What is Alcohol?

While the general notion amongst the people about alcohol is that it is a “stimulant”, that they may take a glass of wine or a can of beer in order to “loosen up” and relax, it is in fact a drug which is classified as a depressant, meaning that it slows down the vital functions of the body causing distorted perceptions, slurred speech, unsteady movement and inability to react quickly and appropriately. Alcohol also affects the mind as it impacts the ability to think rationally and distorts judgment.  

The effects of alcohol overdose are even more severe as it results in intense vomiting bouts (to expel the poison), drastically decreases the ability to feel pleasure and pain, and can even cause unconsciousness, and in worse circumstances, coma or death from severe toxic overdose.

How it works and associated risks

As soon as one consumes alcohol, it quickly travels from the blood vessels in the walls of the stomach and the small intestine to the brain (by absorption in the blood stream) whereby it rapidly produces its effects, particularly the action of slowing down the nerve cells. Through the blood stream, alcohol is carried to the liver and induces the “metabolizing effect” which converts the alcohol from the blood stream into a non-toxic substance.

However, since the liver can only metabolize a certain amount of alcohol at a time, the excess alcohol remains circulating throughout the body and when the amount of alcohol in the blood exceeds a certain level, the respiratory or breathing system also slows down considerably (since oxygen no longer reaches the brain) which can further escalate the chances of coma or even death.

Since alcohol distorts a person’s perceptions and judgments, the reaction time is slower amongst its users which furthers the chances of engaging in risk taking behavior such as drinking and driving and which often proves to be fatal. According to the WHO, deaths due to alcohol consumption remains incredibly high amounting to 2.6 million deaths in 2019 covering an estimated 1.6 million deaths from non-communicable diseases, including 474,000 deaths from cardiovascular diseases and 401,000 from cancer. Some 724,000 deaths were due to injuries, such as those from traffic crashes, self-harm and interpersonal violence.

Alcohol consumption is also inextricably linked to increase in chances of HIV transmission due to increased risk of unprotected sex while also increasing the risk of TB infection and mortality due to suppression of appropriate immune responses.

Alcoholism and Alcohol Consumption Trends

In 2019, more than 38 per cent of people engaged in heavy episodic drinking, defined as consuming at least 60g of pure alcohol on one or more occasions in the preceding month while continuous heavy drinking was highly prevalent amongst men. Also, according to research, drinking is considered to be more harmful to teens than adults as their brains are still developing throughout adolescence and well into young adulthood. Teenage is a critical period of growth wherein drinking can cause lifelong damage to brain function, particularly relating to motor skills, coordination and memory. Young people who start drinking before the age of 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol addiction than those who begin drinking at/after age 21. Research also shows that youth who drink are 7.5 times more likely to use other illegal drugs and 50 times more likely to use cocaine than young people who never drink.

The practice of binge drinking or the practice of consuming large quantities of alcohol in a single session is also quite prevalent and some people resort to it because it is easier that way to join the crowd in order to escape one’s life problems but, which, end up further isolating themselves and inflicting irreparable damage to family and social life by becoming violent and out of control. Furthermore, some people, after prolonged use of alcohol start feeling disgusted with themselves and start having panic attacks and report incidents of jerky movement or shaking and sweating if they do not get their daily dose of alcohol while some alcohol users also experience repeated bouts of blackouts which are incredibly dangerous for one’s health.

However, the youngest victims of alcohol consumption remain unborn children still in the womb of the mother as the alcohol enters the bloodstream, passes through the placenta and enters the fetus or the unborn child when it is consumed by pregnant mothers with the risk most serious in the first few months. Also, alcohol related birth can significantly increase risk of damage to brain and nervous system and cause facial abnormalities and other growth deficiencies.