Category Archives: Alcohol and Your Health

Adolescent Alcoholism

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Adolescent Alcoholism

An article in the UK’s daily mail this week has revealed a shocking trend: More and more, children are being admitted to hospitals with alcohol problems. According to the report, dozens of children under the age of 10 have been hospitalized for mental and behavioral disorders due to alcohol abuse.

In the United States, alcohol is the drug of choice among youth. Each year, approximately 5,000 people under the age of 21 die as a result of underage drinking. Nationwide surveys report that two in every five eighth graders have consumed alcohol. And when youth drink, they tend to drink in binges. Binge drinking is defined as having four or five drinks in a sitting.

Adolescent alcoholism is a growing problem. Kids are experimenting with alcohol at earlier ages than ever before. Today, the average age an American girl has her first drink is 13; for a boy, it’s 11. Some researchers think that later life addiction is more common in early drinkers because the impulse control centers are not yet developed in teen brains. In other words, teens are not able to make sound decisions. People who have their first drink at 14 or younger are six times more likely to develop alcohol problems.

Adolescent alcoholism is development of alcohol addiction any time between the ages of 11 and 19. About 10-15 million people in the United States alone can be classified as alcoholics. About 4.5 million of them are adolescents.

Recent studies suggest that the brain continues to develop through age 25. Adolescent alcoholism can affect the brain’s development. Subtle changes in the brain may be difficult to detect but still have a significant impact on long-term thinking and memory skills.

Adolescent Alcoholism: What can parents do?

Studies show that having open and honest talks with your child can decrease the risk of adolescent alcoholism. Many parents think that emptying the liquor cabinets is a good idea, but you can’t go around town emptying all the liquor cabinets, so it’s important that you talk to your kids about alcohol abuse.

Also, keep in mind that the younger the age of exposure, the more likely your child will develop adolescent alcoholism or alcoholism later in life. Many people think it’s fine, and preferable, given the drinking saturated culture we live in, for teens to have their first sips early and at home, under their parents supervision. They figure that their kids are going to do it anyway, so they may as well do it at home where they will be “safe.” 1/3 of third graders report having tried beer, wine, or hard liquor at home.

However, given what we know about how early onset drinking is a primary risk factor for adolescent alcoholism and other alcohol and drug related problems, experts advise delaying exposure to alcohol for as long as possible. Before a child’s brain is developed, they have underdeveloped “brakes” so if they are exposed to alcohol at this point, they are much more likely to overindulge and develop alcohol problems.

http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/AA67/AA67.htm

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2302778/Children-young-SEVEN-admitted-hospital-alcohol-addiction.html#ixzz2PQt7FXhS

 

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

The Other Hangover

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The Other Hangover

Everyone knows what a hangover feels like. The parched mouth, aching muscles, and splitting headache are all unfortunate consequences of a hard night of drinking. “The Other Hangover” is less easily explained. It sometimes starts with a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. You wake up and realize that something is wrong, but you can’t remember what it is. Slowly, flashes of what you did the night before begin to play in your head. Maybe you got in a fight; maybe you danced topless on the bar. Whatever it was, you begin to realize that your overindulgence the night before may have cost you a lot more than your bar tab.

This is what’s known as “The Other Hangover.” It’s the embarrassment, guilt, or shame you feel due to the dumb decisions you made under the influence of alcohol.

The Other Hangover: Anti-Drinking Campaign

“The Other Hangover” is a concept developed by University of Minnesota undergrads. This semester, the campus has been plastered with posters and ads that try to convince students not to overdo it at the bar.

The idea came from a group of advertising students tasked with creating a responsible-drinking campaign for a national competition last year. The students surveyed their peers and found that the threat of most negative consequences (DUI, alcohol poisoning, and death) was not enough to scare them into drinking responsibly.

The ads feature things like women dancing provocatively at a bar with the caption “Reputations Aren’t Drunk Proof”  and a guy with an arm around a girl and the other hand holding a drink which read “Before you got wasted, you weren’t known as ‘The Creep’”.

Some have praised The Other Hangover Campaign for relating to college students on a level they understand. Since young people tend to think they are invincible, traditional campaigns focused on the dangers of drinking don’t seem to do much good.

Critics of the campaign call it “drunk shaming” and say that it reinforces sexist stereotypes (i.e. if you are a woman and you make out with a guy at a bar, you’re a slut.) The message, they say, is don’t get to drunk, or you’ll do something stupid and everyone will hate you. They claim that there are better and more effective ways to teach college kids responsible drinking.

However, maybe the ad will work where others have failed. It is no secret that campaigns like “The Faces of Meth,” which show the physical deterioration of people who have been arrested for multiple charges of possession, has been more effective on teenagers than more traditional campaigns. Some think this is because it shows teens something that they actually care about – i.e. the erosion of their physical appearance, rather than something that they think could never happen to them-i.e. car crashes or overdoses. Similarly, The Other Hangover ads play on the social consequences of drinking rather than the physical or legal consequences. According to its creators, it targets the things that young people “truly care about.”

http://www.theotherhangover.com/

http://jezebel.com/the-other-hangover/

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Alcohol and Your Health

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Alcohol and Your Health

Alcohol and Your Health

Alcohol or ethyl alcohol is the intoxicating ingredient that you will find in wine, beer and hard liquor. Alcohol is made naturally from carbohydrates when certain micro-organisms metabolize them in the absence of oxygen. This process of making alcohol is called fermentation.

When alcohol is consumed it is metabolized fairly quickly. Unlike the food you eat that takes time to digest, alcohol does not have to be digested and can be quickly absorbed. About 20% of alcohol is absorbed directly through the walls of the stomach and can reach the brain within one minute. About 10% of alcohol is let out through breath and urine. After the stomach absorbs the alcohol it then moves onto the small intestine and travels to the liver. The liver cells are the only cells in your body that can produce enough of the enzymes needed to oxidize alcohol at a decent rate. Alcohol affects every organ in the body but its biggest impact is on the liver. The liver is able to metabolize about ½ ounce of alcohol an hour. If more alcohol arrives than the liver can handle then the alcohol travels to all parts of the body until the liver is able to process it.

Because of the fact that alcohol affects the liver and every other organ, and cell in your body it can cause a multitude of issues with your health.

For instance it can cause health effects such as:

  • Arthritis – alcohol affects your health but increasing the risk of gouty arthritis
  • Cancer – alcohol affects your health by increasing the risks of cancer in the liver, pancreas, rectum, breast, mouth, pharynx, larynx and esophagus.
  • Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is a huge effect of alcohol and your health if you are pregnant. FAS can lead to physical and behavioral problems in the fetus.
  • Heart disease – Alcohol affects your health by raising your blood pressure, blood lipids, and your risk of stroke.
  • Hyperglycemia -Raises blood glucose
  • Hypoglycemia – Alcohol affects your health by lowering blood glucose especially in those with diabetes
  • Kidney disease – Alcohol affects your health by enlarging the kidneys, can alter hormone functions and increase the risk of total kidney failure.
  • Liver disease – Alcohol affects your health by causing a fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis or scarring of the liver.
  • Malnutrition – Alcohol affects your health directly by increasing the risks of protein-energy malnutrition, low protein, calcium, iron, vitamin A, Vitamin C, thiamine, and vitamin B6.
  • Nervous Disorders – Alcohol can affect your health by causing neuropathy and dementia and it also impairs balance and memory.
  • Obesity – Alcohol affects your health by increasing the amount of energy you need.
  • Psychological – Alcohol affects your health by causing psychological problems such as depression, anxiety and insomnia.

The truth about alcohol and your health is that if it consumed in small amounts on varying occasions it is not really a health hazard but when copious amounts of alcohol are consumed, regularly, or when you get drunk than you are doing damage to your body. Alcohol affects all aspects of your health not just one part of it. Alcohol can affect your mental, emotional and physical well-being. So if you are going to drink do it consciously.

Sources: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alcohol/SC00024

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.