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What is the scope of alcohol abuse in the US?
Alcohol abuse in the United States is an overwhelming problem. It is ripping families apart all across the nation every day of every year. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health there more than 14 million Americans addicted to alcohol and about half of the population aged 12 or older reported being current drinkers of alcohol in the 2003 survey (50.1 percent). This translates to an estimated 119 million people.
Further more, more than one fifth (22.6 percent) of persons aged 12 or older participated in binge drinking at least once in the 30 days prior to the survey in 2003. This translates to about 54 million people. As any alcoholic will tell, alcoholism is miserable and devastating so these numbers are of huge concern to our organization but also many other organizations as well.
How does alcohol enter the body?
When a person drinks an alcoholic beverage, about 20 percent of the alcohol is absorbed in the stomach and about 80 percent is absorbed in the small intestine. How fast the alcohol is absorbed depends upon several things: The concentration of alcohol, the type of drink and whether the stomach is full or empty.
After absorption, the alcohol enters the bloodstream and dissolves in the water of the blood. The blood carries the alcohol throughout the body. The alcohol from the blood then enters and dissolves in the water inside each tissue of the body. Once inside the tissues, alcohol exerts its effects on the body. The observed effects depend directly on the blood alcohol concentration (BAC), which is related to the amount of alcohol consumed. The BAC can rise significantly within 20 minutes of having a drink.
How does alcohol affect an individual?
The body responds to alcohol in stages, which correspond to an increase in BAC. They become more self-confident or daring, their attention span shortens, they may look flushed and their judgment is decreased as well as their motor control skills. As the individual continues to drink they become sleepy, have trouble understanding or remembering things, they begin to lose their balance easily and their vision becomes blurry. With continued drinking the individual becomes confused, dizzy and may stagger, they may become highly emotional or aggressive. The more the individual continues to drink the more severe these effects actual become, and studies have shows that EVEN ONE DRINK IMPAIRS ABILITY.
What other affects does alcohol have on an individuals system?
Alcohol consumption and alcoholism can cause nutritional deficiency. Nutrition is a process that serves two purposes: to provide energy and to maintain body structure and function. Food supplies energy and provides the building blocks needed to replace worn or damaged cells and the nutritional components needed for body function. Alcoholics often eat poorly, limiting their supply of essential nutrients and affecting both energy supply and structure maintenance. Furthermore, alcohol interferes with the nutritional process by affecting digestion, storage, utilization, and excretion of nutrients.
Alcohol also has the following effects on the body. The alcohol irritates the linings of the stomach and intestine which causes nausea and vomiting. Increases blood flow to the stomach and intestines, increases blood flow to the skin causing a person to begin sweating and become flushed. The sweating cause’s body heat to be lost and the person’s body temperature may actually fall below normal. Furthermore blood flow to the muscles is reduced which can lead to muscles aches, most notably when a person recovers from the alcohol (the “hangover”).
Is there any association with alcohol use and illicit drug use?
Many people who become addicts of illicit drugs start using alcohol early on as a solution to a problem. This problem can be boredom or peer pressure or a multitude of other seeming problems but the person tries alcohol as a solution. As they continue to use alcohol to solve their problems they can use more and more alcohol as the amount they initially used isn’t working any more. As this progresses the person may begin to experiment with illicit drugs which can have a stronger effect.
As always with addiction, the person began using alcohol to solve a problem. At some point the alcohol itself became the problem and then attempting to stop using alcohol can become a huge problem. This is addiction in a nutshell.
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health in 2003 the level of alcohol use was strongly associated with illicit drug use. Among the 16.1 million heavy drinkers aged 12 or older, 32.5 percent were current illicit drug users. Persons who did not use alcohol in the past month were least likely to use illicit drugs.
Furthermore drinking levels were associated with tobacco use. Among heavy alcohol users, 61.7 percent smoked cigarettes in the past month, while only 20.7 percent of non-binge current drinkers and 17.4 percent of nondrinkers were current smokers. Smokeless tobacco and cigar use also were more prevalent among heavy drinkers than among non-binge drinkers and nondrinkers.