Alcoholism and its effect.

Essay by sandracreixellHigh School, 10th gradeA+, February 2003

download word file, 4 pages 4.7

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Introduction

You are probably wondering what is wrong with this three-month-old boy. Well, it turns out his mother drank alcohol while being pregnant. Therefore he developed the Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and other than the facial abnormalities you can see he will also later suffer from brain damage and growth retardation. This next picture shows a human liver that has become unusable due to a condition called cirrhosis, which is also caused by alcohol, this condition causes the liver tissue to turn into scar tissue. But these are not the only things alcohol can cause; among many others there exists an incurable disease. According to the World Health Organization 62 million people around the world suffer from it, it is commonly known as alcoholism or alcohol dependence. Today I will talk about what this illness is, what effects it has on your body, why people become alcoholics, the major symptoms that characterize alcoholism and finally the treatments available for alcoholics.

Body

I. The first thing we are going to analyze is what alcoholism is and the direct effects it has on the human body.

A.Alcoholism is a chronic disease in which a person develops a strong urge for drinking; this person cannot control his life without having a drink.

1.Around 4 million people in Mexico have serious problems with alcoholism.

2.Studies show that more men than women develop an alcohol problem, and ages 18-29 also increase the alcoholics' numbers.

B.Alcohol cannot only destroy your social life; it can also take away your health and happiness from you. Now I will talk about the physical consequences of drinking.

1.First of all every time you have an alcoholic drink you kill brain cells.

2.The next place in your body alcohol affects directly is the liver.

a. This is because...