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Alcohol
Alcohol can be equally damaging to your liver
and kidneys as cigarettes are to you lungs. Mixing alcohol with
over the counter drugs like Tylenol can be devastating to your body.
And like cigarettes, alcohol can be addictive. If you make drinking
a habit you are in danger of becoming an alcoholic. Alcoholism destroys
your life, your relationships, and your health. If you want to get
divorced, lose your job, be abusive to your children, and destroy
your body, then by all means start drinking now.
The Effects of Alcohol
Alcohol and the body
Heavy drinking can harm virtually every organ in the body. In addition
to being toxic, alcohol weakens the immune system, increasing your
risk of infection and disease.
Alcohol causes disease of
the pancreas.
How alcohol affects the
sexual organs
Alcohol causes sexual dysfunction. Many men fail to achieve and
retain an erection when under the influence of alcohol.
How alcohol affects your
liver
In heavy drinkers liver cells damaged by alcohol may be replaced
with connective tissue instead of new liver cells. This connective
tissue infiltrates more and more of the liver until it becomes bloated
and unable to function. This is called cirrhosis, a disease that
frequently ends in a painful death. Speaking of painful deaths,
alcoholics are often blessed with liver cancer. Alcohol metabolized
by the liver produces acetaldehyde, which is more poisonous than
alcohol itself and is associated with disease of the heart muscle
and addiction. Vitamin C helps destroy alcohol before acetaldehyde
is produced. However this doesn't make you immune to alcohol,
since vitamin C can only stop a fraction of your alcoholic intake.
How alcohol affects your
heart
Heavy drinking increases your risk of cardiovascular disease. Also,
as previously mentioned, alcohol metabolized by the liver produces
acetaldehyde, which is more poisonous than alcohol itself and is
associated with disease of the heart muscle and addiction. Vitamin
C helps destroy alcohol before acetaldehyde is produced. However
this doesn't make you immune to alcohol, since vitamin C can
only stop a fraction of your alcoholic intake.
How alcohol affects your
brain
It's no surprise that alcohol kills brain cells. Long time alcoholics
are subjected to memory loss, hallucinations and paranoia.
How alcohol affects digestion
Alcohol interferes with the absorption and utilization of vitamins.
It blocks absorption of vitamin K resulting in poor blood clotting.
It interferes with beta-carotene from vegetables, which in turn
reduces absorption of vitamin A resulting in a possible increase
of head and neck cancers. It interferes with the absorption and
increases the elimination of vitamin B. It blocks conversion of
vitamin B1 (thiamin) into its active form, resulting in poor nutrition
and polyneuritis, a painful inflammation of the nerves.
Alcohol and Cancer
Alcoholics have a high incidence of cancer of the liver, mouth,
pharynx, larynx, and esophagus. Certain drinks have their own menu
of cancers: American beer is linked to colon and rectal cancer.
Puerto Rican distilled rum and wine from Normandy is linked to esophageal
cancer. Wines in general usually contain cancer-causing chemicals,
used throughout the production process, from growing the grapes,
to fermentation, to bottling.
Cigarettes and alcohol:
the Deadly Duo
Cigarette carcinogens initiate cancers while alcohol promotes their
development. Take mouth and pharynx cancer for instance. If you
only drink or only smoke, you have 2 to 3 times the risk of developing
these cancers. If you smoke and drink, your risk is 15 times greater!
Women who drink alcohol during pregnancy...
- Can cause brain damage to their baby.
- Are more likely to have a miscarriage.
- Are more likely to have a newborn with Fetal
Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). This is a tragic disorder resulting in
mental retardation, behavioral problems, heart defects, severe
facial malformation, and body defects.
Children of alcoholics are...
- More likely to be born with fetal alcohol
syndrome.
- More susceptible to depression and anxiety.
- More likely to have a low self-esteem.
- More likely to drop out of school. More
likely to act aggressive and impulsive.
- More likely to experience physical and mental
health problems.
- More likely to experience child abuse.
Children of families with a history of alcohol
addiction are 400 times more likely to use drugs. This doesn't
mean that if you are one of these children you will use drugs. This
means that it is highly advisable that you never even try drugs
in order to save you from a life of addiction. You can't be
addicted to anything you haven't experienced!
Alcohol can affect women
faster and more severely because they have more body fat
and often less body water than men, causing the alcohol to enter
the blood stream in a less diluted form.
Teens who drink are...
- More likely to have poor eating habits
- More likely to have respiratory problems
- More likely to be generally fatigued
- More likely to have sleep disorders
- At risk for life threatening liver damage
(even at a young age)
- At high risk for becoming alcoholics later
on. Those from families with a history of alcoholism or other
substance abuse are at the highest risk.
Alcohol and Death
- Alcohol can kill you within hours.
- Dying of alcohol poisoning or choking and
drowning in your own vomit is not a valiant way to die.
- Funneling (pouring an alcoholic beverage
down your throat through a funnel placed in your mouth) puts you
at high risk for alcohol poisoning.
- Binge drinking (5 or more drinks at one
sitting) also puts you in great danger.
Drinking and Driving
- Auto accidents are the leading cause of death
for Americans between ages 1 to 34.
- Every 3 minutes someone causes an automobile
accident and dies under the influence of alcohol.
- 3 in 10 Americans will be involved in an
alcohol-related crash.
Drinking and driving can...
- Land you in jail convicted for a homicide
or manslaughter.
- Leave you drowning in your car at the bottom
of a river.
- Leave you with overwhelming guilt for crippling
an innocent person.
- Leave you with overwhelming guilt for causing
the death of a mother's unborn child.
- Kill you and those close to you.
Drinking and driving includes motorcycles, bicycles,
boats, jet skis, snowmobiles, and other recreational vehicles in
addition to cars.
Alcohol and Accidents: Alcoholics
are...
- 16 times more likely to fall to their death.
- 10 times more likely to become fire or burn
victims.
- More likely to be injured or die in an industrial
accident.
- More likely to drown.
Alcohol and Sperm
Men who drink heavily (two drinks daily or at least 5 at one sitting)
during the month before conception can significantly lower the birth
weight of the baby. Low birth weight infants are more likely to
die within the first year and are more likely to have birth defects
or respiratory problems.
Can alcohol be good for
you?
There is evidence to suggest that small amounts of certain alcoholic
drinks like red wine may protect you against coronary artery disease.
However, the cost of alcohol far outweighs any benefits it may have.
Alcohol provides no health benefits greater than the benefits you
get from either regular exercise, eating healthy or getting enough
sleep. In order to avoid the dangers of alcohol, you need to be
able to control the amount you drink to 1 glass for special occasions.
The problem with this, is that some people are prone to alcoholism.
One drink could be the start of a life-threatening problem. Alcohol
is much worse for you than it is good for you.

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