Alcohol Facts

image: alcoholic getting detox in hospital image: doctor holding hand of young female alcoholic image: lady with headache from drinking image: male doctor consoling old male alcoholic

Alcohol Facts

____________________________________________________________________________

In spite of the fact that some of the damaging consequences of excessive and abusive drinking have been known for more than 2,000 years, millions of individuals throughout the world are alcohol abusers or alcohol dependent. While excessive and irresponsible drinking certainly have many long-term damaging effects, perhaps the most dangerous outcome of heavy drinking is alcohol poisoning.

Alcohol poisoning depends on your blood alcohol concentration. Alcohol poisoning takes place when an individual consumes significantly more alcohol than his or her body can process. Unfortunately, alcohol poisoning can be fatal.

Harmful and Beneficial Aspects of Drinking Alcohol

image: young woman in bar drinking a mixed drink Despite the fact that alcohol has been used in a number of ways throughout history that can be called "beneficial" or positive, it is enlightening to note that thousands of years ago it was also realized that abusive drinking resulted in negative personal and social problems.

For example, a Chinese manuscript written approximately 650 B.C. was recently found which articulated how difficult it was for people to do without beer and also included warnings about the "abuse" of beer.

A few hundred years later, furthermore, Aristotle and Plato, two of the more famous ancient Greek philosophers, explicitly criticized public displays of drunkenness.

Paradoxically, despite the fact that basic "alcohol information" such as the negative consequences of excessive alcohol has been known for centuries, alcohol abuse, alcoholism, and binge drinking continue to destroy human lives in our "enlightened" and "aware" world.

Studies have shown that inpatient detoxification programs are more effective and longer lasting than outpatient detox programs. The important issue here, however, is the following: the more severe the alcohol-related withdrawal symptoms, the more likely that inpatient detox programs should be used.

Alcohol Poisoning

Alcohol poisoning, also known as alcohol overdose, is a dangerous and sometimes fatal result of drinking substantially more alcohol than the body can process. It is important to mention, furthermore, that binge drinking (consuming four or more alcoholic beverages at one sitting for females and ingesting five or more alcoholic drinks at one sitting for males) can also lead to alcohol poisoning.

Alcohol Poisoning and Blood Alcohol Concentration

image: elderly man distraught over his alcoholism In a word, even if an individual gets drunk just one time per year, this one-time "binge" can result in alcohol poisoning.
The effects of the alcohol on your body depend on the amount of alcohol in your blood (known as blood alcohol concentration (BAC) or blood alcohol level. Factors that affect your blood alcohol concentration include the following:

How fast your body metabolizes the alcohol
How much food is in your stomach at the time you drink
How strong the alcoholic drink is
How quickly you consume the alcoholic drink
How much alcohol you ingest

No matter how obvious the problem seems to those around the alcoholic, the alcohol dependent person loudly denies that drinking is the cause, and usually blames the circumstances or people around them instead.

Alcohol Poisoning and the Interaction with Other Drugs

It must be emphasized that alcohol can also be hazardous, can lead to an overdose, and can be fatal in smaller amounts if it is used in combination with the following drugs:

Various anti-seizure medications (such as phenobarbital).
Sedatives (examples include cannabis, tranquilizers, and barbiturates.
Narcotic pain medications (such as darvocet, heroin, opium, codine, and codine derivatives).

Most alcohol and drug treatment centers have counselors who are trained to help families prepare for the confrontation, which always takes place in a "controlled" environment, specifically selected to put the alcoholic in a position in which he or she is most likely to listen and agree to treatment.

The Symptoms of Alcohol Poisoning

Typically, the first symptom of alcohol poisoning is nausea, followed by vomiting. These symptoms are signals from your body letting you know that you drank more alcohol than your body can metabolize. Other characteristic symptoms of alcohol poisoning include difficulty awakening the person, slurred speech, confusion, unconsciousness (passing out), blue-tinged skin or pale skin, Absent reflexes, confusion, and seizures.

According to alcohol abuse research, television advertising changes attitudes about drinking. Young people report more positive feelings about drinking and their own likelihood to drink after viewing alcohol ads.

Alcohol Poisoning and Getting Immediate Medical Help

The most difficult aspect of alcohol poisoning is making the “correct” decision to get immediate medical assistance. If a person who has been drinking heavily continues to fall asleep, waken him or her. If the individual does not respond promptly to your efforts to awaken him or her, call the police emergency number (911) and ask for immediate medical help.

Young people ages 18 to 25 have the highest prevalence of binge drinking (38.7 percent) and heavy drinking (13.6 percent), with a peak rate (48.2 percent for binge and 17.8 percent or heavy drinking) occurring at age 21, according to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse.

Alcoholism Videos

image: man in rage from binge drinking We have included some alcoholism videos so that you can see and hear directly from various people about their struggles with this disease. If you, a family member, or one of your friends has a "drinking problem," seeing what others have gone through and how they attained successful recovery is much more "real" than any information you can read about.

Furthermore, watching these videos may help you understand what others with a drinking problem are experiencing. So make sure you look at these excellent videos!

Alcohol Facts: Conclusion

image: nurse checking status of male alcohol abuser Many of the dangerous effects of abusive and irresponsible drinking have been identified and discussed for hundreds if not thousands of years. Ironically, despite this “alcohol awareness,” millions of people in the industrialized countries of the world suffer from alcoholism and alcohol abuse each year.

While abusive and excessive drinking lead to numerous long-term negative and hazardous outcomes, perhaps the most dangerous result of excessive drinking is alcohol poisoning. Alcohol poisoning is a function of how much alcohol is in your blood, a measure known as blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level. Alcohol poisoning takes place when a person drinks substantially more alcohol than his or her body can metabolize. Regrettably, alcohol poisoning can be deadly.

Please Add Our Website To Your Favorite Bookmarks!

A recent study by the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study discovered that binge drinkers are far more likely to be involved in car accidents than non-binge drinkers. Since more than 44% of full-time American college students reported involvement in binge drinking at least one time during the previous 30-day period, it can be determined that many of the motor vehicle accidents experienced by college students were the result of alcohol abuse such as binge drinking.

________________________________________________

For more information, please visit alcohol rehab and recovery right away!