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,