Alcohol: A Drink for Fun or For Pain

Essay by buttercup121884College, UndergraduateB, April 2004

download word file, 4 pages 4.5

A report, which was launched in January by Health Secretary Donna Shalala and published in the Globe magazine, states that 44 % of adults age 18 and over consumed 12 or more drinks in the past year. Of that 44% of adults, 46 % of them report having been drunk during the year while 4% report having been drunk weekly. Nearly 10 % of current drinkers (about 8 million persons) meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence. An additional 7 % (more than 5.6 million persons) meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol abuse (par 2).

If 10 % is equal to 8 million, think of how many people are alcohol drinkers in America. Drinking excessively is very hazardous to one's body to the people around him and society.

Alcohol drinkers are not limited to those who are trying to have a "good time" like most college students, but also those who drink because they are stressed, depressed or have nothing else to do.

No matter the situation, drinking can cause extreme damage to the body. People do not think about all the long-term damage drinking alcohol causes. The effects of alcohol on the body include damage to the brain, heart, liver, stomach, skin, reproductive organs and weight (Goodman par 3).

Steady drinking leads to permanent changes in the brain. One of the permanent effects of alcohol on the brain is the reduction of brain tissue and an increase in the size of ventricles of the heart. The heart can be affected because when a person drinks regularly, he begins to lose his appetite and therefore there is a vitamin deficiency. As a result of the deficiency, the pumping action of the heart weakens and heart failure can occur (Goodman par 4).

Some of the most serious effects on the body of drinking...