Alcohol 3 Essay, Research Paper

Alcohol is the most used and abused drug in the world. The most common problem is

alcoholism. Alcoholism is a chronic usually progressive disease that includes both a

psychological and a physical addiction to alcohol. Alcoholics know what will happen to

them when they drink but they are so addicted they can t stop drinking. Alcohol becomes

the most important part of the person s life. It totally consumes them, all their thoughts

and actions have to do are somehow associated with alcohol. Alcoholism like other

illnesses will become worse without treatment and remain life-threatening as long as it is

left untreated. The psychological dependence an alcoholic has is when they think alcohol

is necessary and life will not be good without it. The physical dependence an alcoholic

has is when their body becomes so used to the drug that it now needs alcohol to function

without pain. Alcoholism is not a disease experienced only by adults. Alcoholism, like

any illness, can strike at any age. Surveys have shown that more than one out of three

Americans have a personal friend or relative who has had a drinking problem for ten

years or longer. Almost two out of three Americans report that they know someone who

drinks too much. It is estimated that there are 18 million alcoholic or problem drinkers in

the U.S. For every alcoholic there are at least four other people who are affected by the

alcoholic. This means that in the U.S. there are at least seventy-two million other people

dealing with the disease somehow. Many people believe that alcoholics are people that

are the skid row winos and bums. This is a common misconception, actually ninety-four

percent of alcoholics live at home, while only six percent are the skid row type. Ninety

percent of all alcoholics are employed, and many work for years before their alcoholism

becomes so bad that they cannot perform their job. Federal officials estimate that the

abuse of alcohol costs the economy well over one-hundred billion dollars every year.

Alcohol does this by making people be less productive at work, taking more sick days,

sustaining on the job injuries, collecting more workmen s compensation, and increasing

health insurance premiums. Physical Effects Prolonged alcohol use like that of an

alcoholic can lead to permanent damage of your body. The liver is the organ of the body

most vulnerable to damage by alcohol because the liver is where the alcohol is broken

down. The liver may become worn out from the daily task of removing alcohol from the

blood, this may cause the liver to be unable to perform as well in removing other harmful

substances. One of the most dangerous diseases of the liver caused by long-term alcohol

use is cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis causes the liver to become inflamed and scarred,

which eventually kills the liver and the person. Over fourteen thousand deaths a year

from cirrhosis are directly related to alcohol. Alcohol causes an increase in blood

pressure, this makes the heart pump harder to move blood around the body. Alcohol can

cause an increase in heart rate while at the same time reducing the ability of the heart

muscle to pump, it can also cause abnormal heart rhythms. Long-term and heavy use of

alcohol can cause a condition of the heart called alcoholic cardiomyopathy, this impairs

the heart muscles ability to contract and eventually fail. Alcohol s action on the brain is

what causes people to feel intoxicated. A sudden intake of large amounts of alcohol may

result in death, this is because nerve impulses to the brain are dangerously blocked. There

are over two hundred deaths a year from this kind of accidental alcohol poisoning.

Alcohol also has an increasing effect on our brain chemistry this is what causes are

change behavior. This can make people do things that they would not do when they are

sober, this a is common sign of an alcoholic. Test have shown that long-term drinking

like that of an alcoholic can lead to a measurable loss of thinking ability. Over time

heavy drinking can also cause permanent damage to the central nervous system. Research

has shown that there seems to be an association between alcohol and cancer, with heavy

drinkers having the highest risk. Drinkers seem to get cancer more frequently than non-

drinkers. Scientists believe that alcohol weakens body tissue and makes them more

susceptible to cancer causing substances. Alcohol is considered a factor in over seven

thousand cases of cancer a year. Alcohol hurts heavy drinkers health in general,

consuming large amounts of alcohol over a long period of time harms their bodies and

shortens their life. On average, heavy drinkers are taking twelve to fifteen years off their

lives.

How People Become Alcoholics

It is believed that there are many different ways a person can become a alcoholic.

Alcohol alone does not cause alcoholism, if it did everyone who drank would be any

alcoholic. There are a number of factors that lead to alcoholism. The way most scientists

think you become an alcoholic is through genetics. Because of genetics people tend to

inherit an inability to handle alcohol, just like other people inherit other diseases from

their parents. This is the reason that alcoholism seems to run in families from generation

to generation. This is why some people become alcoholics from the first time they drink,

because of the genetics they become hooked from the start. Experiments testing the

genetic factor have been conducted by taking children of alcoholics at birth and placing

them in non-alcoholic families, despite having no exposure to the alcoholic parents the

children had a four times higher risk of becoming an alcoholic than children of non-

alcoholic parents.

Another reason people become alcoholics is the environment they grow up in. If

children are exposed to drinking as a activity in which drinkers are careful and moderate

they are more likely to become a responsible drinker. If the children grow up seeing

heavy alcohol use and abuse they are more likely to use alcohol in that way. Also, if the

children are exposed to large amounts of peer pressure from the kids around them they

are more likely to drink.

Alcoholism is a disease that can also be acquired over a long period of time.

Alcoholics may start out as social drinkers who are able to control their drinking, but they

may lose this control and be carried into the alcoholic class. Some people may drink

daily just out of habit on a controlled level. Although, they may become careless about

their habits and the step across the line to alcohol dependence is a short one. Once they

are dependent on the alcohol they will build a tolerance to it, this will cause them to

drink more and more to get the same effects. Drinking more only makes their

dependence worse and eventually they will develop into a full blow alcoholic. Women

Alcoholics Alcoholism is a disease people see as mostly a male problem. But this is

incorrect, as many as half of the nation s alcoholics are women. The reason it seems

there are not as many female alcoholics is that female alcoholics are usually closet

drinkers. You rarely see a woman alcoholic publicly show alcoholic behavior, while with

men it is very common. It is easier for a woman alcoholic to damage her body than it is

for a man. The physical damage is worse than men s because women wait longer to seek

help because society places a greater stigma on o woman who drinks to much. Women s

livers don t process alcohol as well as men s. This makes women alcoholics susceptible

to developing cirrhosis and other liver problems with lower levels of alcohol in their

bodies and after shorter periods of drinking. Large amounts of alcohol in women may

interfere with fertility by upsetting the hormones in their body and it can increase the

chance of a miscarriage. Women alcoholics who become pregnant can cause great

damage to their babies, this damage is called fetal alcohol syndrome, fetal alcohol

syndrome can cause physical deformities and mental retardation. Women alcoholics also

have a higher rate of relapse than males. Violence and Alcoholism Being an alcoholic

probably means you will be under the influence of alcohol quite a bit, which increases

your chances of doing something stupid or illegal more than the regular person. Alcohol

causes a change in brain chemistry which results in changed behavior such as increased

aggression and reduced fear which may lead us to take needless risks. Alcohol can cause

people to be rude, verbally abusive, and physically threatening. These factors almost

always lead to trouble, such as fights with family , friends, or even complete strangers.

Some people use alcohol to express hostile feelings that the wouldn t express when

sober. Alcohol is a major factor in the committing crimes. Two out of three murders, one

out of three rapes, and two out of five results are connected to the use of alcohol. This

comes of no surprise to me because it is almost everyday you here of someone

committing a crime while under the influence. Traffic deaths caused by alcohol are very

common in the U.S. This shows that alcohol not only hurts the people drinking but also

innocent people. One out of two traffic deaths are caused by alcohol and nearly twenty-

five thousand Americans die each year as a result of the eight hundred thousand car

accidents caused by alcohol. Alcoholics are seven times more likely to be involved in

fatal accidents than non-alcoholics. Alcohol is also related to three out of five cases of

child abuse, up to one out of two incidents of domestic violence, one out of three

suicides, and up to seven out of ten deaths by drowning. What I m trying to point out here

is that when people use alcohol, especially frequently and heavily like alcoholics do, they

are just setting themselves up to get hurt or hurt someone else. Getting Help Early

identification and treatment of alcoholism is the best way to prevent alcohol from ruining

your life. The first and most important thing an alcoholic can do is admit that they have a

problem. It is unlikely that the alcoholic will be the first to admit it, usually they will

deny they have a problem, first they will deny their problem to others and then to

themselves. But once the alcoholic admits they have a problem, they are on the road to

victory. After they admit they have a problem they have to decide for themselves that

they want to stop drinking for good. Another very crutial part of recovery is recognizing

alcoholism itself as the problem needing attention, rather than saying it is just secondary

to another underlying problem. There are many places an alcoholic can get help from

like: family, friends, health-care workers, Alcoholics Anonymous, and alcoholism

counselors. They can provide the moral support the alcoholic needs to get well.

Alcoholics may need to check into a detox center if really bad, because the withdrawals

can be very painful and could possibly cause death. Withdrawal reactions can include any

or all of these: high fever, loss of appetite, nausea, uncontrollable shaking, hallucinations,

and possible coma or death. Alcoholism is a disease that cannot be totally cured but

people can recover and return to a normal way of life. Recovering depends on total

abstinence from alcohol. Recovering alcohol s can never touch alcohol again because

their addiction is too strong. Alcoholism is a very serious disease that affects a large

number of people. I think if we educate children at an early age to use alcohol in

moderation and within a reasonable limit we would have less cases of alcoholism. We

also now have the ability, through technology, to detect which people will most likely

develop into alcoholics. I think with this information we should get these people help

right away, the sooner the better. There is still hope for today s and tomorrow s

alcoholics because they are able to recover from alcoholism. It will only get easier to

recover from it if more people get involved in the fight against alcoholism. Bibliography

Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia Alcoholism Internet Webpage Alcohol and Health Notes

Magazine Today s Health Magazine Alcoholism by Chris Varley Problem Drinking -

What s The Problem? * How Alcohol Affects Your Body * Alcohol At Work * Living

With An Alcoholic Parent * How To Asses Your Drinking *