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What is Alcohol?
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol (commonly called alcohol). Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits.
Alcoholic beverages are consumed in most countries of the world. According to the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP), over 100 countries have laws that regulate their production, sale, and consumption. In particular, such laws specify the minimum age at which a person may legally buy or drink them. This minimum age varies between 16 and 25 years, depending upon the nation and the type of drink. Most nations set it at 18 years of age.
The production and consumption of alcohol occurs in most cultures of the world, from hunter-gatherer peoples to nation-states. Alcoholic beverages are often an important part of social events in these cultures. In many cultures, drinking plays a significant role in social interaction — mainly because of alcohol’s neurological effects.
Alcohol is a psychoactive drug that has a depressant effect. A high blood alcohol content is usually considered to be legal drunkenness because it reduces attention and slows reaction speed. Alcoholic beverages can be addictive, and the state of addiction to alcohol is known as alcoholism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic_beverage
Alcoholism
Alcoholism, also known as alcohol dependence, is a disabling addictive disorder. It is characterized by compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcohol despite its negative effects on the drinker's health and social standing. Similar to other drug addictions, alcoholism is medically defined as a treatable disease. The term 'alcoholism' is a widely used term, first coined in 1849 by Magnus Huss, but in medicine was replaced in by 'alcohol abuse' and 'alcohol dependence' in the 1980s DSM III. Similarly in 1979 an expert World Health Organisation committee disfavoured the use of 'alcoholism' as a diagnostic entity, preferring the category of "alcohol dependence syndrome". In the 19th and early 20th centuries, alcohol dependence was called dipsomania, before the term alcoholism replaced it.
The biological mechanisms underpinning alcoholism are uncertain, however, risk factors include social environment, stress, mental health, genetic predisposition, age, ethnic group, and sex. Long-term alcohol abuse produces physiological changes in the brain such as tolerance and physical dependence. Such brain chemistry changes maintain the alcoholic's compulsive inability to stop drinking and result in alcohol withdrawal syndrome upon discontinuation of alcohol consumption. Alcohol damages almost every organ in the body, including the brain; because of the cumulative toxic effects of chronic alcohol abuse, the alcoholic risks suffering a range of medical and psychiatric disorders. Alcoholism has profound social consequences for alcoholics and the people of their lives.
Alcoholism is the cyclic presence of tolerance, withdrawal, and excessive alcohol use; the drinker's inability to control such compulsive drinking, despite awareness of its harm to his or her health, indicate that the person might be an alcoholic. Questionnaire-based screening is a method of detecting harmful drinking patterns, including alcoholism. Alcohol detoxification is conducted to withdraw the alcoholic person from drinking alcohol, usually with cross-tolerance drugs, e.g. benzodiazepines to manage withdrawal symptoms. Post-medical care, such as group therapy, or self-help groups, usually is required to maintain alcoholic abstention. Often, alcoholics also are addicted to other drugs, most often benzodiazepines, which might require additional medical treatment.[19] The alcoholic woman is more sensitive to alcohol's deleterious physical, cerebral, and mental effects, and increased social stigma, in relation to a man, for being an alcoholic. The World Health Organisation estimates that there are 140 million alcoholics worldwide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholism
The risks
· One drink too many can leave you feeling out of control – like slurring your words, losing your balance and vomiting.
· Official guidelines recommend that men shouldn’t regularly drink more than 3-4 units a day and women shouldn’t regularly drink more than 2-3 units a day because of the harm this may cause. The guidelines also recommend that after an episode of heavy drinking, it’s advisable to refrain from drinking for 48 hours to allow the tissues to recover.
· Psychological and physical dependence on alcohol can creep up on you. Tolerance gradually increases the more you drink excessively on a regular basis, so you may find you'll need more alcohol to reach the same state. In other words, you may seem to be getting better at holding your drink when that’s really a sign of a developing problem.
· Alcohol can make you mouthy, argumentative and aggressive. There’s no way of knowing beforehand if you’re going to turn into a nasty drunk.
· Serious overindulgence can lead to alcohol poisoning which could put you in a coma or even kill you.
· Alcohol is blamed for contributing to all kinds of problems in Britain, from violent crime to domestic violence and to car-related deaths.
· Long-term excessive use of alcohol causes illnesses such as liver damage, stomach cancer and heart disease.
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