dg-chapter 3 section 1 text

CHAPTER

3 Alcohol

Did You Know That…  There are over ten million Americans who are alcoholics.  Alcoholism is the number one drug problem in the United States.  Up to 40 percent of industrial fatalities and 47 percent of industrial injuries can be linked to alcohol consumption and alcoholism.  More than 54 percent of traffic deaths and 73 percent of traffic accidents are related to alcohol.  Nearly two out of every five Americans will be involved in an alcohol caused crash in their lifetime.  Nearly seventy five percent of violent offenders arrested have been under the influence of alcohol.  About 50 percent of homicides are committed by drinking assailants and between 40 and 60 percent of homicide victims are drinking at the time of the crime.  More then 50 percent of rape offenders were found to be drinking when the offense occurred.  Alcohol is also linked to about two thirds of suicide attempts.

Introduction _______________________________________________

There are over ten million Americans who are alcoholics. Alcoholism is the number one drug problem in the United States. Alcohol related cirrhosis accounts for 25 percent of the deaths in United States each year. Between 5 to 30 percent of alcoholics with cirrhosis develop liver cancer. Esophageal cancer is ten times greater for people who consume alcohol than for people who don’t drink. The federal government estimates that there are approximately 5000 fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) infants born in the United States each year. Absenteeism among alcoholics is 8.3 times greater than normal. Up to 40 percent of industrial fatalities and 47 percent of industrial injuries can be linked to alcohol consumption and alcoholism.

More than 54 percent of traffic deaths and 73 percent of traffic accidents are related to alcohol. Nearly two out of every five Americans will be involved in an alcohol caused crash in their lifetime. Sixty four percent of individuals who died in fires had blood alcohol levels greater than or equal to 0.10 percent…the blood alcohol level indicative of drunk driving in most states. Fifty three percent of fatal falls are related to alcohol consumption. Thirty eight percent of all drowning are related to alcohol consumption. Nearly one quarter of none fatal bicycle injuries involved alcohol. About 30 percent of aviation deaths resulting from airplane crashes have involved alcohol. One fifth of people killed in hang gliding accidents were under the influence of alcohol.

CRITICAL POINT: Binge drinking is defined as drinking five or more drinks on one occasion.

Nearly seventy five percent of violent offenders arrested were under the influence of alcohol.

About 50 percent of homicides are committed by drinking assailants and between 40 and 60 percent of homicide victims are drinking at the time of the crime. More than 50 percent of rape offenders were found

to be drinking when the offense occurred. In cases of marital violence, about 50 percent of men and 27 percent of women were under the influence of alcohol when the incident occurred. Alcohol is related to more than 60 percent of wife beatings. Adults who abuse alcohol are more likely than others to physically, sexually or emotionally abuse their children. Twenty to 30 percent of suicides are linked to alcohol. Alcohol is also linked to about two thirds of suicide attempts.

CRITICAL POINT: Dried out is the process in which an individual undergoes an extended period of withdrawal from alcohol or drug use especially at a special clinic.

That’s right, I will blame everything on alcohol…war, famine, pestilence, Mike Tyson… everything. It is not a pretty drug and its effect on the body is just as telling as the effect it has had on our social lives. In order to understand why this drug is so dangerous physically, psychologically and socially, we will first need to trace alcohol as it makes its way through the body.

Alcohol and the Esophagus ______________________________________________________________________________

Alcohol is an extremely powerful central nervous depressant that does basically two things: it irritates and sedates the tissues of the body with which it comes in contact.

Because alcohol requires no digestion, as soon as it is taken into the mouth, some of it is absorbed by the tongue. Accordingly, the latency period or time it takes for the drug to have an effect on the body is almost immediate. Still, the more profound effects occur when the majority of the drug is swallowed.

CRITICAL POINT: Alcohol sedates and inflames the tissue it comes in contact with.

∞ DRUGS in Perspective ∞ __________________________________________________________________

Definitions of Alcoholism/Alcoholic: American Medical Association: Significant impairment that is directly associated with persistent and excessive use of alcohol.

Impairment may involve physiological, psychological, or social dysfunction.

American Psychiatric Association: Patients whose alcohol intake is great enough to damage their physical health, their personal or social functioning, or when it has become a prerequisite to normal functioning.

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug: Dependency: A disease in which there is impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with alcohol, continued use of alcohol in the face of adverse consequences, and distorted thinking.

When alcohol is swallowed it enters the esophagus, a long tube which leads to the American Society of Addiction Medicine: A primary chronic stomach. Amazingly, the deleterious effects disease with genetic, psychological, and environmental factors of alcohol can begin right there in the influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is often progressive and fatal. It is characterized by continuous or esophagus. The esophagus, unlike the periodic: impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with stomach, is not safeguarded with a protective alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and lining. Consequently, the cells of the distortions in thinking most notably denial. esophagus can become inflamed due to the irritating effects of the drug. If these cells are constantly inflamed by alcohol, it can eventually lead to esophageal ulcers. If you ever drank a straight shot of whiskey, you know what I am talking about. That burning sensation that you experience when the whiskey passes through your chest cavity that makes you feel warm and fuzzy all over is really alcohol burning the hell out of your esophagus. If you constantly inflame the esophagus in this manner, eventually, the tissue is going to ulcerate and bleeding can occur. Of course, this is not a sore you can go in and put a Band-Aid on. This is a very serious injury and it has to be treated medically. If an alcoholic regurgitates and there is bright red blood in his vomit, there is a good chance that he has an esophageal

ulcer. If the blood was coming from the stomach due to a peptic ulcer or some other wound, the blood would be brownish red because it would be mixed with the gastric juices in the gullet.

CRITICAL POINT: the direct effect of alcohol on the esophagus can lead to esophageal ulcers.

The effect that alcohol has on the esophagus brings up another interesting point. Have you ever been to a football game where the temperature is about two million degrees below freezing? If you haven’t, you have probably seen such a game on television. Inevitably, there are one or two idiots in the stands with no shirt on. Everyone around them is bundled up to the hilt, they are still freezing to death and these guys are whooping it up like they are partying in the Congo. If you watch them closely, every now and then they will take a canister of whiskey out of their pockets and take a big gulp.

Then, they will let out this big, “Aahhhhhhhhhhhh, that feels good.” What they are experiencing is that warm fuzzy feeling. Remember what I said that was…it’s the damn alcohol burning the hell out of the esophagus. These guys think that the alcohol is warming them up because of that burning sensation they are getting in their chest. The truth of the matter is the alcohol is actually making them colder because alcohol is a peripheral vasodilator. As a result, the body is going to give off heat, not retain it.

The reason they think they are getting warm is because the alcohol is inflaming the esophagus. And last but not least, they are so drunk that they don’t realize they are freezing their butts off.

CRITICAL POINT: alcohol is a peripheral vasodilator.