Alcohol

Alcohol has become an acceptable accompaniment for centuries now. Drinking alcohol has become a big part of many people's social life and we can find alcohol at such places like parties, ceremonies, dinners, sport contests, and even at the signing of treaties between nations. So what is alcohol? Alcohol is a depressant drug that affects the brain and slows down the central nervous system activity; it's known to have some kind of addictive properties. Alcohol is not just a part of parties and dinners but it has been used for medical reasons such as mild sedatives and as a painkiller for surgery.

According to a research done by NSDUH in 2002, more than 120 million people 12 years and older use alcohol; about 54 million people participated in binge drinking; about 16 million people were heavy drinkers; and 1 out of every 7 drinkers drove under the influence of alcohol.

We were taught that a moderate consumption of alcohol was good for your health but if one cannot control its behavior then it might be a better idea for that person to take a small dose of aspirin daily or eat small amount of nuts daily for an alternate way to consume the same benefits from alcohol.

What are the effects of alcohol? Well, alcohol is not for everyone and not everyone enjoys drinking alcohol. One of the biggest effects of alcohol is a disease called alcoholism. Alcoholism is a disease in which an individual loses control over drinking alcoholic beverages. Most people think they are in control of their drinking habits but they don't realize their problem until they become addicted to alcohol and they become totally dependent both emotionally and physically on alcohol. Other effects of alcohol include impeded peripheral vision, decreased visual and hearing acuity, slower reaction time, impaired concentration and motor performance, impaired judgment of distance and speed of moving objects. Those were just short-term effects of alcohol and these are the long-term effects of alcohol,