Health: Summer GetawAAy
By: Erin Graugnard
As summer approaches, many college students are planning a two-month-long party. That sounds like a great idea, but of course many of us will drink way more than we should. It’s all just fun and games, right?
I know you’ve heard all about the bad health effects of drinking alcohol, but stick with me here and you may learn something new. I’m not talking about the occasional beer, either. I’m talking about what could, and often does, develop into a more severe, and in many cases lifelong, disease: alcoholism.
Alcohol misuse can take two forms. The first of these is alcohol abuse, sometimes called “problem drinking.” A person with alcohol abuse drinks too much alcohol, resulting in health or social problems. However, the person is not usually physically dependent on alcohol and has not fully lost control over the use of alcohol. The second misuse is alcoholism. Alcoholism is also known as alcohol dependence. The person is physically dependent on alcohol and has lost control over his or her alcohol intake.
Approximately 75 percent of Americans drink alcohol, and about 10 percent of those suffer from the harmful effects of alcohol intake. Alcohol is a factor in nearly half of all traffic deaths in the United States. About 18 million Americans abuse alcohol, and more than 100,000 annual American deaths are alcohol-related. Those numbers are nothing to scoff at.
The body treats alcohol as a poison and sends it to the liver for processing. The liver generally produces digestive enzymes and filters toxins and foreign substances. The removal of alcohol from the blood occurs at one-half to one-quarter of an ounce per hour. The amount of time the liver spends removing alcohol is directly dependent on the amount of alcohol you put into your system. The more alcohol you drink, the longer the production of digestive enzymes and the filtration of other toxins are put on hold—inhibiting normal liver function.
Excess alcohol consumption can lead to a wide variety of problems: Damage to the liver, brain, pancreas, parts of the small intestine and central nervous system. Liver cells can become inflamed, causing hepatitis. The liver’s cells may also harden and cause scarring, which is known as cirrhosis. About one in five alcoholics develop cirrhosis of the liver. The immune system is depressed, blood pressure is higher, metabolic damage to nearly every body cell results, risk of numerous cancers is higher and the alcoholic’s lifespan is shortened by at least 10 to 15 years.
There are some common risk factors associated with alcoholism. The person’s age may put them at risk. High school teens and college students are at an increased risk because of peer pressure and the routine use of alcohol by members of this age group. Emotional disorders are another risk factor. Those suffering from depression, anxiety or an eating disorder are at an increased risk of developing alcohol dependence. A person’s family history and genetics can also put them at an increased risk for alcohol abuse and addiction.
Sex is actually a risk factor. Men are four times more likely than women to become alcoholics, but women are more affected by alcohol because of physical differences between men and women. Because of higher fat content and lower water volume in women, alcohol has more deleterious effects. Thus, women can succumb to the diseases caused by alcoholism at faster rates and from lesser volumes of alcohol than will men.
Why do people become addicted to alcohol? It enters the stomach and then travels to the bloodstream. From the bloodstream, alcohol travels throughout the entire body and even to the brain. In the brain, alcohol alters the balance of some brain chemicals, including dopamine. Excessive and long-term alcohol consumption can deplete or increase levels of brain chemicals. The body craves alcohol to achieve a desired state—either to restore good feelings or to avoid negatives ones. It actually alters your brain, causing addiction.
None of this happens suddenly. There is no warning light that comes on when you cross the threshold from social drinking to addiction, in part because there is no precise threshold. Alcoholism is a progressive disease and often becomes a chronic disease. Please be aware of your alcohol use. Often, the progression is from social drinking to making excuses, such as, you “need” a drink to cheer you up, relax or celebrate. The alcoholic eventually no longer needs or uses excuses and drinks just to drink. If you have control over your drinking, limit your intake, and fast! Your drinking may result in alcoholism later in life. Quitting is very hard, but you don’t want lose your job or friends, and you don’t want to cause unnecessary emotional stress on your family.
If you realize that you have a problem, there is help. Speak to your health-care provider or contact your local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous. The Lafayette chapter of AA can be reached at 337-991-0830. There are also support groups for people with a loved one who is an alcoholic, Al-Anon and Alateen are such groups.
Last update: 2007-05-09