The Disease of Alcoholism - Speech or Presentation Example

The present paper has identified that alcohol is a poison which can damage the body. Either as a con­ sequence of its direct toxic effects or because of the dietary and vitamin deficiencies which often accompany heavy drinking, alcohol can harm the body. It can damage the brain with, at worst, dementia the result. The nerve supply to the limbs can be impaired with numbing and pain (peripheral neuritis). The liver can be the prime site of alcohol poisoning, with cirrhosis the outcome.

The pancreas can become inflamed, with painful and potentially lethal consequences. The limb muscles can be weakened (Goodlett et al 1999). Only imagine that about 200,000 deaths each year are directly related to alcohol abuse (Death Statistics 2007). The major adverse effects associated with alcohol abuse are related to liver damage because of the accumulation fats and protein in the liver. Long-term heavy drinking is associated with the development of esophagitis, gastritis, achlorhydria and gastric ulcers.

Heavy alcohol intake may interfere in the normal process of food digestion and absorption (Goodlett et al 1999). It also inhibits the capacity of the intestines to absorb various nutrients including vitamins and amino acids. This can result to vitamin deficiencies. Alcohol has been shown to affect the heart by increasing the resting cardiac output, heart rate and myocardial oxygen consumption. A person with alcohol intoxication may also be predisposed to infections secondary to the suppression of the immune system.

Alcoholism ruins personality and males a person dependant on alcohol. “Rich or poor, tall or short, fat or thin, male or female, all fall into the alcoholic spectrum in an orderly and predictable pattern--each being equal to the other”. Form the chemical and biological point of view alcohol has potent effects on areas of the brainstem called the locus coeruleus and the raphe nuclei (Goodlett et al 1999). These play an important role in both motor coordination and alertness, which unsurprisingly are two of the functions most impaired by having a drink or three.

Alcohol abuse is so dangerous because it negatively inferences the mental and psychological development of a person. Alcoholism has the potential to disrupt every brain function. The well-known fact is that alcohol may appear to be a stimulant, but it is mostly a central nervous system depressant. Although initially there may be a feeling of happiness and well-being, alcohol produces loss of emotional control, violent behavior, inability to coordinate movement, nausea, confusion, and coma. Less known facts are that alcoholic coma is not a minor problem - it results in death in about 1 in 20 cases.

Once people who use alcohol heavily are habituated to this drug after five or so years; they will experience blackouts, nightmares, and hallucinations. It is a known fact that citizens can drink alcohol life long in moderate quantities without significant risk to health or social well-being. Unfortunately, too many people who take alcohol regularly are unable to resist the temptation and increase the quantity of alcohol that leads to alcoholism. It is important to remember that withdrawal also produces uncontrolled trembling of the limbs, delirium and epileptic attacks that do not always respond to anti-epileptic drugs (Goodlett et al 1999).