Some people like it, some people love it and for others life simply isn't worth living if they can't have it. But do you know all the facts about alcohol and its effects on the body?
Alcohol, at best, amounts to being no more than a socially acceptable drug. It has the ability to alter our mood within minutes of consumption.
Realising the myriad of side-effects of short and long-term consumption does little to tarnish this popular leisure pastime.
The alcohol found in alcoholic beverages is ethyl alcohol (ethanol). The molecular structure of ethanol looks like this:
H
H3 C C O H
H
You will not find pure alcohol in most drinks; a few ounces of pure alcohol can quickly raise the blood alcohol concentration/level (BAC/BAL) and cause death.
Ethanol concentration by volume
Beer 4-6%
Wine 7-15%
Champagne 8-14%
Distilled spirits (eg rum, whisky, vodka, gin) 40-95%
- Alcohol affects every organ of the body
- No body cell is resistant to alcohol
- The rate of processing alcohol is unique to each individual
|
Interesting facts
Hangovers are caused mainly by withdrawal and dehydration (alcohol dehydrates the body). Drinking water (at least a pint) can go a long way to alleviating this.
The phrase "the DT's" (shakes) is derived from the words delirium tremens.
One unit of alcohol is 8 grammes of pure alcohol. Most drinks state the ABV (alcohol by volume) on the container from which you can calculate the units:
units = amount of liquid in mls (volume) x %ABV
1000
Alcohol consumption in the UK has risen substantially since the 1950's due to factors including drinking wine with meals, beverages easily available from a greatly increased number of outlets, and in relation to consumer purchasing power, alcohol is much cheaper than it was previously.
This has led to far more alcohol-related problems of both a social and physical nature. Nearly 3 in 10 men and 1 in 6 women are thought to exceed recommended drinking levels.
Alcohol misuse is thought to cost £2.7bn a year, of which £164m falls on the NHS.
Up to 15m working days a year are lost through alcohol-related illness.
A 1996 UK health survey found that of the 8 million or so people exceeding the "sensible limits", around 1,700,00 were drinking at "definitely harmful" levels of more than 50 units a week for men and more than 35 units a week for women.
In 1993 a health survey for England classified 9% of men and 5% of women as "problem drinkers", on the basis that they reported two or more problems related to psychological or physical dependence.
On the basis of these surveys, at any one time there are probably around 2 million people in Britain experiencing symptoms of alcohol dependence.
Written by Jeni Cadman.
19/05/2009