Alcohol is one of the leading causes of death in the United States; it affects the entire body, including the brain, nervous system, liver, heart, and the individual’s emotional well-being. Alcohol assists in making bad decisions, cancer, injuries, chronic illness, and of course hangovers. Some people believe drinking in moderation and sometimes regularly is alright, but that is definitely not the case. Drinking Alcohol can lead to many medical issues such as liver cirrhosis and pancreatitis. Liver cirrhosis is the damage of liver cells and in long term will cause liver failure and death. Pancreatitis is the inflammation of the pancreas, this in long term leads to the failure to produce insulin and can cause diabetes and even death. There …show more content…
These people mostly drink because the alcohol is easily accessible, it makes them feel like an adult, it is an act of rebellion, it makes them feel good, and the biggest reason people consume alcohol is peer pressure. Peer pressure is when your “friends” pressure you into doing something you know you should not do or do not want to do. The excuse that alcohol is easily accessible is not justifiable. Alcohol is not only expensive but it is illegal if you are under the age of twenty one, making it hard to have access to. Another way acquiring alcohol is difficult, many cities and towns are called “dry towns” meaning they cannot sell alcohol to anybody. Many alcoholics say drinking can in some ways be healthy and beneficial to you. Drinking even in moderation is unhealthy and can lead to heavier drinking. Although you think that it is just one drink, most people get drunk between the first and eighteenth drink. Many people who consume alcohol defend it by saying it helps prevent a common cold. While that is true in rare cases, alcohol still causes many other long term diseases. Another popular belief is that alcohol makes you relax and is a good distraction from stress. Although this seems true, alcohol makes you act irrationally to your surroundings. For example; alcohol is a major factor in domestic violence, animal abuse, and
4) The general effects of alcohol on the brain are blurred vision, weakened motor skills, blurred vision, slurred speech, slowed reaction times and impaired memory. In the liver alcohol causes fat deposits to develop in the liver and cause inflammation even eventually liver disease. Similarly, in the pancreas prolonged use can cause inflammation which yields vomiting, fever, weight loss, and is potentially fatal. Lastly, in the kidneys alcohol can increase the risk of high blood pressure developing in chronic kidney disease.
could go to jail, have health problems, or end up in the hospital if they do not drink responsibly.
Alcohol abuse has become one of the principal causes of mortality and morbidity in the United States causing more than 200,000 deaths every year (Hendey, Dery, Barnes, Snowden, &
The digestive enzymes within your pancreas build up which causes digestive issues with and end state of pancreatitis. Diarrhea and bloating are also common side effects of heavy drinking and people often develop ulcers or hemorrhoids. To add to the digestive system, alcohol can also cause severe damage to the circulatory system. “More than two drinks a day can increase your change of developing high blood pressure.” (Sutton, 2007) This high blood pressure can cause irregular heartbeats, difficulty with the flow of blood through the circulatory system, and can ultimately cause a heart attack or heart failure.
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
Drinking can lead to a lot of things such as teen pregnancies, hospitalizations and worse cases it can lead to death. “100,000 persons die each year from alcohol-related causes: drinking and driving crashes, other accidents, falls, fires, alcohol-related homicides and suicides.” (NCAAD) The amount of horrifying deaths that happen in our everyday life we can contribute a large portion of the to being related in some form to alcohol. Teen alcohol consumption has gotten worse and worse over the years. “Teen alcohol use kills 4,700 people each year — that’s more than all illegal drugs combined.” (MADD) While there are many other
People drink in many ways, for many different reasons. We drink socially, to gain acceptance into a group. We drink alone to ease stress, to cope with our problems, or we “drink because we like the taste or how it makes us feel”#. Often drinking is a learned behavior, starting out as a social drinker; you quickly become psychologically and physically dependent. When someone reaches this stage they are often classified as an alcoholic. To an alcoholic, drinking becomes a compulsion; they cannot stop themselves from having another drink, like a social drinker can. In many cases alcoholics don’t even have to drink continuously in order to be an alcoholic. One the problems of alcohol addiction is that it’s something that doesn’t just effect the individual but it effects, friends and family as well. Spouse abuse, child abuse and dysfunctional family relationships can all be influenced by alcohol abuse.
Alcohol affects the brain, the heart, the liver, the pancreas, the immune system and can cause cancer in the mouth, esophagus, throat, liver, and the breasts. “Chronic and
Drinking irresponsibly can lead to many negative effects like, stress, alcohol poisoning, depression, addiction, accident and most tragic, death. I’m not saying that one can’t have a few drinks and have a good time, but have a few drinks and be responsible. My friend’s death affected a
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.
Alcohol is one of many dangerous substances that effects our bodies. The effects of this drug can be very harmful. Alcohol is a potent non-prescription drug sold to anyone over the national legal drinking age, 21. Unlike other deadly drugs it is easy to access. This makes it easy to over-consume and create a tragic accident, even death. It can damage a person not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. Many people each year become more and more addicted to alcohol and soon experience all of it?s dangerous effects. Even if alcohol use is discontinued, some of these damages can not be cured, because the scars have been left on those that drink and those that surround them. The only hope
The abuse of alcohol over long periods of time may also cause diseases such as cirrhosis, acute alcohol hepatitis, and the most severe liver disease. Cirrhosis is a disease in which the liver becomes so scarred that the patient lacks sufficient healthy tissue to perform the organ?s functions. Once you?ve got it, you are stuck with it. (Gross, 6) The worst thing about these diseases is that you will not know you have them unless you are medically examined on a regular basis. Alcohol consumption is a large contributor to the development of several types of cancer- mostly dealing with the neck and brain. We know that cancer kills and therefore it is safe to say that in some cases, alcohol can be deadly. It is important to realize that alcoholism is a disease. A heavy drinker will experience the effects of withdrawal syndrome (which include hypertension, anxiety, disorientation, hallucinations, and seizures) if he decides to stop drinking. Being addicted to alcohol is similar to being addicted to any other drug in that once one starts using, it is tough to live without. It is also a ?gateway drug? just as marijuana and other sedatives. (Bennett, Woolf, 13-23)
Alcohol is a very serious and dangerous drug, although it is not treated this way anymore. College students have taken drinking to a new level in which, for many, is very scary. Alcohol is much more dangerous than many would think. Kids see a night of drinking as a great way to have fun and party but do not see the consequences. Getting drunk and even blacking out can lead to many problems. When alcohol is consumed in unhealthy amounts, it can lead to not only short-term effects, but long-term ones as well.
Alcohol is very popular among people who are looking for a good time, but it is also a very addicting and evil thing. Most people try alcohol for the first time in their teen years even though it is against the law. Most of the time people try it because their friends drink. People who are weak minded are easily influenced by their friends to try out bad habits like alcohol, and at the end the only one it affects is that one person. That person will become dependant on alcohol and build a tolerance to it. Every week they drink more and more it will never be enough because they will always need a bigger amount of alcohol to satisfy them every time. That is how people become alcoholics. Alcoholics lose everything they have and own. Alcohol becomes everything they can ever think about, it takes over their life and in some cases it also takes their life.
Alcohol has no beneficial attributes on a person’s health. Alcohol can have several harmful effects on human organs. Some organs in the human body that are damaged by alcohol consumption are the brain, kidneys, and liver. The human liver is the one organ that suffers the most damage. As stated in an article published by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, “Because the liver is the chief organ responsible for metabolizing alcohol, it is especially vulnerable to alcohol – related injury” (NIAAA, 2005). Regular use of alcohol can lead to alcoholic liver disease (ALD). The severity of ALD can vary based on several different factors. Some of these factors include gender, age, the amount consumed, and how often alcohol is used. “ALD includes three conditions: fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis” (Alcohol Alert, 2005).