personal growth paper
fadoo
UppersDownersAllArounders-8thEdition-CH5.pptx5.1 - Not all cultures find alcohol legally or socially acceptable. Muslim countries have a ban on alcohol use, some counties in the US ban the sale of alcohol but whereever alcohol is sold and taxed the monetary gain from it does not out weigh the social costs of loss productivity, DUIs, traffic accidents, domestic violence and fetal alcohol syndrome.
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5.2 – Alcohol is the oldest and most widely used psychoactive substance in the world.
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5.3 – Fermentation is the consumption of sugar by yeast to use as food and then excrete alcohol or a waste product. Alcohol kills yeast at about 12% concentration limiting how much alcohol wine or beer can naturally contain. The process of distilling alcohol was discovered by an Persian chemist Jābir ibn Hayyān in the 8th century; turning wine into brandy making it 3 to 4 times stronger. Distillation removes alcohol from fruit or grain fermentation concentrating it in the form of brandy or whiskey.
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5.4 – The liver rapidly metabolizes alcohol to acetaldehyde which is then broken down further to finally carbon dioxide and water. The metabolism of alcohol occurs at a steady rate regardless of the amount of alcohol consumed so the more that is consumed the longer it takes the liver to break it all down.
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5.5 – Note that whether it is a 12 oz. beer or a 1.5 oz. “shot” of whiskey, both contain the same amount of alcohol.
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5.6 – As with almost all drugs, the effects of alcohol increase as its concentration increases in the brain.
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5.7 - The experience of a hangover physically feels much like withdrawal though a hangover usually lasts for a day, whereas withdrawal symptoms are protracted and can be life threatening. Alcohol withdrawal is a serious medical condition that should be managed by knowledgeable physicians and treated with medication.
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5.8 – Any use of alcohol causes stress on the liver. It can rebound in most cases but if scaring (cirrhosis) occurs the liver can not regenerate healthl liver cells.
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5.9 - Acetaldehyde directly damages striated heart muscles. Cardiomyopathy, an enlarged flabby and inefficient heart is found in heavy drinkers. Heavy drinkers can develop Alcoholic Heart Muscles Disease.
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5.10 – In early drinking the drinker can tolerate more and more of it without showing major changes in it’s effects (tolerance). Paradoxically, when the drinker starts getting drunker from smaller and smaller amounts of alcohol (reverse tolerance) it is primarily due to major damage that alcohol has done to their liver making it incapable of metabolizing alcohol as effectively as it once did.
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5.11 - These PET scans show how brain activity is suppressed. This indicates that the alcoholic teen may develop problems in later life. Abuse of all psychoactive drugs shuts down normal brain activity.
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5.12 – Drinking alcohol has a strong correlation with illicit drug use.
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5.13 - Alcohol use during pregnancy is the leading cause of mental retardation in the United States. Often times women don’t realize they are pregnant and continue to drink but it is during the first trimester that the organization of brain cells occurs in the fetus.
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5.14 – Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD) and Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) consist of retarded growth, facial deformities, intellectual and behavioral problems, and prenatal alcohol exposure. FASD can have any of these problems, FAS has all four of the problems.
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5.15 – Fetal brain damage due to alcohol exposure is the greatest damage caused by alcohol use during pregnancy.
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5.16 – 75% of family violence arrests in the U.S. test positive for alcohol use at the time of their arrest.
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5.17 – About 30% of all traffic fatalities involve alcohol.
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5.18 – Casualties from alcohol use is not limited to auto accidents. Drownings, falls, burns, violence and almost half of workplace deaths involve alcohol.
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5.19 – Although alcohol prohibition from 1920–1933 resulted in more criminal problems, note that alcohol consumption greatly decreased as did liver and other medical problems from it’s use.
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