JUST SAY NO
By Eric Holt
Definition:
depressant - a drug that when used will make you feel good at first, but then put you in a slump later
alcohol - a drink/drug that acts as a depressant
Summary:
Throughout all human history there has been alcohol. Sadly it is only recently that humans have realized the full effects of this drug. Obviously having one or two drinks once your an adult is not a problem, but when you have about 5 or more things get serious. Drinking to much alcohol can lead to both short term and long term affects. A short term affect would be a hangover or passing out, both bad. However, the long term affects are much worse. The liver gets affected by this most of all. The livers job is to get rid of all poison in the blood stream, alcohol being one of them. However, the liver can only get rid out a small amount at a time, so when large amounts are consumed it takes a long time to get out of your blood system. A healthy liver can handle about 1 drink every half an hour. When you exceed this limit is when the liver starts becoming diseased. Some signs of liver problems are if it enlarges, but this is more of a sign to say stop for a while. If these habits continue then people may get alcoholic hepatitis, were most of their liver cells have died off. This causes major problems such as constant fevers, and belly pains. That isn't even the worst. If continued after this the entire liver will become useless permanently. This will lead to poison being able to go about your body anywhere. This could lead to people forgetting their family, friends, etc. almost like a mental illness. Also, as blood flow is slowed down in the liver it can cause death. It causes death by making the esophagus to bleed. If not worked on immediately people will die from this. Unless everyone wants to die a painful bleeding death then they should learn about alcohol and its problems.
Why: I chose this article because I am concerned about alcohol and how people handle it. I believe the world will be safer if people know more about the drug. Right now people drink freely, but once they learn the fatal affects their minds will change.
Questions:
How many people die from alcohol reasons per year?
How many drinks should people be allowed to have every day?
How well does rehab help alcoholics?
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