One way to understand how your health is affected by alcohol is to follow the path of a glass of wine. With the first sip, alcohol floods the GI tract, is absorbed by the small intestine, forged into the liver for filtration, and empties into the bloodstream, flowing to the heart and the brain. Once in your system, alcohol affects a number of major areas.
According to the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence (NCADD), alcohol metabolized extremely quickly by the body. Unlike foods, which require time for digestion, alcohol needs no digestion and is quickly absorbed. Alcohol get 'VIP' treatment in the body, absorbing and metabolizing before most other nutrients. About 20 percent is absorbed directly across the walls of an empty stomach and can reach the brain within one minutes.
"Alcohol is rapidly absorbed in the upper portion of the small intestine. The alcohol - laden blood then travels to the liver via the veins and capillaries of the digestive tract, which affects nearly every liver cell. The liver cells are the only cells in our body that can produce enough of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase to oxidize alcohol at an appreciable rate.
"Though alcohol affects every organ of the body, its most dramatic impact is upon the liver.....when alcohol is present, the liver cells are forced to first metabolize the alcohol, letting the fatty acids accumulate, sometimes in huge amounts. Alcohol metabolism permanently changes liver cell structure, which impairs the liver's ability to metabolize fats.....
"The liver is able to metabolize about 1/2 ounce if ethanol per hour (appropriately one drink, depending on a person's body size, food intake e.t.c). If more alcohol arrives in the liver than the enzyme can handle, the excess alcohol travels to all parts of the body, circulate until the liver enzymes are finally able to process it.
Fortunately, the good news is, drinking moderate amounts of alcohol appears to reduce the risk of developing liver issues. One the down side, most people are familiar and the dangerous effects of long-term heavy drinking upon the liver. Those who consumed one to three drinks of alcohol per day had a significantly lower risk than did abstainers.
All too many college students engages in "binge drinking", defined as consuming five or more drinks in two hours for men and four or more for women. This practice has been blamed for many serious health problems and even death on college campuses. Studies have proven that long-term heavy drinking can increase cholesterol and lead to shrinking of some organs in the body.
As many as 80% of those addicted to alcohol are deficient in the vitamin thiamine. This deficiency alone can lead to twenty-five serious conditions, which together are named Wernicke-Korsakoff's Syndrome. Many of these changes are reversible with abstinence and help of various medications. But prevention is always superior to trying to undo damage that has occurred.
The bottom line is that, it is up to you to become aware of alcohol influence on you, and learn to handle it responsibly. To drink responsibly, you need to learn your own limits and conscientiously avoid crossing the line into alcohol abuse. Even this, however, can be one of those "best laid plans" that often go astray, as a person slips gradually into dependency on this substance to feel "normal" or to dull the pain. Alcohol can have a strong power that casting it out or casting it away takes everything you've got. And then, it just takes one drink to renew those strong synaptic connections again.
If you have experienced it, or are experiencing it, the best way is to seek help from a qualified medical professional. He/she can help with counselling on escaping alcohol grip.
If you drink daily, wonder how it is affecting you, but aren't concerned enough to quit, honestly answer these questions (posted on the NCADD website):
* Do you have a problem with alcohol?
* Have you ever felt you should cut down on your drinking?
* Are you annoyed when people criticize your drinking?
* Have you ever felt guilty about your drinking?
* Have you ever had a drink the first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or get rid of a hangover?
If you answered "yes" to one question, you may have a problem with alcohol. More than one "yes" answer makes it highly likely that a problem exists.
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