ALCOHOL

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ALKOHOL?

ALKOHOL : PRA KUIS

Your central nervous system includes your:
a. Arms and legs
b. Stomach and urinary tract
c. Brain and spinal cord
d. Digestive and reproductive systems

Which is NOT an effect of drinking alcohol?

a. clear thinking
b. Loss of coordination
c. Poor concentration
d. Blurred vision

The human brain is usually mature by

a. Birth
b. Early childhood
c. Puberty
d. Adulthood

How much alcohol can a teen drink and still legally drive?
a. One beer
b. Two beers
c. One glass of wine
d. none

The degree of alcohol intoxication is accurately measured by

a. The amount of alcohol in the beverages youve drunk
b. The percentage of alcohol in your blood
c. The number of hours youve been drinking
d. The number of drinks youve had in one sitting

Which of the following statements about alcoholism is NOT true?

a. It is curable
b. It is treatable
c. It is a disease
d. It is lifelong

Decisions for Health level blue pg. 369

Alcohol: what IS IT?

Alcohol is created when grains, fruits, or vegetables are fermented.
Fermentation is a process that uses yeast or bacteria to change the sugars in
the food into alcohol. Alcohol has different forms and can be used as a cleaner,
an antiseptic, or a sedative.
When people drink alcohol, it's absorbed into their bloodstream. Alcohol is a
depressant. It affects the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord),
which controls virtually all body functions. Because experts now know that the
human brain is still developing during our teens, scientists are researching the
effects drinking alcohol can have on the teen brain.

WHY DO TEENS
DRINK?
Experimentation with alcohol during the teen years is common.
Some reasons that teens use alcohol and other drugs are:
curiosity
to feel good, reduce stress, and relax
to fit in
to feel older
to escape from the real world
From a very young age, kids see advertising messages showing beautiful
people enjoying life and alcohol. And because many parents and other
adults use alcohol socially having beer or wine with dinner, for example
alcohol seems harmless to many teens.

Why should teens not drink?

It is ILLEGAL to drink alcohol as a teenager. Age restrictions differ from
country to country, in the United States age it is 21; for most other
countries the legal drinking age is 18.
The punishment for drinking is severe. Teens who drink put themselves
at risk for obvious problems with the law (you can get arrested). Teens
who drink are also more likely to get into fights and commit crimes than
those who don't.
You can become addicted to it.
You can look really stupid. The impression is that drinking is cool, but the
nervous system changes that come from drinking alcohol can make
people do stupid or embarrassing things, like throwing up or peeing on
themselves. Drinking also gives people bad breath, and no one enjoys a
hangover.

Alcohol puts your health at risk. Teens who drink are more likely to be
sexually active and to have unsafe, unprotected sex. Resulting pregnancies
and sexually transmitted diseases can change or even end lives.
The risk of injuring yourself, maybe even fatally, is higher when you're under
the influence, too.
One half of all drowning deaths among teen guys are related to alcohol use.
Use of alcohol greatly increases the chance that a teen will be involved in a car
crash, homicide, or suicide.
Teen drinkers are more likely to get fat or have health problems, too. One
study by the University of Washington found that people who regularly had
five or more drinks in a row starting at age 13 were much more likely to be
overweight or have high blood pressure by age 24 than their nondrinking
peers.
People who continue drinking heavily well into adulthood risk damaging
their organs, such as the liver, heart, and brain.

How does it affect the body?

Alcohol is a depressant, which means it slows the function of the central nervous
system. Alcohol actually blocks some of the messages trying to get to the brain.
This alters a person's perceptions, emotions, movement, vision, and hearing. In
very small amounts, alcohol can help a person feel more relaxed or less anxious.

More alcohol causes greater changes in the brain, resulting in intoxication.

People who have overused alcohol may stagger, lose their coordination, and
slur their speech. They will probably be confused and disoriented. Depending
on the person, intoxication can make someone very friendly and talkative or very
aggressive and angry. Reaction times are slowed dramatically which is
why people are told not to drink and drive. People who are intoxicated may think
they're moving properly when they're not. They may act totally out of character.

When large amounts of alcohol are consumed in a short period of time,

alcohol poisoning can result. Alcohol poisoning is exactly what it sounds
like the body has become poisoned by large amounts of alcohol.
Violent vomiting is usually the first symptom of alcohol poisoning.
Extreme sleepiness, unconsciousness
Difficulty breathing
Dangerously low blood sugar,
Seizures, and even death may result.

Binge drinking (alcohol poisoning) is the most life-threatening consequence

of binge drinking. When someone drinks too much and gets alcohol
poisoning, it affects the body's involuntary reflexes including breathing and
the gag reflex. If the gag reflex isn't working properly, a person can
choke to death on his or her vomit .

cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a deadly disease that
replaces healthy liver tissue with
useless scar tissue due to long
term exposure to alcohol.
Liver has difficulties removing
poisons, such as the alcohol and
drugs, from the blood.
Toxins build up in the blood and
may affect the brain function.

Fetal alcohol syndrome (fas)

A mother who drinks during her
pregnancy may harm the nervous
system and organs of the developing
fetus. This group of birth defects that
affect an unborn baby that has been
exposed to alcohol is called fetal
alcohol syndrome (FAS)

FAS can include:

mental retardation
Organ abnormalities
Learning and behavioral problems

Factors affecting individual reactions to alcohol

How much and how fast a person drinks
Body weight
Food in the stomach
Genetic vulnerability
Alcohol tolerance (drinking history)
Gender

BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION (BAC) or LEVEL (BAL)

The amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. Its measure in percentages.
How fast does the liver process the alcohol (get rid of).
It is tested by breath test, a blood test or a urine test

alcoholism
It is a disease in which a person is physically or
psychologically addicted to alcohol.
Using alcohol regularly is usually just a step away from addiction where
you depend on alcohol to feel good or get through your day.

WARNING SIGNS THAT SOMEONE MAY HAVE A DRINKING PROBLEM:

relying alcohol to have fun, forget problems, or relax
having blackouts
drinking alone
withdrawing or keeping secrets from friends or family
losing interest in activities that used to be important
performing differently in school (grades dropping and frequent absences)
building an increased tolerance to alcohol or drugs gradually needing
more and more of the substance to get the same feeling
lying, stealing, or selling stuff to get money for drugs or alcohol

Helping someone with a problem

It's usually hard for people to recognize they have a problem, which
is why friends or family often step in. People who are addicted to drugs
or alcohol may promise over and over that they'll stop.
Quitting is hard to do, and many people find they can't do it without
help. The best thing you can do is to talk to someone you trust
preferably an adult who can support you so you don't have to deal
with your problem alone.
They will have to go for counseling or even have to go to a treatment
center that deals with addiction.