The Influence of Alcohol on the Brain

Alcohol is a major problem faced by many people across the United States. People who use this drug often times do not know of the impacts it has on them and others. This drug can change ones life with just one use. Teens are influenced or peer pressured to try it, which can impact them for the rest of their lives. The choices made while drinking can also have a sizable impact on someone for the rest of their life. Alcohol will impact your brain, impact your body, impact your choices, and impact those around you.

The article, “Alcohol can rewire the teenage brain,” starts by stating that more than 4,750 American kids aged 15 and younger, said they took their first drink of alcohol already. Kids who start drinking before the age of 15 are more likely to become alcoholics because they get addicted to the drug. The article also states that they are more likely to start binge drinking. A study conducted by Lorena Siqueira a pediatrician at the Florida International University and Nicklaus Children’s hospital in Miami, reported that, “When kids drink, they tend to do heavy drinking,” and that, “Their bodies are not ready to handle that kind of alcohol.” Teens think that alcohol will help them feel happier and better, but that is not true. Teens also drink

Driving under the influence is measured by a person’s blood alcohol level (BAC). BAC is determined by the concentration of alcohol in the bloodstream. Individual counties and states have their own legal level on blood alcohol percentages that they measure a person’s

Many negative effects come with drinking alcohol. Since teenagers’ brains are not fully developed until they are in their mid 20’s, it is especially dangerous to them. The legal alcohol age should not be eighteen because it harms the teenage brain and body, it has negative (and potentially fatal) effects on school, and it has negative effects on driving.

“Each year in the U.S., nearly 80,000 people die from alcohol-related causes, making it the third leading preventable cause of death in our country” (Alcohol Facts 1). Alcoholism is a major controversy in the United States, and many debate whether alcoholism is a disease or choice. Accordingly, based on scientific evidence, alcoholism is a disease because it has major long-term effects on the brain, it is an addiction, and it is treated medically.

Statistics say that 8.7 million Americans between the ages twelve and through twenty said they have recently consumed alcohol(“NIH)”. When a person is under the influence, they have consumed enough alcohol for their mental and physical features to become impaired. Teenage drinking is an issue that has haunted society for generations. Each year, approximately 5,000 teenagers die from alcohol related car crashes, alcohol poisoning, homicides, suicides, and other injuries (“Underage”). Scientists say that developmental transitions are key factors in a teens decision to consume alcohol. Therefore, because the teen’s brain is undeveloped, it has led them to drink. Drinking alcohol with an undeveloped brain may cause a loss of intellectual capabilities,

This can lead to injury from overconfidence in the drinker’s ability to assess a situation, which might lead them to do something they would normally find inappropriate or not safe. Drinking impairs judgment and can cause the abuser to lose some sense of awareness in situations which might cause an inappropriate response. Someone who has drank in excess might have trouble reciprocating other people’s social cues and may react violently or with aggression since drinking alcohol impairs judgment. Most dangerously of all is the drinker’s loss of control, specifically when they get in a car. A drinker’s motors skills may be at a complete loss after an excess in drinking, this can lead to an automobile accident which could be

One of the major problems in society is alcoholism. The effects of this disease are very dangerous and serious. Alcohol can cause many problems in a person’s life without them even being aware of it. People who have been drinking large amounts of alcohol for long periods of time run the risk of developing serious and persistent changes in the brain. While several decades of research with adults have shown that chronic heavy drinking is associated with adverse consequences on the adult brain, this relationship has only recently been explored in the adolescent brain.

Over several years, the scientific research of alcohol and its affects on the human body and brain have gradually progressed. Most people who indulge in alcoholic beverages do not think of the consequences it may have on their bodies over time. Alcohol can affect the nervous system, as well as the peripheral nervous system, which controls the nerves throughout your entire body. Consuming excessive amounts of alcohol over an extended period of time can lead to a series of problems that impair the muscle tissue and brain. Neuroimaging and advanced technology has shown changes in blood flow in and around the brain, the brains metabolism, and the neurophysiological measures in the brain. Alcohol remains a poisonous toxin that affects the nerves

When drinking alcohol, alcoholics know some side effects. What they dont know is how it damages the brain. Brain disease is one of the many side effects. Alcohol also affects the liver, lungs, heart and cells.

Someone is sitting at a restaurant bar. A waitress walks over handing out free shots, so he takes one. One leads to two, two leads to three, and so on. Before he realizes it, he is talking louder than ever, tripping over his own feet, and causing a scene. Toward the end of the night, he walks into someone’s table, as he is heading out of the restaurant, knocking over their meals. He tries to say something, but all that comes out is mumbling. The next morning, he is feeling dizzy, has a pounding headache, and does not remember anything from the night before.

For motor skills part, there are two factors to analysis, which include muscle control: leg muscles and heart muscles; eyesight effect by the alcohol consumption. An organization which is named Narconon Reviews (2013) claimed that motor-skills are those functions that muscles, hand, feet, etc work together. They are always executing specific actions, such as walking/running, driving a car, picking up an object/moving it. Motor skills also connect with sensory channels. These channels include sight, sound, touch, smell and even tastes. If an independent drinks alcohol, one of the channels will be limited.

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)

Undoubtedly, the legal limit for drinking while driving desperately must be reconsidered. Driving after consuming any amount of alcohol is negligent and hazardous. The concern of drinking and driving is a state law; therefore, the rules and laws may vary among the states. Regardless, drinking while driving is an enormous concern in all 50 states and getting behind the wheel of a vehicle after consuming any amount of alcohol should not be tolerated under any circumstances. “The amount of alcohol in the bloodstream is called Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC). It is measured in milligrams percent. In most states, drinkers are presumed to be legally impaired if they have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or higher. This is the same as one drop of alcohol in 1,200 drops of blood. While this may seem a small amount to worry about, a blood alcohol concentration of 0.30 can cause a person to go into a coma, while a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.40 could easily kill you” (Chaves County DWI Program). A surprising statistic to most people is, on average about three drinks will put an individual over the legal limit. One drink is considered 12oz beer, 3oz of wine, and 1oz of hard liquor (Arizona Department of Public Safety). Many people get behind the wheel, after having just a few drinks, believing that they have

http://www.alcoholism.tqn.com/library/weekly/aa022697.htm?pid=2750&cob=home. Whether a crime was committed intentionally or unintentionally has great bearing on the decision of a jury in finding a person guilty of a crime and/or on the judge's choice of punishment. You might have heard of husbands apologizing to their wives the day after they've beaten them. Their apology might sound something like, "I'm so sorry. I did not mean to hurt you, I swear!" Does alcohol have the capability to make a person forget? Can a person be unaware of his surroundings and yet still be able to interact with it? More importantly, can alcohol change a person's personality enough that it would cause him to do things