1. Alcohol Notes

2. What is Alcohol?
Definition: A powerful drug that effects the brain and is poisonous to the body.
Depressant- slows down nervous system

3. What is Alcohol? Ethanol
1. Can be made naturally= fermentation-the chemical action of yeast on sugars
2. Can be made chemically= water, flavoring, minerals are added to form various beverages.

4. Does alcohol affect everyone the same way?

5. MYTH OR FACT

6. Alcohol and its effect on the body Esophagus
Cancer
Affect mucosal lining, tongue, gums, and throat

7. Blood Vessels
Dilate and widen, increasing blood flow to the skin. Makes it feel warm and flush. Actually decreases body temperature

8. Heart Abnormal heart beat Increase heart rate and blood pressure
Scar tissue
Build up in muscle fibers = increased risk of heart attack

9. Alcoholic Heart
Healthy Heart

10. Liver Oxidation = changes alcohol to water, carbon dioxide, and energy
Takes 1 hour to metabolize ½ oz alcohol
Alcohol keeps circulating through all body parts
Cirrhosis- condition which liver tissue is destroyed and then replaced with useless scar tissue

12. Stomach and Pancreas
Alcohol doesn’t have to be digested, can go from stomach to blood stream
stomach ulcers, internal bleeding and cancer.
Alcohol can cause the stomach to become inflamed (gastritis), which can prevent food from being absorbed and increase the risk of cancer.

13. Ascites
Fluid retention

15. Kidneys
Alcohol affects pituitary gland, acts on kidney to produce more urine, makes feel dehydrated

16. Brain Thought process is disorganized
Memory and concentration are dulled
Decision making affected
Reaches brain in minutes

18. Alcohol affects Brain Centers

19. Cerebral Cortex
The person becomes more talkative, more self-confident and less socially inhibited.
The person has trouble seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting; also, the threshold for pain is raised.
The person does not use good judgment or think clearly.

20. Limbic System
The limbic system controls emotions and memory. As alcohol affects this system, the person is subject to exaggerated states of emotion (anger, aggressiveness, withdrawal) and memory loss.

21. Cerebellum
Controls fine movements. For example, you can normally touch your finger to your nose in one smooth motion with your eyes closed; if your cerebellum were not functioning, the motion would be extremely shaky or jerky. As alcohol affects the cerebellum, muscle movements become uncoordinated. A person might loose his/her balance frequently. Might be described as “falling down drunk”.

22. Hypothalamus and Pituitary Gland
Alcohol has two noticeable effects on the hypothalamus and pituitary gland, which influence sexual behavior and urinary excretion.

23. Medulla
The brain stem controls or influences all of the bodily functions that you do not have to think about, like breathing, heart rate, temperature and consciousness. As alcohol starts to influence upper centers in the medulla, a person will start to feel sleepy and may eventually become unconscious.

24. Stages of Intoxication
1. Judgment and Reasoning
2. Voluntary muscle control
3. Heart and Respiration

25. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Condition in which fetus has been adversely affected mentally and physically by mother’s heavy alcohol use-
Low birth weight, impaired speech, slow body growth, struggles with learning, hyper activity
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS
Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND
Alcohol-Related Birth Defects (ARBD)

27. Binge Drinking Periodic excessive drinking
Can lead to death from alcohol poisoning

28. Alcohol Poisoning
Toxic condition that occurs when a person drinks a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time

29. BAL or BAC B.A.L- Blood Alcohol Level
B.A.C- Blood Alcohol Concentration/Content
0.08%, if you’re an adult.
0.04%, if you are driving a commercial vehicle.
0.02%, if you are younger than 21 years old.

33. Risk Factors of Alcohol Addiction
Family history of alcoholism
Family management problems
Early anti-social behavior
Parental drug and alcohol use
5. Academic failure

34. Risk Factors of Alcohol Addiction
Little commitment to school
Alienation, rebelliousness, and lack of social bonding to society
Friends who use drugs or alcohol
Favorable attitudes toward drug or alcohol use
Early first use of drugs and alcohol.

35. Stage One of Addiction Social Drinking
Often drink to relax or relieve stress
May develop memory loss and blackouts
Often make excuses for their drinking behavior
Tolerance increases

36. Stage Two of Addiction Tolerance Building
Cannot stop drinking
Drink alone
Drink everyday
The body has developed a tolerance
Drinking becomes a central event

37. Stage Three of Addiction Uncontrollable Drinking
Final and worse stage
Problems can no longer be denied
Alcohol is a constant companion
Aggressive and or isolated from friends and family
The body is addicted
Reverse tolerance
When they stop drinking, there will be withdrawals

38. Treatment No cure May have a genetic predisposition
Early intervention has the highest success
Lifelong disorder
ABSTINENCE is the only effective treatment.

39. Costs to the family
Causes of the four most leading causes of accidental death (car crash, falls, drowning, and burns caused by fire)
They factor into 20-35% of all suicides and play a major roll in domestic violence

40. Cost to society
Alcohol is a major factor in the 3 leading causes of death for year olds (traffic accidents, homicides and suicides)