Do you remember your very first sip of an alcoholic beverage? What sensations did you feel? What happened to your body? To your senses? What happened to you? Tipsy or drunk, alcohol, as it enters the body, affects almost all of you. Do you commit to memory having to pee all the time after having drunk at least 3 shots of alcohol? Or have you felt the world spinning around you while you take that last sip of vodka? These are just a little of the effects of alcohol and what it can do to your body as well as to your health.
Alcohol belongs to a family of chemicals that contain carbon and hydrogen. The active ingredient in alcoholic beverages is ethyl alcohol, also known as ethanol. It is a colorless and nearly tasteless fluid that is easily and quickly absorbed by the body. Alcohol is actually a depressant contrary to it being popular as a stimulant. It slows down the task of all living cells, especially those in the brain. Alcohol belongs to the same group of drugs as anesthetics and tranquilizers.
After being take in, alcohol is not being digested. It moves with tremendous speed through the body, affecting every single tissue and organ. It quickly appears in the bloodstream, and its intoxicating effects are felt within a few minutes. That explains the heat you feel after having taken in several rounds of any hard drink. The body starts quickly to try to get free of the alcohol. It is absorbed through the small intestine directly into the bloodstream. It then proceeds to the liver, where it is broken down. However, when it is took in at a quicker speed than the body’s metabolism can handle (about one 12-ounce can of beer per hour), alcohol accumulates in the bloodstream and is scattered throughout the body. The higher the concentration of alcohol, the greater the disturbance it has on body cells. Severe disruption of function can occur and can cause death. The effects of alcohol on various organs will be discussed in more detail below.
Alcohol undeniably has undesirable effects towards the brain and other parts of the body. The organ most sensitive to alcohol is the brain. Alcohol affects the entire body, but its effects on the tasks of the brain are the most visible -and to the person who is drinking, the most important. People drink alcohol because of the way it makes them feel, without considering the damaging effects on the brain itself. There are stages on how our brains react to alcohol. The first part of the brain to be affected is the cerebrum – the outermost layer, which is in charge for controlling the senses, speech, understanding, and judgment. Alcohol depresses first the parts of the brain that regularly inhibit actions and emotions. It appears as if alcohol -although it is a depressant -is acting as a stimulant because, as these higher centers of the brain are knocked out, the drinker feels liberated from moral and legal restrictions. Animation and the lost of inhibitions are the product of losing these restraints. The alcohol goes on to depress brain functions, resulting in slurred speech, unsteady walk, blurry vision, and loss of co-ordination. Drinkers regularly feel that their physical skills have been improved because their decision has been harmed, while in reality their reaction times are slowed and their muscle coordination is less efficient. Next, the drinker experiences various exaggerations of the emotions that can vary from violence and aggressiveness to tearfulness and withdrawal. If a person don’t stop drinking, the body protects itself from further damage by falling asleep. Alcohol destroys brain cells which, unlike the blood cells it also destroys, are irreplaceable.
Like most treatments, alcohol addiction treatment is never easy. Alcoholics would mainly deny the fact that they are alcoholics. Thus, the first step in treating alcohol addiction is letting the self know that he has become dependent with alcohol and that this dependency is a serious problem that needs treatment as soon as possible. Alcohol addiction treatment would entail medication and cognitive-behavioral therapy. Therapy is important in treatment because alcoholics need to have a change of lifestyle. They need to cope with life that is alcohol-free. This is not as easy as one, two, three. It entails hard work, commitment, discipline, and the unending support of family and friends.
Alcohol addiction brings a great damage to our body specially the brain that is why it needs quick treatment.