Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol is liquid distilled product of fermented fruits, grains and vegetables
used as solvent, antiseptic and sedative moderate potential for abuse. Possible
effects are intoxication, sensory alteration, and/or anxiety reduction. Symptoms
of overdose staggering, odor of alcohol on breath, loss of coordination, slurred
speech, dilated pupils, fetal alcohol syndrome (in babies), and/or nerve and
liver damage. Withdrawal Syndrome is first sweating, tremors, then altered
perception, followed by psychosis, fear, and finally auditory hallucinations.

Indications of possible mis-use are confusion, disorientation, loss of motor
nerve control, convulsions, shock, shallow respiration, involuntary defecation,
drowsiness, respiratory depression and possible death. Alcohol is also known as:
Booze, Juice, Brew, Vino, Sauce. You probably know why alcohol is abused some
reasons are relaxation, sociability, and cheap high. But did you know that
alcohol is a depressant that decreases the responses of the central nervous
system. Excessive drinking can cause liver damage and psychotic behavior. As
little as two beers or drinks can impair coordination and thinking. Alcohol is
often used by substance abusers to enhance the effects of other drugs. Alcohol
continues to be the most frequently abused substance among young adults. HERE
ARE SOME STRAIGHT FACTS ABOUT ALCOHOL…. Alcohol abuse is a pattern of problem
drinking that results in health consequences, social, problems, or both.

However, alcohol dependence, or alcoholism, refers to a disease that is
characterized by abnormal alcohol-seeking behavior that leads to impaired
control over drinking. Short-term effects of alcohol use include: -Distorted
vision, hearing, and coordination -Altered perceptions and emotions -Impaired
judgment -Bad breath; hangovers Long-term effects of heavy alcohol use include:
-Loss of appetite -Vitamin deficiencies -Stomach ailments -Skin problems -Sexual
impotence -Liver damage -Heart and central nervous system damage -Memory loss
Here are some quick clues to know if I, or someone close, has a drinking
problem: -Inability to control drinking–it seems that regardless of what you
decide beforehand, you frequently wind up drunk -Using alcohol to escape
problems -A change in personality–turning from Dr. Jekyl to Mr. Hyde -A high
tolerance level–drinking just about everybody under the table
-Blackouts–sometimes not remembering what happened while drinking -Problems at
work or in school as a result of drinking -Concern shown by family and friends
about drinking If you have a drinking problem, or if you suspect you have a
drinking problem, there are many others out there like you, and there is help
available. You could talk to school counselor, a friend, or a parent. Excessive
alcohol consumption causes more than 100,000 deaths annually in the United
States, and although the number shows little sign of declining, the rate per
100,000 population has trended down since the early 1980s. Accidents, mostly due
to drunken driving, accounted for 24 percent of these deaths in 1992.

Alcohol-related homicide and suicide accounted for 11 and 8 percent
respectively. Certain types of cancer that are partly attributable to alcohol,
such as those of the esophagus, larynx, and oral cavity, contributed another 17
percent. About 9 percent is due to alcohol-related stroke. One of the most
important contributors to alcohol-related deaths is a group of 12 ailments
wholly caused by alcohol, among which alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver and
alcohol dependence syndrome are the most important. These 12 ailments together
accounted for 18 percent of the total alcohol-related deaths in 1992. Mortality
due to the 12 causes rises steeply into late middle age range and then declines
markedly, with those 85 and over being at less than one-sixth the risk of 55 to
64-year olds. The most reliable data are for the 12 conditions wholly
attributable to alcohol. The map shows these data for all people 35 and over.

The geographical distribution for men and women follows much the same pattern,
although men are three times as likely to die of one of the 12 alcohol-induced
ailments. The geographical distribution for whites and blacks follows roughly
the same pattern but the rates for blacks are two and half times higher. In the
late nineteenth century blacks, who were then far more abstemious than whites,
were strong supporters of the temperance movement, but the movement in the South
was taken over by whites bent on disenfranchising black people by any means
possible, such as propagating lurid tales of drink-crazed black men raping white
women. Consequently, blacks became less involved in the temperance movement, a
trend that accelerated early in the twentieth century with the great migration
of blacks to the North, where liquor was freely available even during
Prohibition. The geographical pattern of mortality from the 12 conditions wholly
caused by alcohol is partly explained by the average alcohol consumption