Danger Not Only From The Alcohol, but, Also Poor Decision Making That Accompanies It

In the 21st century the dangers of alcohol are well understood, if consumed heavily. Those who drink alcohol excessively are in danger not only from the alcohol, but, also poor decision making that accompanies it. There are not many things that humans consume that wear on the body like alcohol; coupled with poor eating habits, no exercise, and unsafe decision making, the disease of alcoholism is complex and composed of many factors. These factors can determine the rate of deterioration on the human body.

Findings from a recent study were published in the journal Addiction Research and Theory which researched the decision making process of heavy drinkers. 7,884 hospital patients in Oregon and Washington were used for the study, they found that people who had an average of three or more alcoholic drinks daily, had a much greater chance of: having poor eating habits, were less likely to see their doctors regularly, and would hardly ever wear their seat belt. Interestingly, the study found that heavy drinkers were less likely to think that they could change their own health behaviors and that literally the state of their health was out of their hands. Whereas, those who drink less and are considered to be moderate drinkers, were more likely to report good health than light drinkers, heavy drinkers, and abstainers.

Last Thursday, we discussed the potential health benefits of moderate drinking. It would seem like this study lends it support to the theory that moderate drinking can reduce your chances of cardiovascular problems like heart disease.

The fact is, alcohol is a symptom of the problem, what actually deteriorates the alcoholic is the disease itself. Alcohol itself has killed very few people, the disease of alcoholism has taken and will continue to take the life of countless people. That is why substance abuse treatment facilities are putting more emphasis on nutrition and physical exercise, to help re-teach sound health practices to the alcoholics who over many years have forgotten what a balanced diet actually is. "Physicians should not only be concerned about patients' heavy drinking, but also these other health-related practices," said study author Carla Green of the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.

Moderate Alcohol Consumption Reduces the Risk of Heart Disease

There has been a debate within the world of health over the benefits, if any, of drinking alcohol moderately. There have been several studies over the years that claimed small amounts of alcohol could decrease your chances of cardiovascular problems. Eight published studies regarding the subject, which involved more than 16,000 heart patients, concluded that there are good signs that moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of heart disease, by raising the level of "good" cholesterol. Kenneth J. Mukamal at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston led the research review.

The research group determined that people who drank alcohol moderately had a lower chance of dying from heart problems like stroke or disease; light drinkers risk was reduced by 31 percent, while moderate drinkers had any even lower risk at 38 percent. However, they are quick to point out that any drinking to the excess will cancel out the helping properties the alcohol may of had. Coupled with the review, there was another study done by Simona Costanzo of Catholic University in Campobasso, Italy. They determined, "Cardiovascular patients should be informed that low-to-moderate alcohol consumption (1 drink/day for women or up to 2 drinks/day for men) should not be harmful to their health". Costanzo's study echoed the American study regarding excessive drinking and it removing any chance of health benefits.

Alcohol is actually ethanol, which also powers things like automobiles; it is hard to see how ethanol, which is poisonous to the human body, could be good for you. What these studies fail to mention is the damage alcohol, even moderately consumed, is doing to other parts of your body. Maybe alcohol is good for your heart, but it is in no way good for your liver and even more importantly your brain. If doctors and scientist encourage people to drink in order to save their heart, we may have people start drinking who never should have been drinking in the first place, i.e. someone born with the disease of alcoholism, who cannot stop once they start. There is no question, at the end of the day it is probably safer to abstain from alcohol than it is trying to control it in order to save your heart.

Parents Have Started To Crack Down On Universities

Drinking on college campuses takes place every day, in the dorms or at house parties alcohol can be a regular part of collegiate life. Millions of young adults are unleashed upon the world and most parents are aware that their children will probably par take in some illicit activities at some point during their college years. The reality is that some students while partying will get caught, resulting in the campus administrators having to punish the students by making them attend a class or two about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. Punishment is not very harsh and there is probably no need for it to be. In the past, parents were rarely informed about their children's extracurricular activities.

Due to privacy laws, when speaking with parents, universities are really only allowed to talk about tuition unless the student is underage and received an infraction. Interestingly enough, schools have had this authority for more than a decade and rarely exercised it unless there were multiple offenses or drugs were involved. It seems pretty clear that campus authorities worry a lot less about alcohol than they do drugs. College drinking is on the rise according to researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism most recent figures. Between 1998 and 2005, the report showed increased binge drinking, drunk driving, and alcohol-related deaths.

Parents have started to crack down on universities, demanding to know when their child has been drinking so that signs can be spotted before things get out of hand. "This semester, Virginia Tech joined a growing list of colleges that notify parents every time a student younger than 21 is caught drinking, drunk or in possession of alcohol. George Washington University also tightened its notification policy last year after a student died of alcohol poisoning", according to the Washington Post. A college campus can be the perfect environment for unknown addictions to spread their wings if they go unchecked, the need for universities to communicate with parents is crucial. Campuses work hard to curb drinking but their programs are relatively ineffective.

The vice president for student affairs at Virginia Tech, Edward Spencer made a valid point: "Students are more concerned about their parents being notified than they are of the legal consequences". Parents are concerned and they have a right to be, students may be adults, but, it's usually parents paying the tuition. Parents can help colleges with their anti-drinking campaigns; parents can have a huge effect on the habits of their children.

Campus Drinking Is A Growing Concern

Every year campus drinking is a growing concern, universities and colleges across the nation battle alcohol and underage drinking. Incidents that occur on campus are likely to have involved alcohol. A study released last year by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism found that there were 1,825 alcohol-related deaths among 18- to 24-year-old students in 2005; the statistic consists of not just the rare but widely reported alcohol-poisoning deaths tied to parties and hazing, the majority of deaths are a result of drunk driving and falls where the head is injured. Stanford feels like the system they have in place to combat underage drinking works, despite new laws in Santa Clara County. The new ordinance allows the police more ease when citing people hosting parties where underage drinking takes place. Fines will be imposed up to $1,000 and anytime the police are called in will add to the cost. Jean McCown, Stanford's Director of Community Relations said to the SF Chronicle, "We already have a significant commitment to curbing underage drinking and require that on-campus parties be registered, we were concerned that the county rules would send those parties underground and out of sight".

The majority of Stanford's students, around 95 percent of the 6,600 undergraduates, are younger than 21. Naturally, many of those students live on campus in university-owned housing. Stanford is the landlord and they would be considered liable if the police show up to houses with underage drinking. Stanford is not a well known drinking campus and has never had incidence of alcohol poisoning that resulted in death, but, drinking is still an active past time and students are still cited every weekend on campus.

Stanford was given a stay on the ordinance which was passed last year, after presenting their program to the Board of Supervisors. The 12 month stay gave Stanford a chance to prove that a permanent exemption was warranted. "We already had a program on board that our students understand and believe in", said Ralph Castro, director of the university's Substance Abuse Prevention Project. Despite their "successful" program, Stanford had no choice but to tighten its alcohol policies on campus for 2010.

Telltale Symptoms of Alcohol Addiction

How do you tell if you or someone you know is abusing alcohol? In many cases an alcoholic knows that there is something wrong without being told that they are an alcoholic. There are many alcoholics that are high functioning, they have jobs, families, and are able to appear like nothing is wrong. It can be hard at times to see patterns of unmanageability in one's life which can allow the disease of addiction to go on unchecked. In most cases, it is only a matter of time before one's disease catches up with them; hopefully they can realize they have a problem before the trail of damage becomes too long. The National Institute of Health has designed questions to identify symptoms of alcohol abuse and dependence; the NIH created a questionnaire that may help a person determine whether of not he/she has a problem. According to the NIH, if you answer yes to one question it could mean that someone is abusing alcohol, answering yes to three or more could suggest alcohol dependence or alcoholism.

The Questionnaire created by the National Institute of Health is short and easy to take. We encourage anyone who is unsure about themselves or someone they know to answer these questions. It could potentially help determine whether or not help is needed. The quicker a problem is identified, the sooner a life could be potentially saved. The questions below are telltale symptoms of alcohol addiction.

In the past year, have you:

Had times when you ended up drinking more than you intended?

More than once wanted to cut down or stop drinking, but couldn't?

More than once gotten into situations while or after drinking that increased your chances of getting hurt -- such as driving or having unsafe sex?

Had to drink much more than you once did to get the effect you want or found that your usual number of drinks had much less effect than before?

Continued to drink even though it was making you feel depressed or anxious or adding to another health problem, or after having had a memory blackout?

Spent a lot of time drinking or getting over the aftereffects of drinking?

Continued to drink even though it was causing trouble with your family or friends?

Found that drinking -- or being sick from drinking -- often interfered with taking care of your home or family, or caused job troubles or school problems?

Given up or cut back on activities that were important or interesting to you in order to drink?

More than once gotten arrested or had other legal problems because of your drinking?

Found that when the effects of alcohol were wearing off, you had withdrawal symptoms, such as trouble sleeping, shakiness, restlessness, nausea, sweating, a racing heart or a seizure?

(Source: National Institutes of Health. Questions are based on symptoms for alcohol use disorders in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition.)

If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, then you should discuss this with your doctor.

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince Depicts How Drinking Alcohol...

The new Harry Potter has some people frenzied about excessive drinking throughout the movie. It has some people wondering if there is too much alcohol and if it is sending the right message. Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince depicts how drinking alcohol will calm ones nerves and give one the courage needed to take on challenges. Social norms come in question about what is acceptable in children's movies, and how to appropriately talk to children about how they are interpreting the messages.

In England, the legal drinking age is 18, but, one can order drinks with food at the age of 16; Harry Potter and his classmates are 16 in The Half-Blood Prince. The complaints on this subject are coming from Americans who have taken their kids to see this movie and then watched 16 year old teenagers constantly drinking mead with their friends and professors. Then, after the movie having to explain to their children that alcohol is not a healthy coping mechanism.

This segment of the Harry Potter story is about coming of age, teenagers drinking alcohol is a part of the real world. It is easy to side with the author's point of view that if we shelter our kids from alcohol we may be doing them a disservice; parents need to talk to their kids about drinking and this movie gives them the ability to open up the conversation. On top of that, Harry Potter is not just for children for the fact that it is a story that people of all ages can relate to.

Many people would like to hold the media and Hollywood responsible for underage drinking and drug use. They believe that if a child sees something they will try to imitate that behavior, especially if it is a person that has become a role model in the child's life. When it comes down to it, children will make poor decisions if they are not properly educated about drugs and alcohol; furthermore, differentiating between fiction and reality is also very important. If children are properly equipped, then it shouldn't matter if they see teenagers drinking in movies or not. There are statistics that show that exposure to drinking in movies may cause people to start drinking at a younger age and there may be some truth to that. However, it is what happens outside of the movie theater that will determine whether or not the child will act on what they see or not.

This argument is not new, people have always found a way to tear apart great movies based on what their kids are exposed to. I am not sure how seeing teenagers drink to cope with anxiety or stress is any worse than a teenager seeing their parents drink after work to unwind? Teenagers and children are constantly barraged with messages both inside and out of the theaters that it is alright to drink; but it is the outside that is more important because that is where the action takes place. More education is the only way to keep our youth informed about alcohol and the damage that it can do if you don't understand it.