continues to be the most frequently abused substance among young adults. HERE
ARE SOME STRAIGHT FACTS ABOUT ALCOHOL.... Alcohol abuse is a pattern of problem
drinking that results in health consequences, social, problems, or both.
However, alcohol dependence, or alcoholism, refers to a disease that is
characterized by abnormal alcohol-seeking behavior that leads to impaired
control over drinking. Short-term effects of alcohol use include: -Distorted
vision, hearing, and coordination -Altered perceptions and emotions -Impaired
judgment -Bad breath; hangovers Long-term effects of heavy alcohol use include:
-Loss of appetite -Vitamin deficiencies -Stomach ailments -Skin problems -Sexual
impotence -Liver damage -Heart and central nervous system damage -Memory loss
Here are some quick clues to know if I, or someone close, has a drinking
problem: -Inability to control drinking--it seems that regardless of what you
decide beforehand, you frequently wind up drunk -Using alcohol to escape
problems -A change in personality--turning from Dr. Jekyl to Mr. Hyde -A high
tolerance level--drinking just about everybody under the table
-Blackouts--sometimes not remembering what happened while drinking -Problems at
work or in school as a result of drinking -Concern shown by family and friends
about drinking If you have a drinking problem, or if you suspect you have a
drinking problem, there are many others out there like you, and there is help
available. You could talk to school counselor, a friend, or a parent. Excessive
alcohol consumption causes more than 100,000 deaths annually in the United
States, and although the number shows little sign of declining, the rate per
100,000 population has trended down since the early 1980s. Accidents, mostly due
to drunken driving, accounted for 24 percent of these deaths in 1992.
Alcohol-related homicide and suicide accounted for 11 and 8 percent
respectively. Certain types of cancer that are partly attributable to alcohol,
such as those of the esophagus, larynx, and oral cavity, contributed another 17
percent. About 9 percent is due to alcohol-related stroke. One of the most
important contributors to alcohol-related deaths is a group of 12 ailments
wholly caused by alcohol, among which alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver and
alcohol dependence syndrome are the most important. These 12 ailments together
accounted for 18 percent of the total alcohol-related deaths in 1992. Mortality
due to the 12 causes rises steeply into late middle age range and then declines
markedly, with those 85 and over being at less than one-sixth the risk of 55 to
64-year olds. The most reliable data are for the 12 conditions wholly
attributable to alcohol. The map shows these data for all people 35 and over.
The geographical distribution for men and women follows much the same pattern,
although men are three times as likely to die of one of the 12 alcohol-induced
ailments. The geographical distribution for whites and blacks follows roughly
the same pattern but the rates for blacks are two and half times higher. In the
late nineteenth century blacks, who were then far more abstemious than whites,
were strong supporters of the temperance movement, but the movement in the South
was taken over by whites bent on disenfranchising black people by any means
possible, such as propagating lurid tales of drink-crazed black men raping white
women. Consequently, blacks became less involved in the temperance movement, a
trend that accelerated early in the twentieth century with the great migration
of blacks to the North, where liquor was freely available even during
Prohibition. The geographical pattern of mortality from the 12 conditions wholly
caused by alcohol is partly explained by the average alcohol consumption among
those who drink, which tends to be higher in the Southeast certain areas of the
West and than elsewhere. In New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and in many counties in
the Plains and Mountain states, the rates are high, in part, because of heavy
drinking among Native Americans. Another possible contributor to high rates in
the West is lower family and community support than elsewhere, as suggested by
high divorce and suicide rates, low church membership, and the large number of
migrants from other regions. In the South Atlantic states, black males
contribute heavily to the high mortality rates, although white rates there are
above average. One unexplained anomaly is the comparatively low rates in the
area stretching from Kentucky through Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, to
Louisiana, all states with high alcohol consumption among those who drink. There
were at least four cycles of high alcohol consumption in the last 150 years with
peaks in the 1840s, in the 1860s, the first decade of the twentieth century, and
again in the 1970-1981 period. Each of these peaks was probably accompanied by
an increase in alcohol-related deaths, as suggested by the course of liver
cirrhosis mortality, which, since the early twentieth century, has followed
more-or-less the same trend as consumption of beverages alcohol. America is now
in a phase of declining alcohol consumption, so one would expect that the rate
of alcohol-related deaths would continue to decline. Among westernized
countries, America in the early 1990s was somewhat below average in both alcohol
consumption and liver cirrhosis mortality. If you have been arrested for DWI,
you may be court ordered to go to counseling for alcohol abuse. Does that mean
that you're an alcoholic? Sometimes people get the idea that alcohol abuse and
alcoholism are the same thing. They are not. The National Council on Alcoholism
says, "Alcohol Abuse : a problem to solve. Alcoholism: a disease to
conquer." In case you have wondered what the difference is, here's some
help: Alcohol Abuse is the misuse of the substance, alcohol. You know you are
abusing a substance when: -You continue to use it, even though you're having
social or interpersonal problems because of your use. -You still use it even
though it's causing you physical problems. -Using it the way you do is causing
you legal problems. -You don't live up to major responsibilities on the job or
in your family. Alcoholism refers to being addicted, or dependent on alcohol.
You may be dependent on a substance if any three of the following are true: -You
must use larger and larger amounts of it to get high. -You have withdrawal when
you try to stop or cut down. -You use it much more and for longer times than you
really want to. -You can't seem to cut back and feel a strong need or craving
for it. -You spend a lot of your time just getting the substance. -You'd rather
use than work or be with friends and family. -You keep using, no matter what.
The National Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism estimates, based on
research, that a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) between .02 and .04 makes
your chances of being in a single-vehicle fatal crash 1.4 times higher than for
someone who has not had a drink. If your BAC is between .05 and .09, you are
11.1 times more likely to be in a fatal single vehicle crash, and 48 times more
likely at a BAC between .10 and .14. If you've got a BAC of .15, your risk of
being in a single-vehicle fatal crash is estimated to be 380 times higher than a
non-drinker's. How much do you have to drink..