Alcohol

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Alcohol is often not thought of as a drug - largely because its

use is common for both religious and social purposes in most

parts of the world. It is an drug, however, and compulsive

drinking in excess has become one of modern society's most

serious problems.

Beverage alcohol (scientifically known as ethyl alcohol, or

ethanol) is produced by fermenting or distilling various fruits,

vegetables, or grains. Ethyl alcohol itself is a clear, colorless

liquid. Alcoholic beverages get their distinctive colors from the

diluents, additives, and by-products of fermentation.

Beer is fermented to contain about 5% alcohol by

volume (or 3.5% in light beer). Most wine is fermented to have

between 10% and 14% alcohol content; however, such fortified

wines as sherry, port, and vermouth contain between 14% and 20%.

Distilled spirits (whisky, vodka, rum, gin) are first fermented,

then distilled to raise the alcohol content. The

concentration of alcohol in spirits is 40% by volume. Some

liqueurs may be stronger.

The effects of drinking do not depend on the type of alcoholic

beverage - but rather on the amount of alcohol consumed on a

specific occasion.

How Alcohol Works


Alcohol- is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream from the small

intestine, and less rapidly from the stomach and colon. In

proportion to its concentration in the bloodstream, alcohol

decreases activity in parts of the brain and spinal cord. The

drinker's blood alcohol concentration depends on:

the amount consumed in a given time

the drinker's size, sex, body build, and metabolism

the type and amount of food in the stomach.

Once the alcohol has passed into the blood, however, no food or

beverage can retard or interfere with its effects. Fruit sugar,

however, in some cases can shorten the duration of alcohol's

effect by speeding up its elimination from the blood.

In the average adult, the rate of metabolism is about 8.5 g of

alcohol per hour (i.e. about two-thirds of a regular beer or

about 30 mL of spirits an hour). This rate can vary dramatically

among individuals, however, depending on such diverse factors as

usual amount of drinking, physique, sex, liver size, and genetic

factors.

Effects


The effects of any drug depend on several factors:

the amount taken at one time

the user's past drug experience

the manner in which the drug is taken

the circumstances under which the drug is taken (the place,

the user's psychological and emotional stability, the presence

of other people, the concurrent use of other drugs, etc.).

It is the amount of alcohol in the blood that causes the effects.

In the following table, the left-hand column lists the number of

milligrams of alcohol in each decilitre of blood - that is, the

blood alcohol concentration, or BAC. (For example, an average

person may get a blood alcohol concentration of 50 mg/dL after

two drinks consumed quickly.) The right-hand column describes the

usual effects of these amounts on normal people - those who

haven't developed a tolerance to alcohol.

Effect

Mild intoxication;

Feeling of warmth, skin flushed; impaired judgment;

decreased inhibitions

Obvious intoxication in most people;

Increased impairment of judgment, inhibition, attention, and control;

Some impairment of muscular performance; slowing of reflexes

Obvious intoxication in all normal people;

Staggering gait and other muscular incoordination; slurred

speech; double vision; memory and comprehension loss

Extreme intoxication or stupor;

Reduced response to stimuli; inability to stand; vomiting;

incontinence; sleepiness

Coma;

Unconsciousness; little response to stimuli; incontinence;

low body temperature; poor respiration; fall in blood

pressure; clammy skin

Death likely

Drinking heavily over a short period of time usually results in a

"hangover" headache, nausea, shakiness, and sometimes vomiting,

beginning from 8 to 12 hours later. A hangover is due partly to

poisoning by alcohol and other components of the drink, and

partly to the body's reaction to withdrawal from alcohol.

Although there are dozens of home remedies suggested for

hangovers, there is currently no known effective cure.

Combining alcohol with other drugs can make the effects of these

other drugs much stronger and more dangerous. Many accidental

deaths have occurred after people have used alcohol combined with

other drugs.

Long-term effects of alcohol appear after repeated use over a

period of many months or years. The negative physical and

psychological effects of chronic abuse are numerous; some are

potentially life-threatening.

Some of these harmful consequences are primary - that is, they

result directly from prolonged exposure to alcohol's toxic

effects (such as heart and liver disease or inflammation of the

stomach).

Others are secondary; indirectly related to chronic alcohol

abuse, they include loss of appetite, vitamin deficiencies,

infections, and sexual impotence or menstrual irregularities.

The risk of serious disease increases with the amount of alcohol

consumed.

Early death rates are much higher for heavy drinkers than for

light drinkers or abstainers, particularly from heart and liver

disease, pneumonia, some types of cancer, acute alcohol

poisoning, accident, homicide, and suicide. No precise limits of

safe drinking can be recommended.

Tolerance and Dependence

People who drink on a regular basis become tolerant to many of

the unpleasant effects of alcohol, and thus are able to drink

more before suffering these effects. Yet even with increased

consumption, many such drinkers don't appear intoxicated. Because

they continue to work and socialize reasonably well, their

deteriorating physical condition may go unrecognized by others

until severe damage develops - or until they are hospitalized for

other reasons and suddenly experience alcohol withdrawal

symptoms.

Psychological dependence on alcohol may occur with regular use of

even relatively moderate daily amounts. It may also occur in

people who consume alcohol only under certain conditions, such as

before and during social occasions. This form of dependence

refers to a craving for alcohol's psychological effects, although

not necessarily in amounts that produce serious intoxication. For

psychologically dependent drinkers, the lack of alcohol tends to

make them anxious and, in some cases, panicky.

Physical dependence occurs in consistently heavy drinkers. Since

their bodies have adapted to the presence of alcohol, they suffer

withdrawal symptoms if they suddenly stop drinking. Withdrawal

symptoms range from jumpiness, sleeplessness, sweating, and poor

appetite, to tremors (the "shakes"), convulsions. hallucinations.

and sometimes death.

Alcohol and Pregnancy

Pregnant women who drink risk having babies with fetal alcohol

effects (known as fetal alcohol syndrome or FAS). The most

serious of these effects include mental retardation, growth

deficiency, head and facial deformities, joint and limb

abnormalities, and heart defects. While it is known that the risk

of bearing an FAS-afflicted child increases with the amount of

alcohol consumed, a safe level of consumption has not been

determined.

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