The Physiological Effects of Alcohol on the Body
...emory loss, and hyper-alertness. These are caused by the lack of oxygen to the brain. This lack of oxygen can kill tens of thousands of brain cells every time the drinker becomes intoxicated. The blood is also effected by alcohol. One effect is "blood sludging" where the red blood cells clump together and cause other blood vessels to plug up, breaking capillaries, and even causing hemorrhages in the stomach and intestine which may cause death or severe injury. Alcohol also can effect the stomach and intestines. Drinking increases the amount of acid in the stomach and this leads to ulcers and gastritis. Another part of the body, which is affected by alcohol, is the muscles. Alcohol slows down the flow of blood to muscle, which causes muscle weakness and deterioration. There are many causes of alcoholism. The most popular use is to use alcohol to change how people feel because they want to feel better or different. They use alcohol for the alleged benefits. People use alcohol to relax, "have fun", to be part of a group, and to escape from pain. Alcoholism can be broken down into two phases, problem drinking and alcohol addiction. Problem drinking is when alcohol is used over and over again, to relieve stress or anxiety. People often become dependent on alcohol after discovering that it helps relieve stress, and because alcohol is used more and more frequently, as stressful situations arise, a pattern of abuse develops. This is not good because the more dependent a person is on alcohol, the less stress they can actually handle. The causes of alcoholism also include the drinkers who use alcohol to "self-medicate" themselves. This means that alcohol is used to try to relieve anxiety, depression, tension, loneliness, self-doubt or unhappiness. No one wants to be an alcoholic, but this doesn’t stop people from getting addicted. People have been drinking alcohol for about 15,000 years. Just drinking steadily and consistently over time can produce dependence and cause withdrawal symptoms even when you haven't drunk alcohol in a while. This physical dependence, however, is not the only cause of alcoholism. To develop alcoholism, other factors usually come into play, including biology, genetics, culture, and psychology. Genetic factors also play a significant role in alcoholism and may account for about half of the total risk for alcoholism, although alcoholism is so complex that it is unlikely that any single gene will ever be identified as a major culprit. Most people believe that people develop a sort of immunity to alcohol because of genes. This immunity could cause people to drink more and more and eventually become an alcoholic. Between 80% and 90% of people treated for alcoholism relapse, even after years of disuse. There are many different ways to treat alcoholism and alcohol abuse. It is pretty easy to help someone to "detox" from alcohol. This means to have them completely stop usage. Studies show that there are few differences in outcome with different kinds of treatments. Regardless of the type of program a patient attends following detoxification, about half of them will go back to alcohol abuse within the first three months of starting treatment, and about three fourths will go back by the first year. The humble results obtained for psychosocial treatments have prompted a search for medications to reduce relapse rates. There are different kinds of medications that have been used to treat alcohol dependence including antabus...