Remember the very first time you sip an alcoholic beverage. What sensations did you feel? What happened to your body? To your senses? What happened to you? Tipsy or drunk, alcohol, as it enters the body, affects almost all of you. Do you remember having to pee every time after having drunk at least 3 shots of alcohol? Or have you felt the world spinning around you while you take that last sip of vodka? These are just a little of the effects of alcohol and what it can do to your body as well as to your health.
Carbon and hydrogen are the main chemicals that makes up alcohol. The active ingredient in alcoholic beverages is ethyl alcohol, also known as ethanol. It is a neutral and nearly flavorless fluid that is easily and quickly absorbed by the body. Many people think alcohol is a stimulant, but actually it is a depressant. It slows down the task of all living cells, especially those in the brain. Anesthetics and tranquilizers belongs to the same group as alcohol.
Alcohol does not need to be digested after having been consumed. Alcohol quickly goes through our body, quickly affecting our tissues and organs. It quickly shows in the bloodstream, and its intoxicating effects are felt within a few minutes. After several rounds of hard drink, it explains the heat that you are starting to feel. The body begins quickly to try to get free of the alcohol. It is absorbed through the stomach directly into the bloodstream. It then proceeds to the liver, where it is metabolized. However, when it is took in at a faster pace than the body’s metabolism can handle (about one 12-ounce can of beer per hour), alcohol accumulates in the bloodstream and is distributed throughout the body. The higher the concentration of alcohol, the greater the disturbance it has on body cells. Severe disruption of function can occur and can cause death. The effects of alcohol on various organs will be discussed in more detail below.
The brain and most parts of the body are directly affected negatively by alcohol consumption. The human brain is most sensitive to alcohol. Alcohol affects the entire body, but its effects on the tasks of the brain are the most noticeable -and to the person who is drinking, the most important. People drink alcohol because of the way it makes them feel, without considering the damaging effects on the brain itself. There are stages on how our brains react to alcohol. The first portion of the brain to be affected is the cerebrum – the outermost layer, which is responsible for controlling the senses, speech, understanding, and judgment. Alcohol slows down first the parts of the brain that regularly inhibit actions and emotions. It looks as if alcohol -although it is a depressant -is acting as a stimulant because, as these higher centers of the brain are knocked out, the drinker feels free from moral and legal restrictions. Animation and the lost of inhibitions are the product of losing these restraints. The alcohol continues to slow down brain functions, resulting in slurred speech, unsteady walk, blurry vision, and loss of co-ordination. Drinkers regularly feel that their physical skills have been enhanced because their decision has been impaired, while in reality their reaction times are slowed and their muscle coordination is less efficient. Next, the drinker experiences different exaggerations of the emotions that can range from violence and aggressiveness to tearfulness and withdrawal. If a person continues to drink, the body protects itself from further damage by “passing out”. Alcohol destroys brain cells which, unlike the blood cells it also destroys, are irreplaceable.
Treatment for alcohol addiction is not that easy. Alcoholics would mainly deny the fact that they are alcoholics. Thus, the first step in treating alcohol addiction is letting the person identify that he has become dependent with alcohol and that this dependency is a severe problem that needs treatment very soon. Alcohol addiction treatment would entail medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Therapy is important in treatment because alcoholics need to have a change of lifestyle. They need to cope with life that is alcohol-free. This is not as easy as one, two, three. It entails hard work, commitment, discipline, and the unending support of family and friends.
Alcohol addiction is one of the very great problems being faced in by our society and it requires quick treatment in order to be solve.
