Induced Disease on America
Thuy Truong
Psy 105
Prof. S.Garry Nowak
Dec 4, 2013ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of what alcoholism is, and how alcohol induced disease, the deleterious impact of heavy drinking, alcohol abuse and alcoholism on the United States.
Alcoholism is a serious disease that affects the lives of millions of Americans, devastates families, compromises national preparedness, depresses economic vitality, and burdens the country’s health care systems. This disease touches virtually all Americans. More than half of all adults have a family history of alcoholism or problem drinking. Three in ten adults 18 years of age and over have …show more content…
Approximately one in 100 babies is born with one of the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Alcohol’s effects on the developing brain are life-long and impact many behaviors including motor and sensory skills, social skills, and learning abilities. As individuals with FASD grow up, they are at greater risk for a variety of secondary disabilities including other psychiatric problems, illicit drug use, delinquent or criminal behavior, precocious or risky sexual activity, and academic failure. There is no known stage of pregnancy or quantity of alcohol consumption that is safe during pregnancy.(7) Current research on the effects of early alcohol exposure include not only prevention but also early life interventions, establishing and implementing more effective diagnostic tools, and understanding the mechanisms underlying the tragic outcomes associated with …show more content…
This is compared to an estimated 40,000 annual emergency room visits linked to non-alcohol illicit substances by persons under 21.(15)
The 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that among high school students surveyed, 9.7 percent reported driving after drinking alcohol one or more times during the 30 days before the survey. Another 28 percent indicated that they rode with a driver who had been drinking one or more times during the past 30 days.(16)
The NIAAA, along with the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and SAMHSA, have conducted research that demonstrates that substance abuse is particularly problematic in younger adolescents because it is the time when individuals are most vulnerable to addiction. According to the CDC, people aged 12 to 20 years drink almost 11 percent of all alcohol consumed in the United States, and 19 percent in this age category reported binge drinking. The NIAAA’s National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol-Related Conditions (NESARC) found that 18 million Americans (8.5 percent of the population age 18 and older) suffer from alcohol use disorders (AUD), and only 7.1 percent of these individuals have received any treatment for their AUD in the past