Impact of Alcohol Consumption on Young People:
A Review of Reviews
What is Alcohol?
The type of alcohol that features in the alcoholic drinks we drink is a
chemical called ethanol. To make alcohol, you need to put grains, fruits
or vegetables through a process called fermentation ( yeast or bacteria
react with the sugars in food – the byproducts are ethanol and carbon
dioxide).
Wine and cider are made by fermenting fruit, while fermented cereals
such as barley and rye form the basis of beer and spirits. A drink’s
alcohol content is affected by how long it’s left to ferment.
Spirits also go through as process called distillation – where a
proportion of the water is removed, leaving a stronger concentration of
alcohol and flavor.
EFFECTS:
1) From the second you take your first sip, alcohol starts affecting
your body and mind. After one or two drinks you may start feeling more
sociable, but drink too much and basic human functions, such as walking
and talking become much harder. You might also start saying things you
don’t mean and behaving out of character. Some of alcohol’s effects
disappear overnight – while others can stay with you a lot longer, or
indeed become permanent.
On the Drinkaware website you’ll find useful clinically approved facts
and information about the effects of alcohol on your life and lifestyle
designed to help you make positive decisions about your drinking. Select
the topic you’re interested in to find out more.
2) Alcohol alters the brain’s chemistry and increases the risk of
depression. It is often associated with a range of mental health
problems A recent British survey found that people suffering from
anxiety or depression were twice as likely to be heavy or problem
drinkers.
Extreme levels of drinking (defined as more than 30 units per day for
several weeks) can occasionally cause ‘psychosis’, a severe mental
illness where hallucinations and delusions of persecution develop.
Psychotic symptoms can also occur when very heavy drinkers suddenly stop
drinking and develop a condition known as ‘delirium tremmer’.
Heavy drinking often leads to work and family problems, which in turn
can lead to isolation and depression. For heavy drinkers who drink daily
and become dependent on alcohol, there can be withdrawal symptoms
(nervousness, tremors, palpitations) which resemble severe anxiety, and
may even cause phobias, such as a fear of going out.
3) Anyone who has suffered a hangover will know that mirrors are
unforgiving things on a morning after the night before. Your skin looks
pale, grey and tired. Nina Goad of the British Association of
Dermatologists explains: “Alcohol dehydrates your body generally,
including the skin, which is your body’s largest organ. This happens
every time you drink.
“Alcohol is also thought to deprive the skin of certain vital vitamins
and nutrients,” she adds. At least women have the option of make-up to
hide the hangover tell-tale signs.
But that’s only for starters. Drinking more than you should over time
can have other, much more permanent, detrimental effects on your skin.
Rosacea, a skin disorder that starts with a tendency to blush and flush
easily and can eventually lead to facial disfigurement, is linked to
alcohol.
“One of the effects of alcohol is to dilate the small blood vessels in
the skin, which can make the skin appear redder,” says Goad. “The
central areas of the face can become studded with small red bumps and
pus spots, which come and go in crops. Small dilated blood vessels also
appear, looking like thin red streaks.”
The type of alcohol that features in the alcoholic drinks we drink is a chemical called ethanol. To make alcohol, you need to put grains, fruits or vegetables through a process called fermentation ( yeast or bacteria react with the sugars in food – the byproducts are ethanol and carbon dioxide).
No comments:
Post a Comment