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 *