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Clarissa Sabedra
Professor Ibarra
Section #001
11 November 2014
Alcohol
Alcohol has effects on the brain. Alcohol is a CNS depressant drug, even though it is
often misidentified as a stimulant. Neuronal inhibition is linked to the effect of alcohol on the
GABA receptors in the brain. There is different acute physiological effects; they are diuretic
effects, effects on sleep, effects on pregnancy, interactions with other drugs, and hangovers. As
concentration levels rise in the blood, alcohol begins to inhibit antidiuretic hormone (ADH).
Antidiuretic hormone is a hormone that acts to reabsorb water in the kidneys prior to excretion
from the body. The inhibition of antidiuretic hormone during the drinking of alcoholic beverages
can be a serious concern. They are suffering from a loss of water and fluid levels in the body are
low. (Pinto, S, and T Schub. "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome." (2014): CINAHL Complete. Web. 25
Nov. 2014.).
When drinking alcohol it is a fact that the resulting sleep patterns are adversely affected.
Alcohol reduces the duration of a phase of sleep called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. When
alcohol is withdrawn, REM sleep rebounds and represent a higher percentage of total sleep time
than before alcohol consumptions began. As a result, individuals sleep poorly and experience
nightmares. Drinking alcohol while being pregnant it can greatly increase the risk of retardation
in the development of the fetus. It is estimated that about nine percent of pregnant women
consume alcohol during the past months at some time during their pregnancy, exposing

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approximately one in eleven fetuses to alcohol in utero. (Pinto, S, and T Schub. "Fetal Alcohol
Syndrome." (2014): CINAHL Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.).
There is a major concern in alcohol drinking is the complex interaction of alcohol with a
wide range of drugs. The DAWN reports of emergency department admission and deaths show a
significant incidence of medical crises arising from the combination of alcohol and drugs. About
four to twelve hours later after drinking alcohol you start getting a hangover. You get unpleasant
symptoms such as headache, nausea, fatigue, and thirst may occur. You can get hangovers when
you drink too much, drinking vodka other than whiskey it proves you will not get as a bad
hangover as you would. ( Pinto, S, and T Schub. "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome." (2014): CINAHL
Complete. Web. 25 Nov.2014.).
Alcohol has acute behavioral effects; such as blackouts and driving skills. Blackouts are
amnesia concerning events occurring during the period of alcoholic intoxication, even though
consciousness had been maintained at the time. For example a drinker having too much to drink
at a party drives home, parks the car on a nearby street, and goes to bed. The next morning that
person has no memory of having driven home and will not be able to locate where the person left
the car. The risk of blackouts is greatest when alcohol is consumed very quickly, forcing BAC to
rise quickly. Drinking alcohol does affect driving skills, you cannot control the way you act so
when on the rode you cannot see straight. (Levinthal, Charles. "Chronic Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism." Drugs, Behavior, and Modern Society. Eighth ed. Print.).
It is a question if alcohol does increase violence or aggression? But they did a major
study conducted in northwest Ontario, Canada, and reported in 1991, more than fifty percent of
the most recent occasions of physical violence were found to be proceeded by alcohol use on the
part of the assailant and the victims themselves. Other studies show from fifty to sixty percent of

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all murders being committed when the killer had been drinking. About forty percent of all acts of
male sexual aggression against adult women from sixty to seventy percent of male-instigated
domestic violence occur when the offender had been drunk. More than sixty percent of all acts of
child molestation involve drunkenness. Alcohol does also increase sexual desire. They did a
study and people were asked questions and it shows that when drinking alcohol it does increase
sexual desire to have sex. (Levinthal, Charles. "Chronic Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism." Drugs,
Behavior, and Modern Society. Eighth ed. Print.).
When drinking alcohol people can become an alcoholic slowly. Alcoholism is a condition
in which the consumption of alcohol has produced major psychological, physical, social, or
occupational problems. Alcohol can cause liver disease, cardiovascular problems, cancer,
dementia and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, and fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). The first step in
liver disease is the fatty liver which a condition in which the fat deposits accumulate in the liver
as a result of chronic alcohol abuse. The second condition is the alcoholic hepatitis which is a
disease involving inflammation of the liver as a result of chronic alcohol abuse. Then last and
most serious liver condition is alcoholic cirrhosis, which is a disease involving scarring and
deterioration of liver cells as a result of chronic alcohol abuse. The cardiovascular problems are
the effects include inflammation and enlargement of the heart muscle, irregular heart
contractions, fatty accumulations in the heart and arteries, high blood pressure and stroke.
Chronic alcohol abuse is associated with the increase risk of several types of cancers, such as the
cancers of pharynx and larynx. The fetal alcohol syndrome is a serious condition involving
mental and facial-cranial malformations in the offspring of an alcoholic mother. (Levinthal,
Charles. "Alcohol:Social Beverage/Social Drug." Drugs, Behavior, and Modern Society. Eighth
ed. Print.).

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Alcohol interferes with the brains communication pathways, and can affect the way the
brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to
think clearly and move with coordination. Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic
substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the
blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion. Drinking too much can weaken your
immune system, making your body a much easier target for disease. Chronic drinkers are more
liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too
much. Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your bodys ability to ward off infections, even
up to 24 hours after getting drunk. (Pinto, S, and T Schub. "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome." (2014):
CINAHL Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.).
Alcohol abuse among the elderly is not as bad as it in, in young children. It is not really a
problem with the elderly. One of the reasons for the underreporting of this problem is that we
typically use the quantity of alcohol consumed as a primary index of alcoholism, and alcohol
consumption does indeed with age. A number of problems particularly affect the elderly who
chronically abuse alcohol. One problem is the risk of the alcohol interacting with the many
medications that the elderly typically take. Another is the risk of complications for already
existing medical conditions, such as gastrointestinal bleeding, hypertension and cardiac
arrhythmias, osteoporosis, depression, and cognitive impairment-related disorders. There is
growing recognition that treatment programs for alcoholism ought to be tailored to the special
needs of the elderly. Frequently the traditional treatment programs that benefit much younger
individuals do not work well with older people. Many seniors were brought up in era when
highly negative attitudes toward drinking prevailed, so if they are drinking themselves, they feel
stigmatized and resist treatment. (Muoz, Xavier, et al. "Association Of Alcohol Dehydrogenase)

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There is approaches to treatment for alcoholism, which is the biologically based

treatment, the alcoholics anonymous, and SMART recovery. For the based treatment the
disulfiram is a medication that causes severe physical reactions and discomfort when combined
with alcohol, the brand name is Antabuse. The alcoholics anonymous (aa) is a worldwide
organization devoted to the treatment of alcoholism through self-help groups and adherence to its
principle, which include absolute abstinence from alcohol. Finally the last treatment, which is the
SMART recovery. It is a treatment program for abuse of alcohol and other drugs that emphasizes
a nonspiritual philosophy and a greater sense of personal control in the abuser. SMART stands
for Self-Management And Recovery Training. (Levinthal, Charles. "Chronic Alcohol Abuse
and Alcoholism." Drugs, Behavior, and Modern Society. Eighth ed. Print.).

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Works Cited
Pinto, S, and T Schub. "Fetal Alcohol Syndrome." (2014): CINAHL Complete. Web. 25 Nov.
2014.
Levinthal, Charles. "Alcohol:Social Beverage/Social Drug." Drugs, Behavior, and Modern
Society. Eighth ed. Print.
Levinthal, Charles. "Chronic Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism." Drugs, Behavior, and Modern
Society. Eighth ed. Print.
Muoz, Xavier, et al. "Association Of Alcohol Dehydrogenase Polymorphisms And Life-Style
Factors With Excessive Alcohol Intake Within The Spanish Population ( EPIC- Spain)."
Addiction 107.12 (2012): 2117-2127. CINAHL Complete. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.