Alcohol and Alcoholism

Sophomore HealthPaul G. Blazer Senior High School

By Mr. AJ “Doc” Stadelmeyer MA, ATC

Alcohol Statistics

• Every year alcohol is a factor in:• 50% of all suicides, 70% of all murders, 50% of

all arrests, 50% of all fatal car crashes involving young people, 50% of all drownings, 45% of all cases of domestic violence.

• Almost 50,000 teens die every year in alcohol related crashes.

• Costs business and industry over 100 billion dollars per year.

Short Term Physical Alcohol Problems

• Digestive problems, respiratory arrest, headaches, sudden death from alcohol poisoning, impaired motor skills, slurred speech, dulled taste and hearing, vomiting, nausea, hangover, dehydration, impaired vision, slowed reaction times, impaired coordination, throat irritation, decreased sexual function, increased risk for HIV and STD’s, blackouts.

Short Term Emotional Alcohol Problems

• Problems with family, friends,and relationships, depression, suicide, increased stress, decreased self esteem, memory problems, anger, uncontrolled laughter, mood swings, emotional outbursts, hyperactivity, apathy.

Short Term Behavioral Alcohol Problems

• Fights, vandalism, risk taking behavior, legal problems, murder, rape, date rape, drowning, physical abuse, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse.

Short Term Academic Alcohol Problems

• Hurts classroom performance if you are drunk or hung over, school behavior problems, absenteeism, tardies to school and class, classroom disruptions, AER, suspensions, failing grades.

Short Term Legal Alcohol Problems

• It is illegal to buy, attempt to buy, possess, or use alcohol under the age of 21 any where in the United States, drunk driving accidents, arrests, probation, juvenile arrests and lock ups, committing crimes while intoxicated, committing violent acts while intoxicated.

Short Term Sexual Alcohol Problems

• Poor sexual performance, unprotected sex, unplanned sex, getting pregnant or getting some one pregnant, spreading or acquiring STD’s, HIV and AIDS, date rape, acquaintance rape, date violence, hurt feelings, damaged relationships.

Alcohol Fact

• Alcohol related automobile accidents are one of the leading causes of death and injury to teenagers. Teens involved in alcohol related accidents face severe criminal, civil and financial problems as a result of their accident. If they kill or injure someone else, they have to deal with the guilt form the the rest of their lives.

Alcohol Fact

• It takes 1 to 2 years of regular drinking by a teenager for alcoholism to develop. Alcoholism is the physical and psychological addiction to alcohol.

Alcohol The Drug

• Drinking alcohol is called ethyl alcohol.

• Proof is the concentration or percent of alcohol in a beverage. 100 proof = 50% alcohol, 200 proof = 100% alcohol, 80 proof = n40% alcohol, 20 proof = 10% alcohol.

• Pure ethyl alcohol is 200 proof.

Alcohol The Drug

• Alcoholic beverages are part alcohol and part other substances, such as water, flavoring, fruit juices, coloring, preservatives.

• Equivalence: a typical serving of alcohol. 12 ounces of beer = ½ a wine cooler = 4 to 5 ounces of wine = 1 shot of whisky. All are equal to each other in alcohol content.

How Is Alcohol Made

• Fermentation: fruits or grains are allowed to sit a ferment (rot). One of the by products of fermentation is alcohol.

• Distillation: the fermented mixtures are heated up, and the vapors that evaporate from them are collected and condensed into alcohol.

• Then they add the other ingredients to make the beverage they are producing.

Alcohol and Nutrition

• There are 210 calories in one pure ounce of alcohol.

• There are 150 – 300 calories in one 12 ounce can/bottle of beer.

• There are 100 – 150 calories in 12 ounces of “light” beer.

• There are 200 – 500 calories in one wine cooler.• There are 75 calories in one ounce of whiskey.

Alcohol and Nutrition

• Calories from alcohol are essentially “empty calories” because alcohol contains no vitamins, minerals, or essential nutrients. It has little or no nutritional value, but it has a lot of calories.