About Alcohol

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What do we know about alcohol? Although alcohol has been used in a variety of ways throughout history and that the many of the effects of alcohol can be called "positive," it was, however, realized thousands of years ago that excessive drinking and abuse can result in personal and social problems.

Since people have known about the positive as well as the damaging effects of alcohol for hundreds and thousands of years, why is it that millions upon millions of people worldwide experience so many alcohol abuse and alcoholism problems?

Stated differently, in our more "aware" and "enlightened" world, why do so many individuals suffer from the unhealthy, destructive, and in some instances, the fatal results of excessive drinking, alcohol abuse, and alcoholism?

Why do so many people in the industrialized countries suffer from alcohol poisoning, binge drinking, hangovers, the DTs, the shakes, and alcohol-related medical conditions such as heart disease, certain forms of cancer, and liver disease (such as cirrhosis and hepatitis)?

Do most people really pay attention to the alcohol statistics and facts that are so frequently highlighted in the newspapers and on the evening news? Do we honestly need more information about alcohol, especially when the damaging and debilitating effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism are so frequent and so well documented?

An Essential Question About Alcohol: What is Alcohol?

What follows is some basic information about alcohol that many people apparently do not understand. The alcohol that is consumed at bars or parties is called ethyl alcohol or ethanol.

Ethyl alcohol is produced by fermentation, a process in which yeast fungus feeds on sugars and/or starches in various grains (such as hops, rice, or barley) or fruits (such as grapes) and excretes alcohol along with carbon dioxide (CO2).

Ethyl alcohol is a depressant drug. As such, one of the effects of alcohol on the body from a physiological perspective is that alcohol acts as a depressant on the central nervous system.

Maybe this fact helps explain why so many individuals get depressed when they drink excessively. From another point of view, however, this may also help explain why so many individuals exhibit both alcoholism and depression.

The concentration of alcohol in drinks varies widely depending on the type of drink. For example, while wine and beer typically have an alcohol content between 5% and 15%, hard liquor, on the other hand, usually has an alcohol content of 40% and can go as high as 95%.

From the cheapest beer, shots, wine, and wind coolers to the most expensive after dinner liqueur or wine, all alcohol is made from the same fermentation process.

The various tastes, flavors, colors, and strengths come from the different fruits or vegetables that are used as well as from the additives, by-products, and the diluting substances employed in the fermentation process.

Interestingly, the fermentation process used in alcoholic beverages is the same process that will take place with orange juice, apple juice, or other fruit juices and fruit if they are not consumed.

When an individual drinks an alcoholic beverage, about 20 percent of the alcohol is absorbed in the stomach and 80 percent is absorbed in the small intestine.

The concentration of alcohol, type of drink, and whether the stomach is full or empty affect the speed at which the alcohol is absorbed.

Once the alcohol is absorbed into the tissues, it affects your mind and your body. It usually takes around 20 minutes after having an alcoholic beverage for a person's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level to rise.

After the alcohol is absorbed, it leaves the body in three ways: via the lungs, kidneys, and via the liver.

A Brief History About Alcohol Use

Is alcohol use a recent discovery or has alcohol been used in a variety of ways for centuries? While it is not known exactly when alcohol was first used or consumed, the discovery of late Stone Age beer jugs, however, reveal that deliberately fermented alcoholic beverages existed at least as early as 10,000 B.C.

This means that people have known about alcoholic drinks and alcoholic beverages and have been drinking alcohol for at least 10,000 to 12,000 years!

From another perspective, this also means that alcohol use and abuse and positive and negative alcohol effects have been experienced for thousands of years.

Other historical references include the following:

• In the Bible, (Genesis 9:20) it states that Noah planted a vineyard on Mt. Ararat.
• In Babylon, as early as 2,700 B.C, the Babylonians worshiped wine deities. Beer and wine were used on a regular basis as offerings to the gods.
• In ancient China, it was believed that the consumption of alcohol in moderation was prescribed by heaven.
• In Ancient Egypt, the Egyptians believed that Osiris, the god of wine, also invented beer, a beverage that was so much a part of Egyptian life that it was brewed daily in the home.
• In Sumeria, wine and beer were used for therapeutic reasons as early as 2,000 B.C.
• In ancient Greece, by 1,700 B.C. wine making was so common that, similar to other places in the old world, it was used in hospitality, it became an important aspect of religious rituals, it was used for medicinal purposes, and it became a commonly used with daily meals.

Info About Alcohol: Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Effects

While alcohol has been used in a number of different ways that have elicited what can be called "positive" alcohol effects, it was, however, recognized thousands of years ago that excessive use and abuse led to a number of problems and negative effects of alcohol.

In other words, it was known for thousands of years that the alcohol effects could be both beneficial and destructive. Concerning the alcohol effects that were negative, for example, both Aristotle and Plato were critical of drunkenness.

And in China, a manuscript that dates back to 650 B.C. was recently found that not only articulated how difficult it was for people at that time to do without beer, but it also included warnings of the "abuse" of beer!

As with most things in life, there are positives and negatives. Alcohol, it can be added, is no exception. In other words, alcohol effects can be positive or negative.

Stated differently, in our society alcohol use is typically associated with "positive" drinking experiences while alcohol abuse is commonly seen as representing the "negative" aspects of drinking alcohol.

A bit of common sense, however, will demonstrate that in our society, the negative effects of alcohol seem to outweigh positive alcohol effects by a wide margin.

Negative Alcohol Effects. Fast forwarding to Europe, in 1596 in France, an adviser to Henri IV proclaimed that excessive drinking too frequently ruined families and homes.

In a document published in 1647, a Greek monk stated that excessive drinking was detrimental to the nerves and to the brain and was a key contributor to many medical problems such as paralysis, trembling, convulsions, and uncontrolled bleeding into an organ or into the brain.

Interestingly, more than 350 years ago some intelligent individuals with "alcohol awareness" in Europe documented information about various negative alcohol effects such as excessive alcohol consumption that in modern-day terminology would be classified as "alcohol poisoning," "alcohol withdrawal, "alcohol overdose," the "DTs," and "alcohol side effects."

In 1667 in France, a medical thesis was submitted that both stated the positive features of wine and also those aspects that are detrimental to one's health such as sleep disruption, trembling hands, memory loss, ulcerated eyes, erratic gait, lethargy, and gawking expression.

Though this work contained a number of clinical observations that were legitimately attributed to heavy drinking and excessive alcohol use and abuse, unfortunately, this information and knowledge about the damaging and negative alcohol effects of drinking alcohol was not widespread.

Moving on to 1920 in the United States marks the beginning of Prohibition. At this time the 18th Amendment to the Constitution had been officially ratified and focused on putting an end to the "evils associated with drinking."

Around this same time one writer equated excessive drinking with "Grappling with the Monster" and the "Curse" and stated that the only cure was total abstinence.

Interestingly, the "evils" of alcohol and the negative alcohol effects that were said to result from excessive drinking in the 1800s and the early 1900s in the United States were mainly viewed from a social perspective.

That is, drinking too much alcohol was seen as associated with public disorder, poverty, crimes, family violence, and poor performance in the shops and factories.

Though this is the case, it must also be pointed out that some people, however, did see some of the negative effects of alcohol use and abuse and that excessive drinking, especially rum, would result in death.

Others did articulate warnings about excessive alcohol consumption, but their voices, for the most part, were not heard.

Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Statistics and Facts

Many of the dangers of alcohol abuse and alcoholism, that is, the negative effects of alcohol, do not really make an impact on people until someone discusses some of the alcohol statistics and facts about alcohol abuse, alcoholics, and alcoholism.

According to a study undertaken by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University in 2005, the following statistics about alcohol abuse and alcoholism were discovered:

• The 25.9% of underage drinkers who are alcohol abusers and alcohol dependent drink 47.3% of the alcohol that is consumed by all underage drinkers.
• Alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse cost the United States an estimated $220 billion in 2005. This dollar amount was more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) and obesity ($133 billion).
• Every year in the U.S. more than 150,000 college students develop health problem that are directly or indirectly related to alcohol use and abuse.
• American youth who drinking before the of age 15 are four times more likely to become alcoholics than young people who do not drink before the age of 21.
• In the United States during 2004, 16,694 deaths occurred as a result of alcohol-related motor-vehicle crashes. This amount was approximately 39% of all traffic fatalities. This amounts to one alcohol-related death every 31 minutes.
• Every day in the U.S. more than 13,000 children and teens take their first drink.
• The 9.6% of adult alcoholics drink 25% of the alcohol that is consumed by all adult drinkers.
• Every year, 1,400 American college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related inadvertent injuries, including motor vehicle accidents.

Linking Medical Problems to Alcoholism

The focus on the results of excessive drinking and the negative effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism from a medical perspective received a major boost from a doctor named E.M. Jellinek. In 1937 Dr. Jellinek was the first person in the United States to formulate a taxonomy of medical problems observable in chronic alcoholics.

Interestingly, Dr. Jellinek was actively involved in some of the early alcoholism studies undertaken by the World Health Organization.

Mainly due to this working relationship, in 1952, the World Health Organization used Dr. Jellinek's definition for the term "alcoholic" in their own documents: "Alcoholics are those excessive drinkers whose dependence on alcohol has attained such a degree that it shows notable disturbance or an interference with their bodily and mental health, their personal relationships and smooth economic functioning or who show prodromal signs of such a development. They therefore need treatment."

As a result of the above discussion, it can be determined that concepts such as alcohol rehab and alcohol treatment were being formulated and articulated in the United States nearly 70 years ago!

Much of this early work by Dr. Jellinek and others who had "alcohol awareness" has formulated current programs and policies regarding the chronic use and abuse of both drugs and alcohol.

Additionally, the work of Dr. Jellinek and other early pioneers has provided input into the formulation of some of the drug and alcohol laws that exist in the United States. It is also apparent that Jellinek's work influenced more modern concepts such as "blood alcohol level," "blood alcohol content," and the whole concept of alcohol tests and alcohol testing.

While doctors in the 1950s were well aware of the correlation between alcoholism and diseases such as the degeneration of the liver, hepatic cirrhosis, and gastritis, doctors now are more knowledgeable about the many different ways in which the different organs of the body are affected by long-term alcohol use and abuse and chronic alcoholism. Modern day doctors are also more conversant with other critical alcohol-related issues such as fetal alcohol syndrome.

Alcoholism Videos

We have included some alcoholism videos so that you can see and hear directly from various people about their struggles with this disease.

If you, a family member, or one of your friends has a "drinking problem," seeing what others have gone through, how they addressed their alcohol abuse and alcoholism, and how they attained successful recovery is much more "real" than any information you can read about.

Furthermore, watching these videos may help you gain some additional information about alcohol, gain a better understanding what others with a drinking problem are experiencing, why the destructive and unhealthy effects of alcohol should be avoided at all costs, and why alcohol statistics are important. So make sure you look at these excellent videos for real life examples of alcohol use and abuse and alcohol dependence.

Information About Alcohol: Conclusion

Some Essential Facts About Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. In spite of the fact that alcohol use has been around for centuries and that alcohol has been used in a variety of ways throughout history that can be called the "beneficial" effects of alcohol, it is instructive to note that thousands of years ago it was also known that excessive drinking and alcohol abuse resulted in negative issues and problems.

These, then, can be labeled as the effects of alcohol that harm or hurt people. For instance, a Chinese manuscript written approximately 650 B.C. was recently found which stated how difficult it was for people to do without beer and actually included warnings about the "abuse" of beer.

Approximately two or three hundred years later, Plato and Aristotle, two of the more famous ancient Greek philosophers, openly criticized public displays of drunkenness.

Ironically, despite the fact that basic "alcohol information" such as the negative effects of abusing alcohol has been known for centuries, alcoholism and alcohol use and abuse continue to devastate human lives in our "aware" and "enlightened" society.

In short, as sophisticated and as knowledgeable as our society is, negative alcohol effects such as binge drinking, alcohol abuse, and alcoholism are experienced by millions of our citizens. Various alcohol abuse and alcoholism statistics and facts have been listed that give more of a realistic picture of the destructive and devastating nature of excessive and abusive drinking.

Even though a number of people claim that alcohol is a stimulant due to the fact that it helps them "open up" in social situations, alcohol is not a stimulant, but rather a depressant.

This fact may help explain the common occurrence of alcoholism and depression in the same person.

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