Consuming Too Much Alcohol

While alcohol may have damaging effects to one’s body, many benefits exist if one drinks responsibly. Many studies and cases do show alcohol can damage the liver and other parts of the body; however, when one drinks in a moderate manner many health benefits may exist. Alcohol helps to fight against various health conditions and risks common among many people,

Over a long time binge drinking can damage the liver and other organs. Car crashes, drunk driving arrests, sexual assaults, and injuries. For many their goal is to black out. Blacking out is when you just shut down into a hard sleep and can’t remember anything. Drinking too much alcohol can make you have alcohol poison and get really sick. You may even die or suffer health problems for the rest of your life.

While consumption of alcohol is a socially acceptable practice in our society, issues arise when abuse occurs. Donatelle and Thompson (2011) define alcohol abuse as the "excessive consumption or a level of consumption that interferes with work, school, or social and family relationships" (256). As with other drug addictions, this abuse is disruptive to the alcohol abusers life as well as to those close to them. Moreover, alcohol abuse is accompanied by many devastating effects for all demographics. The harms associated with the misuse and abuse of alcohol includes: harm to oneself, negative effects on friendships and social life, and negative affects to physical

Alcohol use has spanned history. In fact, there is speculation that alcohol use actually preceded the formation of societies (Doweiko, 2015, p. 30). Thus, alcohol has long been a part of mankind’s life. The function of alcohol has unarguably changed throughout the course of history, as it was first used for nutritional purposes and then later on for religious purposes (Doweiko, 2015, p. 32). Today, alcohol serves a social purpose. In the United States, the prevalence of use is quite high, with just over 50% of the population partaking monthly (Doweiko, 2015, p. 34). This statistic is somewhat alarming considering alcohol use comes with a number of potential adverse consequences. Case in point, even

Many people don't know how to drink responsibly so that could lead to binge drinking. If you drink a lot you will do things you don't want to do, like drink and drive which could possibly kill someone including you. Drinking irresponsibly can lead to violent behavior which could put others at risk. Also for violent behavior and drinking+driving could get you in jail.

Over 2.5million people die every year to excessive alcohol use. Furthermore, alcohol is responsible for one in ten deaths of working age adults aged twenty to sixty four. Excessive drinking by the CDC is more than one glass a day for a woman and more than two glasses a day for a man. Also, drinking any while under the age or pregnant is classified as excessive drinking(“Alcohol Use and Your Health”). On top of the benefits becoming negative effects quickly, excessive drinking also comes with many more side effects. Excessive drinking damages the brain, heart, liver, pancreas, and the immune system. Brain cells are lost along with loss of thinking and coordination. Heart beat, heart muscles, and blood pressure can be effected. A variety of liver problems and inflammations. The Pancreas produces unwanted toxins eventually leading to pancreatitis. Lastly the immune system is weakened, making the body a much easier target for disease and slowing the body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk(“Alcohol's Effects on the

Alcohol has been a mainstay of celebratory events throughout history and many people enjoy alcohol in a healthy way. Consuming moderate amounts of alcohol is even associated with health benefits such as reduced heart disease related mortality, and decreased risk of ischemic stroke and diabetes (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2005). Moderate consumption of alcohol, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, consists of up to 1 drink per day for women and up to 2 drinks per day for men. Despite the potential benefits of moderate alcohol intake, excessive alcohol consumption contributes to significant problems at the individual, community and societal levels.

While many people view consuming alcohol as charming, it is indeed detrimental to a person’s health and well-being. “[As of] 2013, 86.6 percent of people ages eighteen and older have drank alcohol at some point in their lifetime…56.4 percent reported that they drank in the past month” (NIAAA). Drinking is the cause of many accident inflicted hospital visits, increases the risk for a plethora of illness, and is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States (NIAAA).

First of all, alcohol is a depressant, in other words it controls how slow your body functions. It could alter with a person’s movement, emotions, and vision. Alcohol impedes messages that your brain is trying to receive. You are more relaxed depending on how much you drink. The more you drink the more intoxicated you are and the more sick feeling you could get. Depending on the person, you could either be an angry, friendly or maybe a sad drunk, making you act not yourself. When you drink, you react to things slower, that’s why people should not drive intoxicated. Consuming too much alcohol in a short period of time can have a result of alcohol poisoning; the first symptom is usually vomiting. Resulting more symptoms such as extreme fatigue, difficulty breathing, low blood sugar, unconsciousness, or even death. Furthermore, there are aftereffects, known as a hangover, in other terms, it’s what happens after heavy drinking. An alcohol withdrawal can usually happen after just four or five drinks to get a hangover, which typically happens several hours after your last drink. These symptoms include headaches, nausea, fatigue, muscle pain, or mild anxiety. “When teenagers do use alcohol they may not just be affecting their brain for that night or weekend, but for the next 80 years of their life.” (“Henry Wechsler, PhD and Bernice Wuethrich”).

“Alcohol is toxic to healthy cells and organs, a side effect that results directly in some 35,000 deaths per year from illnesses like cirrhosis, ulcers, and heart disease.” (UN Report)

Alcohol can affect the way the brain looks or feels and functions. These Interruptions can change how you feel and behavior, and make it more difficult to think and properly move. It also increases your risk for chronic liver inflammation and liver disease. Over Drinking can cause a stroke, heart disease, and irregular heartbeat. Drinking can also increase your risk of developing lung,throat, liver and, breast cancer. When you drink, part of your body produces toxic substances that can eventually lead to a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper

It is very scary that a known fatal substance is so readily available in today’s society. A lot of people like to relax with a drink of alcohol; however, it can cause many serious problems for others who start to become dependent on it.

The invincibility that many feel towards alcohol, however, may not be such a good thing. While perhaps a few drinks may allow one to feel more socially accepted or detach themselves from a problem, it can cause serious health effects on not only the drinker, but on innocent victims as well. The problems are many and the price is high for those who choose to drink irresponsibly. At the most basic level are the damage that alcohol can do to the liver, causing health problems like Cirrhosis or even cancer later in life. Too much drinking can result in alcohol poisoning, and possibly even death. When alcohol is drank with many prescription or over the counter drugs, the combination can result in various serious health consequences. FAS, or Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, can cause the baby of a drinker to be born with severe physical or mental handicaps, inflicting the innocent baby with terrifying results. Damage can be caused to the mind as well as to the body-- alcoholism is one of America's major problems. This

In the United States, 17.6 million people – about one in every 12 adults, abuse alcohol or are alcohol dependent. (NIH: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2012) The Mayo Clinic defines alcoholism as a chronic disease in which your body becomes dependent on alcohol (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2010), and indicates that more than 100,000 Americans die annually from alcohol related causes (Johnson) . Aside from the physical problems that alcohol addiction can create, there are frequently emotional and social complications. Alcoholism is a disease that harms not only the alcoholic, but also the co-workers and family of the alcoholic.

While drinking might make you feel good now, if you abuse that alcohol it may lead to serious complications later. Heavy drinking is defined as consuming four or more drinks in a day for women and five or more drinks in a day for men (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Alcohol is considered a depressant, so it is only seen fit that one of the chief effects of alcohol on the brain is to depress central nervous system functioning. In turn it may be why major depressive disorders occur in those who abuse alcohol. If the alcohol abuse continues over a period it intensifies into an alcohol dependency. Alcohol has effects on the body both mentally and physically. After a certain limit alcohol will slur your speech, increase your reaction time, and make you lose co-ordination. Alcohol consumption, particularly long-term alcohol dependence has many physiological ricks to consider, such as permanent damage to the brain, alcoholic liver disease, pancreatitis, alcohol poisoning