Designing Your Character & Other Handy Things 2

Effects of Alcoholism

Colorectal cancer: Alcohol consumption is associated with a modestly increased risk of cancers of the colon and rectum. A meta-analysis of 57 cohort and case-control studiesthat examined the association between alcohol consumption and colorectal cancer risk showed that people who regularly drank 50 or more grams of alcohol per day (approximately 3.5 drinks) had 1.5 times the risk of developing colorectal cancer as nondrinkers or occasional drinkers. For every 10 grams of alcohol consumed per day, there was a small (7 percent) increase in the risk of colorectal cancer.
Immune System:
Drinking too much can weaken your immune system, making your body a much easier target for disease.  Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much.  Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body's ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk.

Short-Term Harm from Alcohol Abuse
The liver can metabolize about one serving of alcohol per hour, depending on the individual's age, weight, and gender. Typically, consuming more than one beverage per hour leads to intoxication. As a person's blood alcohol content (BAC) rises, they develop different signs of intoxication, leading up to passing out, vomiting, stumbling or falling, and even experiencing alcohol poisoning.

Consuming between one and two drinks in an hour can increase a person's BAC to 0.05 percent. They will appear relaxed; their inhibitions will be lowered; and their judgment and reaction times may be slowed or impaired, but not to dangerous levels.

When a person's BAC reaches 0.08 percent – which can occur with 2-4 drinks in one hour – they are no longer legally safe to drive in the United States. This BAC indicates that the person likely exhibits signs of intoxication like much slower reaction time, clumsiness, exaggerated behaviors and emotions, and a decrease in finer motor skills. They may begin to slur their speech.

As a person continues to drink, and their BAC continues to rise, they will display signs of intoxication, including:

Lowered inhibitions, leading to poor social judgment
Skin flushing
Trouble concentrating
Loss of coordination
Slower brain activity
Dulled perception, especially vision and hearing
Sleepiness
Mood swings
Dilated pupils
Reduced core body temperature
Raised blood pressure and heart rate
Stumbling
Passing out
Vomiting
Shallow, irregular, or slow breathing
Once a person's BAC reaches 0.2 percent, they are a danger to themselves; at 0.3 percent, they are at risk of choking, falling, and hurting themselves accidentally in other ways; 0.35 percent is considered the same level as surgical anesthesia. If a person's BAC reaches 0.4 percent, they are likely to die suddenly.

Binge drinking – consuming more than four drinks for women, or five drinks for men, in about a two-hour span – can be very dangerous, as it quickly raises BAC. If the person continues to drink more per hour than the liver can metabolize, they are very likely to experience alcohol poisoning.

Other forms of problem drinking, including AUD and heavy drinking, will cause long-term damage to the body.

Alcohol Poisoning
Binge drinking, or consuming more than five alcoholic beverages in two hours, which brings one's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08, is a dangerous practice that can cause acute physical and mental harm. Continuing to drink after five drinks in one event can cause alcohol poisoning. This may occur after eight drinks per hour or when an individual's BAC hits 0.15. Signs of alcohol poisoning include:

Confusion
Nausea and vomiting
Slowed or irregular breathing
Cyanosis, or a bluish tint to the skin due to oxygen deprivation
Low body temperature, or hypothermia
Unconsciousness
Memory loss about events that happened recently
Seizures
It is extremely important to call 911 if a person experiences alcohol poisoning. Emergency medical attention will help them survive.