Alcohol Education

alcohol

noun

a colourless volatile flammable liquid which is produced by the natural fermentation of sugars and is the intoxicating constituent of wine, beer, spirits, and other drinks, and is also used as an industrial solvent and as fuel.

Alcohol consumption and its effects start with the point of entry. Alcohol is an irritant; it burns when it touches any bodily surface, as you may know if you have ever used it as a disinfectant on a cut.

When you take an initial sip of alcohol, the impact is not different, especially when you consume a high-proof liquor. You will notice an immediate burning sensation as it goes into your mouth and down the delicate lining of your esophagus.

It is a burn that could eventually kill the living tissues of the body. With prolonged, heavy consumption, alcohol can lead to the development of various head and neck cancers. Drinking five drinks or more a day can double or triple your risk of developing cancer in your mouth, throat, or voice box.

As alcohol travels to the stomach, it is absorbed into the bloodstream or passes through to the intestines.

However, some alcohol does neither. Some can stay in the stomach, increasing the acidity of the stomach and irritating its protective lining. This irritation, when experienced chronically, can lead to corrosion of the stomach lining. Even moderate alcohol consumption can give rise to or exacerbate existing stomach and intestinal ulcers.

When the alcohol travels to the small intestine, it can do damage by interrupting the digestive system. It blocks the body from absorbing thiamin, folic acid, fat, Vitamin B1, B12, and amino acids.

On a short term basis, as alcohol passes through the heart, it can cause inflammation of the walls of the muscles. However, it is long-term drinking and even shorter term binge drinking that have the worst effects on the functions of the heart.

Both long term drinking and binge drinking negatively affect heart rate, disrupting its rhythm by causing it to speed up or beat irregularly.

Worse, it can lead to a condition called alcoholic cardiomyopathy. This condition, which can include the conditions of cardiomegaly or dilated cardiomyopathy, causes heart muscles to weaken from repeated toxic exposure from alcohol abuse over time. The pumping of the heart function becomes inefficient and reduces its effectiveness at sending blood throughout the body, which wreaks havoc on various organ systems by depriving them of blood.

Long-term drinking and binge drinking can not only lead to other disastrous heart problems, such as hypertension, but it can also lead to strokes. In fact, binge drinkers are 56 percent more likely to suffer from an ischemic stroke over a 10 year period.

Studies show that moderate alcohol intake can result in a blood thinning phenomenon. However, excessive alcohol use can elicit quite the opposite reaction. Once alcohol is in the bloodstream, it can lead to a hypercoagulable state, bringing platelets and red blood cells together, causing them to clump up. These sticky red blood cells increase the chance of clot formation and can slow circulation and deprive tissues of needed oxygen.

The presence of alcohol in the bloodstream can have adverse effects on the ability of the body to fight off illness or infection, because it diminishes the ability of the white blood cells to battle bacteria or other foreign pathogens, making it easier for you to get sick.

It is the effects of alcohol on the brain that make it so desirable; and dangerous.

Though we often hear alcohol is a depressant, and it is, alcohol increases the release of dopamine in the reward centers of the brain, which is what gives drinking alcohol its pleasurable sensation. As you keep drinking, the dopamine effect diminishes, putting you at risk for feeling the need to go back to the well more often. This is how alcohol addiction begins.

Alcohol depresses brain centers, enhances effects of calming agents on the brain, and slows down the rate at which information travels down the highways of the brain. This is what causes its disorienting effects as well as deterioration of motor skills and judgment. If you drink too much alcohol, these brain centers can become so severely impaired that you could fall into a coma or die.

The depression of brain centers can also trigger adverse effects on memory. Even just a few drinks can impact your memory in a big way, rendering you unable to recall parts of events or even entire nights. Studies show females are also more susceptible to these effects than men due to the differences in how the genders metabolize alcohol.