Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a wide-ranging and complex disease that heavily plagues society. Drinking is defined as the consumption of a liquid, and/or the act of drinking alcoholic beverages especially to excess. Every year alcohol is responsible for 1/2 of all murders, accidental deaths, and suicides; 1/3 of all drowning, boating, and aviation deaths; 1/2 of all crimes; and almost 1/2 of all fatal automobile accidents (Overview 1). Alcohol is a potent nonprescription drug sold to anyone over the national legal drinking age, 21. Unlike carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, which can be manufactured by the body, alcohol is a substance that is not made within the body. It is a food, because it supplies a concentrated number of calories, but is not nourishing and does not supply a significant amount of needed nutrients, vitamins, or minerals. These are empty calories that result in an unattractive "beer belly." Most foods are prepared for digestion by the stomach so that their nutrients can be absorbed by the large intestine. However, 95% of alcohol is absorbed directly through the stomach walls or the walls of the duodenum (part of the small intestine nearest the stomach)and small intestine (Overview 2). Various factors effect the speed of alcoh
Evidence shows there may be genetic factors that help determine whether a person will become and alcoholic. Occasional users of alcohol, who are healthy, do not appear to suffer negative affects from use of alcohol. Alcohol abuse destroys brain cells and whether the damage can be reversed is unknown. Treatment sources include hospitals, alcoholism units within hospitals, private clinics designed specifically for the care of alcoholics, residential alcoholic rehabilitation facilities, self-help groups such as Alcoholic Anonymous, and private practitioners such as alcoholism counselors, psychologists, psychia!tric social workers, and psychiatrists. Relatively speaking, the twelve million U. As a drinker continues to drink, alcohol depresses lung and heart function, slowing breathing and circulation. The stomach of a chronic drinker loses the ability to adequately move food and expel !it into the duodenum, leaving some food always in the stomach, causing sluggish digestion and vomiting. Quitting drinking aids in recovery from this condition. Even one binge may produce irregular heartbeats, and an alcohol abuser experience increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, heart arrhythmia, and heart disease. The liver's fixed rate of alcohol breakdown means that drinking coffee or taking a cold shower does not speed the sobering process. The physical effects of alcohol abuse are wide ranging and complex. -Alcohol is processed at the rate o!f three tenths of an ounce of pure ethanol per hour (less than one ounce of whiskey) and unprocessed alcohol circulates in the body.
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