Alcohol has been advertised widely in our sporting arenas. It is associated with success, competition and manhood. But is this right?
What are the effects of alcohol?
Alcohol and cancer risk
The following article is taken from the Cancer Council of Victoria.
A large body of evidence consistently shows that consumption of alcohol is a risk factor for cancer. Drinking alcohol increases the risk of mouth & throat cancer (larynx and pharynx), oesophageal cancer, bowel cancer (colon and rectum), liver cancer and female breast cancer.
It's not just heavy drinking - even small amounts of alcohol increases risk, but the more you drink, the greater the risk.
Despite some evidence that drinking regular, small amounts of alcohol (e.g. red wine) may reduce heart disease in older adults, there's no evidence that alcohol helps protect you from any type of cancer.
Your risk of cancer is the same for all types of alcohol including beer, wine and spirits.
How much should I drink?
To reduce the risk of cancer, you should limit your intake of alcohol or, better still, avoid it all together.
From the Cancer Council Victoria
Australians and alcohol
Most Australians have tried alcohol at some time in their lives. People use alcohol for a wide range of reasons and in different social and cultural contexts. They may drink for sociability, cultural participation, religious observance or as a result of peer influence. They may also drink for pleasure, relaxation, mood alteration, enhanced creativity, intoxication, addiction, boredom, habit, to overcome inhibitions, to escape or forget or to ‘drown sorrows’.
Most Australians who drink alcohol do so at levels that have few adverse effects. However, any level of drinking increases the risk of ill-health and injury.
Alcohol has become much more readily available and cheaper over recent times in Australia.
The mean volume of alcohol consumed has remained relatively stable since 1991, but there have been important changes in the patterns of consumption. Preferences in beverage type have shifted towards spirits and pre-mixed drinks, especially among younger drinkers, and there is an increased level of informality in drinking styles, such as drinking directly from the container.
Effects of alcohol on the body
Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. The most obvious and immediate effects of alcohol are on the brain, beginning with feelings of relaxation, wellbeing and loss of inhibitions. However, as the intake of alcohol increases, these effects are counterbalanced by less pleasant effects, such as drowsiness, loss of balance, nausea and vomiting. Higher alcohol intakes can lead to life-threatening events such as unconsciousness and, eventually, inhibition of normal breathing. This may be fatal, particularly as the person may vomit and can suffocate if the vomit is inhaled.
Consumption of alcohol has both immediate and cumulative effects. Alcohol-related harm in individuals arises not only from the quantity of alcohol consumed but also from a complex interaction between their sex, body size and composition, age, experience of drinking, genetics, nutrition, individual metabolism, and social factors.
Cumulative effects
Alcohol consumption has been associated with a range of diseases that may cause death and adverse effects that reduce quality of life. Among these are:
- Cardiovascular disease — high blood pressure, arrhythmias, shortness of breath, some types of cardiac failure, hemorrhagic stroke and other circulatory problems.
- Cancers — alcohol is carcinogenic to humans, being causally related to cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, oesophagus, liver, colorectum and female breast.
- Diabetes — the relationship between alcohol consumption, insulin sensitivity, and type 2 diabetes mellitus is not clear. However, alcohol affects the management of diabetes in a number of ways.
- Nutrition-related conditions — alcohol consumption is linked to malnutrition, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, folate deficiency, Vitamin A depletion and pellagra.
- Overweight and obesity — alcohol adds kilojoules to the normal diet and may increase energy intake and fat storage further by increasing appetite and displacing fat and carbohydrate oxidation.
- Risks to unborn babies — alcohol enters the bloodstream of the fetus when the mother drinks and can cause a range of birth defects and growth and developmental problems, comprising Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), which may persist into adulthood. Alcohol also enters the breast milk.
- Liver diseases — alcohol consumption is the most common cause of cirrhosis of the liver, and drinking alcohol over many years can cause cirrhosis in the absence of other causes.
- Mental health conditions — there is growing evidence that alcohol increases the risk of highly prevalent mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety in some people, and may affect the efficacy of antidepressant medication.
- Tolerance — the immediate effects of alcohol on the brain are often less apparent in people who drink regularly, as they acquire a degree of tolerance. Despite this tolerance, the long-term effects remain damaging, particularly as the drinkers who have greater tolerance for alcohol are likely to be those who experience higher blood alcohol levels more frequently.
- Dependence — alcohol is an addictive drug and regular use can result in alcohol dependence.
- Long-term cognitive impairment — drinkers who consume alcohol at harmful levels exhibit negative structural and metabolic brain changes, and have an increased risk of dementia.
- Self-harm — harmful drinking is a major risk factor for suicide and suicidal behaviour in both males and females across the lifespan.
Burden of alcohol related disease and injury to our society and health system.
- Alcohol is second only to tobacco as a preventable cause of drug-related death and hospitalisation
- between 1992 and 2001, more than 31,000 deaths were attributed to risky or high-risk alcohol consumption
- in the eight years between 1993–94 and 2000–01, over half a million completed hospital episodes were associated with alcohol
- While the number of emergency department presentations caused by alcohol is unknown, it is likely to account for a large proportion of all presentations
- Alcohol accounts for 13 per cent of all deaths among 14–17-year-old Australians — it has been estimated that one Australian teenager dies and more than 60 are hospitalised each week from alcohol-related causes
- Alcohol is also a significant contributor to premature death and hospitalisation among older Australians — among 65-74-year-olds, almost 600 die every year from injury and disease caused by drinking.
The effects of alcohol consumption go beyond diseases, accidents and injuries to a range of adverse social consequences, both for the drinker and for others in the community. These consequences include harm to family members (including children) and to friends and workmates, as well as to bystanders and strangers.
Concerns to the community that are associated with alcohol use include noise, litter, offensive behaviour, vandalism, aggression, petty crime, assault and road safety issues. Many of these social consequences can result in affront, violence or injury to others.
Alcohol is significantly associated with crime, with studies suggesting that alcohol is involved in up to half of all violent crimes (including domestic violence) and a lesser but substantial proportion of other crimes. Such is the problem is some countries that advertising against domestic violence is necessary, as shown on the right.
It has been estimated that alcohol cost the Australian community about $15.3 billion in 2004–05, when factors such as crime and violence, treatment costs, loss of productivity and premature death were taken into account.
One standard drink contains of ethanol.
The body removes the alcohol form one standard drink every
Alcohol is a central nervous system
Alcohol is a
Alcohol first enters the body orally and starts to be absorbed in the
Alcohol makes us feel dizzy and changes our state of mind by acting to interfere
Alcohol can damage parts of the brain one of which is the hippocampus which can cause
Which one of the following is not caused by alcohol