| FruinnaFriect |
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December-01-2012
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Many people consider alcohol as a social drink because its associated with parties, relaxation and adventures. Since the dawn of civilization, mankind has been aware of the benefits and harms of alcohol. Today, for some alcohol is part of an everyday complete meal. Because evidence has proven alcohol a health benefactor when consumed moderately, some people tend to consume more than their body needs, which turns it into an insidious substance. While the health benefits of alcohol are being promoted since it prevents coronary heart disease and stimulates the circulatory system when consumed moderately, those benefits should not be encouraged because not only does alcohol increase the risk factors of many internal organs, it aggravates many environmental problems.
Alcohol consumption has been part of many cultures. Before the European colonization, the native population of the territory that would eventually become the United States used to produce weak beers or other fermented. In the past, alcohol was used as a trading medium, often bartered for highly sought-after animal skins and other natural resources such as indigo. During the colonial era, however, not only was alcohol used for medicinal purposes, it was also employed for religious ceremonies. For example, until the twentieth century, alcohol was the only painkiller generally available in western civilizations. In addition, alcohol was applied to help people recover their health and to reduce the risk of certain diseases including flu. Furthermore, liquor was associated with transcendental experiences and other cultural rituals that were purported to put people in contact with supernatural forces.
The peyote ritual is a prime example of these ceremonies. Peyote ritual is a sacrament intended to put one in communication with spiritual forces to instill harmony in ones life. The ritual follows a prescribed structure: it is composed of a leader called a Roadman who makes certain rules and regulations that are to be precisely followed. Finally, the Roadman uses a variety of sensory stimuli <including> cedar smoke and sprinkled water to prevent participants from drifting off into a disconnected state of conscientiousness. In fact, the peyote ritual is often used within Indian communities for the treatment of alcohol abuse.
Moderate <a href=http://leczenie-duszy.pl/leczenie-uzaleznien-skuteczne.html>leczenie uzależnień</a> consumption of alcohol lowers the risks for coronary heart disease. According to the United States Department of Agriculture and Human Services, moderate consumption is defined as no more than two drinks per day for men and no more than one drink per day for women. Ideally, a drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 4 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits. In order for the cardio-vascular system to function properly, the tissue that constitutes the bulk of the heart requires frequent supplies of oxygen containing blood, which is delivered to the heart through the arteries. Cholesterol and other fatty substances can accumulate within the coronary arteries and ultimately block the flow of blood. Normally, this blood clotting condition is known as a CHD (coronary heart disease) attack. Alcohol plays a momentous role in facilitating the circulation of blood throughout the body. For example, alcohol prevents the formation of blood clots. In addition to cholesterol and other fatty substances impeding blood circulation, clotting also occurs from chemicals released into the blood through the arterial wall. Moreover, alcohol not only suppresses fibrin, the substance that promotes clotting, it produces certain substances that preclude the clotting process. Alcohol basically prevents the risk of CHD by eliminating most of the contributing factors.
In addition, alcohol consumption might play an important role in stimulating the cardio-vascular system. For example, laboratory research has demonstrated alcohols usage as a positive factor in preventing arterial narrowing in mice. Arterial narrowing in the human body occurs in the blood concentration of certain fatty substances that influence the deposition of cholesterol within the coronary arteries. In addition, alcohol may prevent the formation of clots within already narrowed arteries. For instance, analyses of blood samples of many individuals indicate that alcohol consumption increases blood levels of anti-clotting factors and decreases the stickiness of the platelets, the specialized blood cells that clump together to form clots. Other laboratory research suggests that alcohol might help protect against reperfusion injury, which is a form of blood flow to heart muscles weakened by lack of oxygen. Alcohol can be considered something of paramount importance since it enhances the cardio-vascular system.
In contrast, alcohol consumption has detrimental effects. It impairs bone development. To begin with, alcohol has some harmful effects on the two types of bone the human skeleton encompasses: cortical bone, which is dense and thick, forms the outer layer of bone and the shafts of the long bones of the arms and legs and cancellous bone, which is a porous meshwork of thin plates <which>shape the vertebral column]. Alcohol is harmful for both types of bone although the most crucial effects occur in cancellous bone. Medically speaking, the process of skeletal growth and maturation involves three general phases: growth and modeling, consolidation and remodeling. Heavy alcohol consumption interferes with the growth-and-modeling phase by stopping the longitudinal growth rate and the rate of proliferation of bone. Moreover, usage of alcoholic beverages affects parathyroid, the hormone that regulates the calcium metabolism.
Overindulgence of alcohol causes adverse effects, particularly on women. For example, alcohol might indirectly affect bone through estrogen since the deficiency of such a hormone is a major contributing factor of osteoporosis. Over the last decade, many studies have shown an obtrusive relationship between the consumption of alcohol and bone loss. Specifically, a 1997 study conducted by a group of researchers showed that women aged sixty-five and older who were heavy alcohol consumers had an increased risk of vertebral deformity compared to moderate alcohol drinkers. Another study investigated the influence of moderate alcohol consumption on ovariectomized rats to imitate menopause. Subsequently, the rats that had their ovaries removed for the experimentation exhibited a diminished bone density and volume compared to nonovariectomized rats. Because fewer osteoblasts are found in the alcohol-fed animals, this finding leads to the conclusion that moderate alcohol consumption has no absolute health benefits since it inhibits bone quality.
Heavy alcohol <a href=http://leczenie-duszy.pl/leczenie-alkoholizmu.html>leczenie alkoholizmu</a> consumption may lead to the necessity of liver transplantation. Because the liver is the largest organ in the body, it performs a variety on tasks, namely digesting, absorbing, and processing food. Moreover, the liver stores vitamins, synthesizes cholesterol, controls blood fluidity and regulates blood-clotting mechanisms. A liver disease is one of the most serious medical consequences of long-term alcohol consumption. In 1991, 25,000 Americans died mainly from liver cirrhosis, making it the elevenths nation leading killer. Another study demonstrates approximately one half of cirrhosis deaths have been ascribed to alcohol usage. Moreover, long-term alcohol consumption is the most prevalent single cause of illness and death from liver disease in the United States since the only possible cure is a liver-transplantation, which is a risky undertaking. In addition, the liver is so fragile that a single occurrence of heavy drinking is enough to dispose fat in the liver and may lead to alcoholic hepatitis, a severe inflammation of the liver characterized by nausea, weakness, pain, loss of appetite, weight loss and fever. Finally, alcoholic cirrhosis is the most advanced form of liver injury. The disease is characterized by progressive development of scar tissue that blocks the blood vessels and distorts the livers internal structure, impairing the liver's function. Basically, liver disease compromises the body’s ability to perform multiple functions essential to life.
Furthermore, <a href=http://leczenie-duszy.pl/>alkoholizm</a> alcohol consumption can damage the nervous system. Because alcohol is a toxic substance, it can cause alcoholic and chronic drinkers to suffer from abnormalities in their mental functioning and changes in behaviors associated with brain impairment. Alcohol consumption can have direct or indirect effects in the neurological system, which makes it even more dangerous to consume casually or regularly. Over the past twenty-five years, images of the brain created with modern neurological techniques, such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computer Tormography (CT), generally show a <clear> relationship between prolonged alcohol consumption and changes in the brains structure. For example, MRI and CT results have shown brain shrinkage and brain lesions or tissue damage in some alcohol consumers.
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