I work at a restaurant in Ithaca. In this restaurant we also cater. I recently catered a frat party and was astonished with all the alcohol that such a small number of people had consumed in less then two hours. I understand that in social gatherings, which may include alcohol, are for the most part a time to kick back and relax from our regular grind. However, for potential alcoholics this lifestyle may present a problem. This is because drinking leads certain people a step farther down the road to becoming an unsocial drinker and later a victim, an Alcoholic. Why is it such a problem for us to drink? It’s a large issue because of the nature of the poison in which we are ingesting, Ethanol.
Ethanol, or in its most common form alcohol is a substance that has all negative affect on the human body. If exposed to “over 1,000 ppm [it] may cause headache, irritation of the eyes, nose and throat and if long continued, drowsiness and lassitude, loss of appetite and inability to concentrate.” (Lewis 1999)
Alcohol is a stimulant and in small doses takes away social fears and creates a state that breads contact between people. In larger doses however we may see in our own friends the typical “drunk” that is so often portrayed in movies and the media. In still larger amounts there is a large likelihood for the victim to go into a coma and even die. Hundreds of thousands even millions of people in the world today take in too much alcohol, without being aware, until too late, that they have a serious problem. (Boyden 1999) The sad thing is that little to no people receive the help needed in the early stages of becoming an alcoholic. The countdown to alcoholism continues and the problem grows larger every day. Identifying the problem drinker in their early warning signs of trouble is perhaps one of the largest single steps that can be taken towards eliminating the problem. We must remember the process of becoming an alcoholic can take between two to sixty years but the average is ten to fifteen. The scary truth is that no one is immune. (Komaroff 1999)
The Essay on Drinking Age People Alcohol
... highest minimum drinking age and for some strange reason the largest problem with underage consumption" (Toomey & Rosenfeld, 1996)? This statement in ... alcoholic beverage they are going against the law. By making the drinking age 21, we have greatly increased illegal alcohol use. When people ...
This kind of excessive drinking can cause physical disease. With this in mind, what sort of harm can this drug have on the body?
The Stomach: Alcohol affects the stomach creating the nausea sensation that is experienced the morning after a heavy drinking session. The stomach lining inflamed by alcohol is very often sensitive to other irritants, for example, Aspirin. This problematic stomach irritation is very common among alcoholics. To help alcoholics, doctors have started to proscribe drugs that affect the stomach in a very similar way. Disulfiram, when mixed with alcohol, creates reaction that may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and/or trembling. The idea is that alcoholics after drinking on this medication would start to associate these bad feelings to drinking and no longer desire to do so. This drug and drugs like this would only be helpful if the patient was willing to give up drinking and be on this medication. (Boyden 1999)
Vitamin and Iron Deficiency: A heavy drinker may find that he needs a considerable amount less to eat in his or her diet. This is because alcohol contains sugars and other nutrients, which make the drinker, feel full. It is now estimated by the British Nutrition Foundation that the average English white male gets five point two per cent of his energy from alcohol, because of these reasons many chronic alcoholics suffer from anemia. This is caused by the lack of folic acid in the diet, more commonly known as iron. This then causes blood deficiencies and troubles in absorbing real food. (Boyden 1999) This gap of nutrients in the body then led to other problems.
Liver: Seven out of every ten alcoholics have what are called “fatty” livers. Amino acids, which usually remove fats from the bold and liver, will not function properly if there is a lack of protein (Amino Acids) in the diet. The combination of nutritional deficiency and the toxic affects are believed to cause both “fatty” liver and cirrhosis of the liver.
The Essay on Effects Of Alcohol Web Drinking Alcoholic
Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) is known as alcohol. It is made by fermenting starch or sugar into different fruits and grains. Beer (usually about 5% alcohol), wine (usually 12 to 15% alcohol), and hard liquor (which is about 45% alcohol), are alcoholic beverages that are made by fermentation and distillation (1). Alcohol can lead to serious physical damage in all systems of the body, the most serious in ...
Severe cirrhosis impairs the flow of blood through the liver, this put the victim at risk for hemorrhage. Around twenty percent of alcoholic patents admitted to hospitals have liver cirrhosis. Alcohol is also believed to make the liver more susceptible to other types of infection. (Komaroff 1997)
Blood Pressure: There are conclusive links between high blood pressure and alcohol. Surveys have been conducted in the United States that show people who drink two drinks or fewer a day, have a blood pressure that reasonably compares to those that do not drink at all. Whereas those people who have a higher blood pressure tend to drink three of more alcoholic beverages in one day. With long-term use this affects the heart and can lead to heart failure, the end result is death.
A much more sensible approach to drinking must be taken. We need to realize that in a society where drinking is accepted and socially all right there are many dangers that lurk within this substance; which at times we blindly intake. In leading a healthy life in this world we need not to be imprisoned mentally and physically. Are we going to let a poison do this to millions of our friends and family? We cannot. Not to say drinking is a completely bad thing. In moderating it has been proven to be relatively harmless. Only to say that we need to monitor what we consider reasonable, after reviewing the facts.
