ALCOHOL

ALCOHOL

Drinking alcohol is like taking a drug. It is a form of drug abuse, and drug addiction. This is a worldwide problem that many people are involved in. There are good effects of alcohol if it is in small amounts and in self-control. On the other hand there are bad effects, if you take for long time. The effects that a person will get are all based on certain factors like, how much and how often alcohol is consumed, the age of the person, when the person started and how long they have been drinking for, their family history and based on their health.

Researcher has been saying that a little bit of alcohol with dinner is not only okay but it is also good for you. They say that if you drink a small amount of alcohol it will help you to sleep. Also if you drink a self-control amount every day it can help your health in the long run. A self-control amount is considered to be one drink for women daily and two drinks for men daily. This can help bring your HDL level up, which helps protect your heart against disease that causes heart attacks. Also a self-control amount of alcohol everyday can lower your risk of developing diabetes by increasing your insulin sensitivity. It can also raise ‘good cholesterol’ levels. In the long term they have said that for women it helps keep the mind sharp in later years. Now this doesn’t mean that a person should start drinking for the benefits, it just means that if you can drink in self-control it could be slightly helpful to you in the future.

If you take advantage of that and drink alcohol in excess there are affects that you should be aware of. it slows down the body’s functions and its effects are similar to those of a general anesthetic. Ethyl alcohol (ethanol) is the active ingredient in all alcoholic drinks. If you take any alcoholic beverage and remove the ingredients that give it taste and color, you get ethyl alcohol. Remove the water from ethyl alcohol and you get ether. Ether is an anesthetic that works on the brain and puts it to sleep. Once you start to become addicted to alcohol you are considered an alcoholic. There are many long term effects that come along with drinking lots of alcohol. It damages your organs, like the brain, liver, stomach, intestines, and heart. The brain is affected, because brain cells die which leads to memory loss, confusion, learning difficulties, problems with attention, and brain disorders. The liver is effected, because cancer can develop there, and also in the mouth and throat. The nervous system can also get damaged, and when this happens the person will get physical and behavioural problems. Another reason is that poor nutrition normally comes side by side with lots of drinking. This could be because the alcohol interferes with the absorption and storage of the vitamins you get. Also the water soluble minerals get lost because of the increased urination that happens. All of these problems can quickly lead to injury to oneself or to others, violence, and death. Also it leads to a loss of employment, and a loss of family life. If you are addicted to alcohol or drink a lot of alcohol for a long period of time you will shorten your life span by about 12 years and get a lot of side-effects.

In conclusion alcohol can affect your life in a good or bad way depending on how you drink and how much you drink. It is better to drink in self-control and responsibly. This normally means drinking only one to two glasses a day with a meal and also has a healthy diet. Everyone can make their own decision on what drinking in self-control and what drinking responsibly means, but everyone should be informed with the facts.