Drug Information - Alcohol Addiction
What is alcohol?
Alcohol is often not thought of as a drug - largely because its use is common
for both religious and social purposes in most parts of the world. It is a
drug, however, and compulsive drinking in excess has become one of modern
society's most serious problems. The beverage alcohol (scientifically known as
ethyl alcohol, or ethanol) is produced by fermenting or distilling various
fruits, vegetables, or grains. Ethyl alcohol itself is a clear, colorless
liquid. Alcoholic beverages get their distinctive colors from the diluents,
additives, and by-products of fermentation.
How Alcohol Works :
Alcohol is rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream from the small intestine, and
less rapidly from the stomach and colon. In proportion to its concentration in
the bloodstream, alcohol decreases activity in parts of the brain and spinal
cord. The drinker's blood alcohol concentration depends on:
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the amount consumed in a given time
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the drinker's size, sex, body build, and metabolism
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the type and amount of food in the stomach
Once the alcohol has passed into the blood, however, no food or beverage can
retard or interfere with its effects. Fruit sugar, however, in some cases can
shorten the duration of alcohol's effect by speeding up its elimination from
the blood.
In the average adult, the rate of metabolism is about 8.5 g of alcohol per hour
(i.e. about two-thirds of a regular beer or about 30 mL of spirits an hour).
This rate can vary dramatically among individuals, however, depending on such
diverse factors as usual amount of drinking, physique, sex, liver size, and
genetic factors.
Brief Description:
Alcohol is produced by fermentation-the action of yeast on liquids containing
sugars and starches. Pure alcohol has no colour nor taste. Alcoholic drinks
vary in colour and taste because of other ingredients that are added to them.
Effects:
After a few drinks : Feel more relaxed, reduced concentration and slower
reflexes
A few more drinks : Fewer inhibitions, more confidence, reduced coordination,
slurred speech, intense moods
Still more drinks : Confusion, blurred vision, poor muscle control
More still : Nausea, vomiting, sleep
Even more : Possibly coma or death
Statistics and Trends:
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Most drinkers (39.5 per cent) consumed alcohol on a weekly basis.
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Males (46 per cent) were more likely than females (33 per cent) to drink
weekly.
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Nearly one in three teenagers were weekly drinkers, and almost half consumed
alcohol less than weekly. Fewer than one in 100 teenagers consumed alcohol
daily.
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The average initiation age for drinking alcohol was 17.1 years
Alcohol addiction
When does casual consumption of alcohol turn to dependency drinking and finally
to biochemically-controlled drinking? The answer is, even most alcohol addicts
themselves don't know when they became addicted to alcohol. Alcohol is the most
sinister of drugs, one that draws a thin, usually imperceptible line between
social use and addictive use. Alcoholic addicts rely on alcohol as a key
component of their personality - without a drink, they simply cannot "be
themselves."
Narconon helps people end their alcohol abuse and alcohol addiction through
mind/body alcohol abuse treatment programs. Our alcohol treatment programs and
alcohol abuse rehabilitation strategies give our clients all the tools they
need to handle an addiction that's restricting their lives and preventing them
from reaching their full potential. Most alcohol rehabilitation programs have a
15-20% success rate. The Narconon alcohol treatment program has a 70% success
rate, meaning most of its graduates are still substance-free two years out of
its recovery program. Our alcohol abuse treatment programs are not only focused
on withdrawal from all forms of drinking, but also, through a holistic healing
process, on helping others escape all forms of substitute addictions. This
process frees the body from the alcohol toxins that build up in the liver, and
restores biochemical equilibrium to the whole body. At the end of the program,
a patient's body will no longer depend on alcohol - or any other controlled
substance to regulate itself. The Narconon alcohol rehabilitation program also
gives patients the mental tools and mental balance to recover from alcohol
abuse. With a healthfully restored mental equilibrium, graduates are able to
take conscious control of their lives and goals and live purposefully. By
consciously controlling the direction of their life, patients thus stop alcohol
use naturally, purposefully, permanently, and without fear.
Because alcohol addiction was a person's way of inducing one or more of
physical, mental and emotional relaxation, ease, and even escapism, at Narconon
we educate clients about the biology of alcohol abuse and teach them to view
their alcohol addiction as a biochemical process that must be and can be
regulated. Narconon's scientifically proven withdrawal proccess, coupled with
emotional counseling and the reformation of the body's biochemical process,
creates a thorough mind/body detoxification approach that frees people from
alcohol addiction, alcohol abuse, and all the consequences of addiction that
ultimately prevent them back from true happiness.
Alcohol effects
Alcohol affects people differently, depending on their size, sex, body build,
and metabolism. General effects are a feeling of warmth, flushed skin, impaired
judgment, decreased inhibitions, muscular in coordination, slurred speech, and
memory and comprehension loss. In states of extreme intoxication, vomiting is
likely to occur, possibly accompanied by incontinence, poor respiration, a fall
in blood pressure, and in cases of severe alcohol poisoning, coma and death.
Drinking heavily over a short period of time usually results in a "hangover" -
headache, nausea, shakiness, and sometimes vomiting, beginning from 8 to 12
hours later. A hangover is due partly to poisoning by alcohol and other
components of the drink, and partly to the body's reaction to withdrawal from
alcohol.
Combining alcohol with other drugs can make the effects of these other drugs
much stronger and more dangerous. Many accidental deaths have occurred after
people have used alcohol combined with other drugs. Cannabis, tranquillizers,
barbiturates and other sleeping pills, or antihistamines (in cold, cough, and
allergy remedies) should not be taken with alcohol. Even a small amount of
alcohol with any of these drugs can seriously impair a person's ability to
drive a car.
People who drink on a regular basis become tolerant to many of the unpleasant
effects of alcohol, and thus are able to drink more before suffering these
effects. Yet even with increased consumption, many such drinkers don't appear
intoxicated. Because they continue to work and socialize reasonably well, their
deteriorating physical condition may go unrecognized by others until severe
damage develops - or until they are hospitalized for other reasons and suddenly
experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Psychological dependence on alcohol may occur with regular use of even
relatively moderate daily amounts. It may also occur in people who consume
alcohol only under certain conditions, such as before and during social
occasions. This form of dependence refers to a craving for alcohol's
psychological effects, although not necessarily in amounts that produce serious
intoxication. For psychologically dependent drinkers, the lack of alcohol tends
to make them anxious and, in some cases, panicky.
Physical dependence occurs in consistently heavy drinkers. Since their bodies
have adapted to the presence of alcohol, they suffer withdrawal symptoms if
they suddenly stop drinking. Withdrawal symptoms range from jumpiness,
sleeplessness, sweating, and poor appetite, to tremors (the "shakes"),
convulsions. hallucinations. and sometimes death. Alcohol abuse can take a
negative toll on people's lives, fostering violence or a deterioration of
personal relationships. Alcoholic behavior can interfere with school or career
goals and lead to unemployment.
Long term alcohol abuse poses a variety of health risks, such as as liver
damage and an increased risk for heart disease. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome may
result from a pregnant woman's drinking alcohol; this condition causes facial
abnormalities in the child, as well as growth retardation and brain damage,
which often is manifested by intellectual difficulties or behavioral problems.
| Alcohol-Dependent Effects |
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| This shows a 20-year old female nondrinkers response to the spatial working
memory task. Brain activation is shown in bright colors. |
This shows an alcohol-dependent 20-year old female's response to the spatial
working memory task. Brain activation is shown in bright colors.
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