Substance Abuse Education
Alcohol and You
Mark Ellow
PharmD Candidate
Spring 2006
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Purpose of this presentation…
• To remind you that
•
next time you are at a
party and you see
this, think twice and
know you’re limits.
Who knows, maybe
you won’t drink at all?
www.cap.org.uk/.../ 0/bottles_300_afoncn.jpg
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Alcohol in General
• Alcohol in general is something that has been
either consumed or abused for decades.
Particularly, college students have the highest
action in abusing alcohol and pushing
consumption to and beyond the limits (1).
Abuse at this age in life will eventually lead to
long term side effects of all sorts but most
importantly it could have a severe effect from
just one night of partying…
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Affects of alcohol
(Moderate Usage)
.01-.25 Blood alcohol level
Avg. Male: 1-5 drinks
Avg. Female: 1-4 drinks
• Impaired judgment, blurred vision, and slurred
•
•
speech.
Normal walking balance is off
Your reaction time plummets
– You could really use your reaction time for sports and
safety of yourself and others in a car.
• These effects make it easier for you to injure
•
yourself physically
Talkitiveness, higher self confidence.
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Severe affects of alcohol
(Large Consumption)
.25 - .40 blood alcohol level
Avg. Male: 5+ drinks
Avg. Female: 4+ drinks
• Major drop in blood pressure and body sugar
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•
•
•
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levels.
Increase in pulse, respiratory rate, and body
temperature.
Vomiting
Incontinence (lose control of bodily fluids)
Senses are way off and no response to stimuli.
Violent behavior could lead to jail time,
unconsciousness, and death.
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Severe effects of alcohol
(Binge Drinking)
• Binge drinking seems to be the trend for most
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•
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college kids. (44% of USP students Binge)
It can be defined as completely overloading your
system with alcohol.
Your body can only take in so much alcohol at a
time, and by doing this, all of the consequences
on the previous slide can take place.
Hospital attention is needed along with the
saying “I’m never drinking again!”
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Severe effects of alcohol
(Hangover Symptoms)
• Hangover is a feeling
felt the day after
drinking (usually
being really drunk the
night before.)
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Your head hurts
You are dehydrated
You are sluggish
Getting up early isn’t
even a possibility.
http://www.jemstarentertainment.c
om/Hangover.jpg
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Severe effects of alcohol
(Hangover explanation)
• Alcohol is a toxin to the liver and in order
for it to be eliminated, the liver needs a lot
of water to dilute it. If high amounts of
water are not available, your body will
draw it from where ever it can, resulting in
dehydration.
• Neurologically, the withdrawal of alcohol
from your brain causes headaches and
discomfort.
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Severe effects of alcohol
(Hangover remedies – Myths)
• Drinking coffee is believed to be the method of “waking up
from a hangover”. Think again! The caffeine will further
dehydrate you and plus irritate your stomach.
• Drinking more will just delay the hangover, YOU WILL
EVENTUALLY GET IT!
• Hangover supplements like BrainQuicken© and Chaser©
just do the same as eating healthy foods the day after.
Fruits and veggies put back the nutrients you lost from
drinking and other vitamins can assist in the transportation
of oxygen through the body as well as brain.
• The only real cure for a hangover is TIME. Give your body
time to heal itself. (2)
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Chronic abuse of alcohol
• Gastric ulcers of the
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•
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stomach
Inflammation of the
pancreas.
Liver and kidney failure
Heart disease (higher
chance of getting it with
heart disease running in
the family)
Chronic depression
Suicide
Overweight
http://www.abc.net.au/science/
news/img/people/beerbelly.jpg
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Alcohol Pharmacology
• Ethanol (alcohol) is a colorless, odorless
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hydrocarbon. It is a liquid that is consumed or
administered orally. It is fully miscible in water
and is both water and lipid soluble (can pass
into your cells very easily).
There is still a debate over the mechanism of
action for alcohol, but researchers say it
interacts with a variety of neurotransmitters in
the brain. Basically the brain is not doing its job
properly with these inhibitors. (3)
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Body Chemistry
• The dosage of alcohol
in you depends on a
few things.
– How much you weigh
– How tolerant you are,
– Whether you are male
or female.
http://www.calvin.edu/acade
mic/chemistry/images/mainL.j
pg
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Body Chemistry Cont.
• Alcohol is metabolized differently by men and
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•
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women.
This is due to the enzyme alcohol
dehydrogenase (ADH).
ADH is what facilitates the metabolism of alcohol
and is more abundant in men that women.
When you hear that someone has a high
tolerance of alcohol, that means they have a
high quantity of the enzyme in their system.(4)
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What is a standard drink?
• A standard drink usually contains about 14
grams of alcohol (0.6 fluid ounces).
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12oz of beer = 1 drink
12oz of malt liquor = 1.5 drinks
5oz of table wine (1/5 bottle) 1 drink
1.5oz of 80 proof liquors = 1 drink
• ie Wiskey, Vodka, Brandi,
• Alcohol dosage is more potent due to the higher
percentage of alcohol in the drink. Beer the
lowest and liquor being the highest. (5)
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Why do people drink?
• People drink just because
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•
•
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they like it.
Just to get drunk is a
reason.
For younger adolescents,
drinking is viewed as a
“cool” thing.
People drink just to fit it.
Alcohol makes people feel
like they have escaped
their problems.
http://images1.comstock.com/Imagew
arehouse/IT/SITECS/NLWMCompingVer
sions/CD034/ITF034076.jpg
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Psycho/Social Effects
• College kids feel that it allows them to escape the
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•
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pressure and responsibility of reality, it makes them feel
like a “kid” again.
Kids just want a break from things, college life can seem
overwhelming at times. They think of it as “a mental
vacation” to be drunk.
For some going to college involves social contact with
“strangers”. Social anxiety is relieved by using alcohol.
ie. they loosen up.
Socially everyone is different. Students have their
problems and use alcohol to “self-medicate” themselves
for anxiety, depression and other stressers.
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Psychological Effects
• Students feel they can not function
without it. (This shows the addictive
nature of alcohol).
• Coping with problems seems harder when
being sober.
• Psychologically one is addicted to the
feelings of being drunk. From here you
might get more of a craving for alcohol.
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Psychological Effects Cont.
• We are still maturing in our cognitive, emotional, and
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•
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behavioral ways but the use of alcohol interferes with this
process by delaying our actual feelings.
Behaviorally, we make risky decisions like driving drunk after
doing 21 shots on our 21st birthday.
Reasoning, thinking, and judging skills are affected.
Emotionally we need our relationships with friends,
boyfriends, girlfriends, or whomever. Alcohol can ruin those
relationships leaving us feeling empty.  Not good for
emotional development.
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Summary
• Alcohol truly effects every system in our bodies,
but it so happens to be that alcohol targets
three very important ones. The Central Nervous
System, Respiratory system, and the Cardiac
system. In the long run, alcohol can be
extremely deadly to the body. A thought to
remember is limit your alcohol intake next time
at a party for you could be in a life threatening
situation. Are you really willing to risk your
future from a night of drinking??
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References
• (1) "Kids and Alcohol.“ [About 3 screens] Kids Health [homepage on
the Internet] . c2006. The Nemours Foundation. 2 Mar. 2006 [Date
accessed]
<http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/alcohol.html>.
• (2) "So You Wanna Cure a Hangover.“ [About 2 screens] So You
Wanna.com. [Homepage on the Internet] c2006. 27 Feb. 2006
[Date accessed]
<http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/syws/hangover/hangover.html>
• (3) Goldfrank’s Toxicologic Emergencies. 7th ed. c2002. The McGrawHill Companies, Inc. “Chapter 64 Ethanol” Jan. 25th 2006 [Date
accessed]. Avaliable from STAT!Ref
[database on the Internet].
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References Cont.
• (4) Goldfrank’s Toxicologic Emergencies. 7th ed. c2002.
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. “Chapter 64 Ethanol”
Jan. 25th 2006 [Date accessed]. Avaliable from STAT!Ref
[database on the Internet].
• (5) "What is a Standard Drink?“ [About 1 screen] Road
Safety Council. [Homepage on the Internet] c2006. 27
Feb. 2006 [Date accessed]
<http://www.officeofroadsafety.wa.gov.au/Facts/dd_broc
hure/what_is_standard.htm>.
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