Is Alcohol a Depressant

Alcohol abuse is socially unacceptable. The common opinion is that an alcoholic is a weak willed, pathetic person whereas more sympathy is provided to an individual who suffers from misery.
So a person who drinks exceedingly as well as suffers from unhappiness will definitely practically absolutely think he\/she drinks because they are depressed.

FACTS THAT CONTRADICT THIS BELIEF
- Alcohol is a depressant (medicinal fact)
-40 % of alcoholics\/heavy drinkers have the indicators of someone who is depressed
- Out of a research of almost 3000 self confessed alcoholics, 30 % had either sought assistance or were obtaining medication for hopelessness. This figure dropped to 15 % once the subject matters had actually abstained from alcohol for an extended duration, just slightly greater than the typical population
- Alcohol taken in excess accounts for
33 % of domestic calamities
FORTY % of fatal domestic fires
TWENTY % of work place calamities
- Excess alcohol demolishes the active ingredients in the bulk of anti-depressants
- Consuming alcohol in conjunction with anti-depressants is dangerous as you are efficiently taking a sedative on top of a sedative

SOBERING THOUGHTS

Without uncertainty in the majority of situations where the person suffers from unhappiness as well as beverages to excess the key complication is drink. Nonetheless, when a person visits their GP by having drinking\/depression issues they tend to be truthful in describing their melancholy complications but to minimize their alcohol consumption. So the GP receives a distorted photo of the situation and treats the unhappiness rather than the primary source, alcohol abuse; as well as in most situations the situation spirals out of control.

Alcoholism is a disease that tells the patient they have actually not obtained it and, as such, most persons totally lie concerning their actual usage. GPs are not mind readers as well as the fact that in their numerous years of education only two weeks are dedicated to the idea of alcoholism it is complicated for them to figure out the fact. In many cases they will encourage the person to cut back their usage i.e. to drink more responsibly. The same GP would not usually prompt persons to cut back on smoking - how absurd might it appear if they prompted people to smoke more responsibly.

Alcoholism is wildly gotten me wrong socially and medically. The UNITED STATE as well as The Globe Health Business recognize alcoholism as a disease in the fact that if untreated the condition rises. The NHS has actually not recognized this necessary fact as it can not afford to do so. Why is this?

Our NHS states that any UK citizens are eligible for complimentary medicinal assistance on any disease they have. If they acknowledged alcoholism as a disease then they might be obliged to treat the condition. The only recognized successful therapy for this disease is total abstinence. Some folks can only achieve this with household therapy. This is pricey and the charges could possibly run into millions

 

Article by: James Dean

for more on addiction recovery and alcohol rehabilitation

The Long Term Effects of Alcohol

Often we really don't realize the risks we are taking with our health until it's too late, or until we read an article that explains what life would be like if we continue doing a certain habit.

Here you'll read about nine long-term effects from the frequent and heavy consumption of alcohol. Give them some thought and then make your decision on how much alcohol you want to include in your daily diet.

1 Risk of cancer
Did you know that alcohol consumption increases the risk of breast cancer and also esophageal, mouth and tracheal (windpipe) cancer? Even though alcohol by itself is not a carcinogen, it acts as a co-carcinogen, enhancing other carcinogens. Alcohol also may increase the production of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) or advanced lipoxidation endproducts (ALEs) that are linked with rapid aging, cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.

2 Holiday heart syndrome
Although you will often hear that a little alcohol is good for your heart, the fact is that large quantities of alcohol can cause cardiomyopathy, better known as €holiday heart syndrome.€ This enlargement of the heart can lead to arrhythmias. Arrhythmias can create additional trips to the emergency room and are also linked with nutritional deficiencies. They can possibly lead to death.

3 Cirrhosis
Having liver cirrhosis is not fun and not pretty. Expect your abdomen to swell to the point where you look like you're pregnant, along with a lot of abdominal pain. In severe cases, something called caput medusa appears. This is where the veins back up and look like they're all twisted, like snakes. It's visible on the abdomen.

4 Brain damage, showing up in long-term memory.
Chronic alcohol consumption starts out affecting short-term memory so you forget what you walked into the kitchen to get. Over time, the brain physically changes from consumption of alcohol at moderate to high levels, affecting nerve cells in the brain and causing their death. This causes long-term memory. 

5 Nutritional deficiencies
Alcohol interferes with the absorption of nutrients that are absorbed in the small intestine and nutrients stored in the liver: folic acid, B vitamins, zinc, calcium, magnesium and others.

Folic acid deficiency causes poor memory, anemia, and intestinal disorders.

B vitamin deficiencies will leave you constantly tired, anemic, give you dandruff, nervous disorders, cracks and sores in the mouth, loss of appetite, restlessness, muscle weakness, depression and cause you to retain water. Not a pretty picture, is it?

Zinc deficiency results in stretch marks, delayed healing of wounds, loss of taste and appetite, impaired resistance to infections and diabetes.

Calcium and magnesium deficiencies result in softening and brittle bones, insomnia, irritability, depression, nervousness, tremors, delerium tremens (DT), and muscle jerks.

6 Atrophy of the vermis.
The vermis is part of the cerebellum of the brain that is responsible for making you walk straight without wobbling, making your gait slow and steady or fast and straight. Chronic consumption of alcohol causes this part of the brain to wither away, affecting your gait and making you look like you're stumbling even when sober.

7 Perception by others as an alcoholic, someone who makes poor judgment and has mental disorders. Since alcohol is considered the great mimicker of mental disorders, you can expect heavy drinking to bring on bouts of depression, paranoia, delusions, anxiety and extreme elated feelings. 

8 Increased cortisol
Biochemically, alcohol is a stress on the body. Once you start drinking, stress hormones such as cortisol are released. This results in belly fat being deposited at record levels. Stress hormones also cause the body to be primarily broken down, instead of being built up stronger.

9 Increased risk of fractures
Alcohol can take its toll on your bones and increase your risk of fractures, osteoporosis (brittle bones), and even is associated with the necrosis (dying) of the neck of your hip bone.

The long-term effects of alcohol consumption can be summed up like this if one becomes a heavy drinker: expect cancer, heart problems, liver disease, brain damage, stomach issues and the impaired ability to maintain your balance while standing or walking. You'll spend the golden years in and out of hospitals instead of cruising the waters of the world. You can also expect to feel stress and expect others to perceive you as someone who is not morally sound.

Now make your decision.

Article by: 

Rahul is a former problem drinker who developed a system to help him overcome his alcohol issues. You can find out about this and also get your free e-book on The Effects of Alcohol at the following website: http://www.alcoholfreesociallife.com

Short Term Effects of Alcohol

Alcohol is a potent central nervous system depressant with a wide range of effects. The amount you consume effects how drunk you will get.

The effects of alcohol change over time. When you first start drinking. You may feel relaxed. But the more you drink, the more side effects you begin to feel, like blurred vision and slurred speech.

Euphoria is an effect that alcohol has on people. Essentially, getting the euphoric effect means you will feel an overall mood improvement. You may be more self-confident when drinking. Your attention span shortens and you may feel more flushed. Whether your believe it or now, your judgment won't be as good as you think it is and you may well say the first thing that comes to mind or do things that you would not normally do. You will also start to have trouble with fine movements such as signing their name. With more alcohol, lethargy may start to set in. Lethargy is the side effect where you may become sleepy. You have trouble remembering things that happened, even recent things you have done. Body movements are uncoordinated and you may react to situations more slowly. Your vision becomes blurry and they have trouble seeing.

Confusion is also caused by drinking. You may get confused and very emotional, less likely to respond to pain. If you get in a fight while you are drunk, you will not feel the pain until the alcohol wears off.

Stupor is another short term effect of alcohol. In this condition movement is seriously impaired and you may lapse in and out of consciousness. You can slip into a coma and become completely unaware of your surroundings. At this point, the risk to the body is very high due to alcohol poisoning. Loss of body functions can begin like losing control of the bladder, breathing and heart rate.

Drinking large amounts of alcohol can lead to coma and even death. If you want to avoid these risks, the best way to do it is to avoid alcohol. You can start being effected by alcohol from the very first sip, whether you realize it or not.

Excessive doses of alcohol can cause long term as well as short-term side effects. Some of the long term effects are: slowing, blurred vision, vertigo, amnesia, ataxia, and hangovers.

The liver is part of the body's filtration system. This means when it is damaged it allows certain toxins to build up, leading to symptoms of Jaundice. This is what you are seeing when a person's skin begins to turn yellow.

Many people don't think of alcohol as a drug but the fact is that it is a drug. It is just as lethal as any other drug can be. When you overuse any drug you can expect consequences. This is also true with alcohol. Many people think that it is okay to have a beer once in a while or that if you drink at home you won't be hurting anyone.

Think again. You are hurting yourself and by hurting yourself you are hurting the ones that care about you. Whether you drink some at home or at a bar, alcohol can have the same effect on you. One sip and the process begins.

Article by:

John M. Smith writes for Tips For Healthy Life,
a blog dedicated on helping you improve your health.
and treat various health problems.

Side Effects of Alcohol

You wouldn't scoff down chocolate bar after chocolate bar would you? At least not without feeling distinctly guilty about it, so why do many women think it's acceptable to drink far more than the recommended 2-3 units (3-4 for men) of alcohol per day?

What do chocolate and alcohol have in common? In a word - calories.

The number of calories in alcohol is incredibly high with a bottle of wine exceeding 500, a medium glass (175ml) coming in at 125 and even the dieters favourite, the G&T, is a whopping 120kcals. And if you think cocktails are good for you with all that fruit, think again.

While this doesn't sound too bad in terms of your recommended daily calorie intake, when you consider you're consuming these empty calories in addition to food, which may be a carb filled dinner to line your stomach or a meal out, it suddenly starts to add up.

It is also believed that the toxins contained in alcohol can contribute to the appearance of cellulite, so if you're drinking too much you can look forward to a flabby tum and orange peel bum.

And unfortunately it's not just the calories in alcohol you need to worry about.

In the short term...

When it comes to your appearance and the short term side effects of alcohol there is a whole list of things to consider including bloating, bloodshot eyes, spots, smelly breath, red skin while drinking and dull looking, grey skin the next day due to dehydration. 

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".

Sadly yet another thing alcohol affects is your sleep, so even if you go to bed early you can expect to wake up feeling exhausted with tired, puffy eyes. And when you do you'll probably smell, as although your liver metabolises most of the alcohol you drink, five to 10 percent is excreted through your breath, sweat and urine. 

In the long term...

The long term effects of regularly exceeding the daily guidelines are also something to think about. If you've ever seen someone who drinks too much you might have noticed they're a bit red in the face. This is down to Rosacea, a skin condition linked to alcohol, which can begin with a tendency to blush and flush easily and can eventually lead to permanent facial disfigurement.

"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."

All in all it doesn't paint a very pretty picture, so if you want to keep your good looks and minimise the side effects of alcohol why not cut down on the amount you drink for 2010? With all the money and calories you'll save you can even treat yourself to a nice meal to celebrate.

Article by: David P. Walker

Visit Drinkaware for all the facts about alcohol or use Drinkaware's free unit calculator to uncover the hidden calories in alcohol.

Alcohol Chemical Compound

Folks look at drinking as ordinary and proper. There's actually nothing morally wrong with it. As far as you know for certain that you can pay for what you sipped, then live and let live. To be honest, not exactly, if you ever consult your liver.

The liver is principally focused on trying to keep the entire body safe from detrimental substances. Though wanting to see how far it can go with the worrying volume of alcoholic beverages that you usually consume isn't a good move.ve.

Alcohol gets split up into fat, water and carbohydrates by the liver. Because intestinal lining and stomach digest around 80% of the alcohol someone consumes, the liver receives much more than its desired share. And it could protest in ways that could be bodily disturbing.

The very first sign of liver trouble because of alcohol is fatty liver. It results from the fat alcohol deposits within the liver, therefore minimizing its productivity.

If alcohol usage is still verging around the almost-an-alcoholic, fatty liver paves the way to swelling of the liver. Acetaldehyde, a different result from the metabolism of alcohol within the liver, is the cause for the liver's inflammation. Additionally it is a chemical that is extremely toxic to the brain and also the stomach.

Yet another degeneration will take place if alcohol is still utilized improperly. Inflammation of the liver brings about alcohol hepatitis, a generic malady that ruins the liver's capability to do its functions effectively. It has a 60% death rate.

In the event that the liver still runs into alcohol from then on, then it'll arrive at the ultimate stage of liver-versus-alcohol game: liver cirrhosis. It totally shuts down the liver and all its functions. As a result, toxic compounds caused by alcoholism will gather inside the human body, messing it from within until the human body eventually dies. Liver cirrhosis will be the point of no return. Someone needs to be really fortuitous to not die over it. Scar tissues wrought by alcohol on the liver is the source of liver cirrhosis.

Your appendix doesn't have recognized functions but if it gets hurt, it's going to give you many trouble. Your liver, being one of the most overstressed internal organs in the entire body, will never warrant the damaging results of alcohol. Alcohol abuse will make you suffer, if you don't pick to halt it.

We offer alcohol abuse treatment along with other services to help you or a family member to help you fight these habit forming behaviors. Find more expert advice about how you can stop drinking alcohol by checking our website. 

Article by: Danille k. king

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