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Alcohol
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Introduction
What does it do?
How will it affect me?
How strong is it?
Alcohol and your health
How alcohol affects your body
Drinking problems
Is it legal?
Drinking and driving
 Introduction
Hey, welcome to 11up Alcohol section. We have information on the effects of alcohol and what it does to you, strengths of different drinks. How alcohol affects your health and body. Drinking problems – such as binge drinking. Alcohol and the Law and drinking and driving.
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What does it do?
When you drink alcohol it goes to your stomach.
Within minutes of reaching the stomach, alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream and travels around the body to the brain.
Alcohol is a depressant. This means it slows down the way your brain and body works. It affects the way you think and what you do.
Ways it can affects you: -
You get a hangover - your head pounds and you feel sick, dizzy and tired.
- It can make you unconscious
- It can make you do something you regret
- It can make you violent and argumentative
- It can make you sick (which you could easily choke on if you are drunk)
- It can make it hard for you to concentrate on what's happening
- It can make you dizzy and light-headed
- It can make you giggly
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How will it affect me?
Alcohol affects people differently. Here are some examples of factors that make a difference: -
Age
- Younger people react differently from adults to alcohol. With less alcohol they may develop low blood sugar, breathing difficulties, fits and go into coma.
It will take less alcohol to kill a young person than an adult.
Food
- Eating before you start drinking can slow down the rate alcohol is absorbed.
Size & Weight
- Smaller, lighter people are more affected because the alcohol is concentrated into smaller bodies
How regularly you drink
- If you drink regularly you may become more used to the effects of drinking, but the damage done to the body is the same
Mood
- If you already feel bad, drinking can make you feel worse. If you feel angry, you may become aggressive
Whether you are taking other medication or drugs
- Alcohol can stop some medicines working or change the way they affect you. Alcohol with other drugs can be risky, the effects depends on what you mix it with.
What you drink
- Fizzy alcoholic drinks get into your bloodstream faster
How much you've had
- How much you've had - the more you drink, the more you'll be affected by alcohol
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How strong is it?
Different alcoholic drinks have different strengths. A half pint of beer has a lot less alcohol than a half pint of vodka. All alcoholic drinks contain a substance in it called ethanol (pure alcohol). The strength of an alcoholic drink depends on the amount of ethanol it contains.
Bottles and cans containing alcoholic drinks have to show how much alcohol they contain by law. This is known as the percentage alcohol by volume (% abv). The higher the number the stronger the drink so a bottle of wine will have a lower % abv than a bottle of whiskey.
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Alcohol and your health
Alcopops (330ml bottle) 2 units most contain 1 - 2 units
Glass of wine 2 units most one unit but it could easily be two if it is stronger (above 7% abv) or a big glass.
Extra Strength Cider/Beer 4 units
Vodka & Coke 1 unit single 2 units double
Here are some examples of how many units can damage your health: -
Man - 1, 2 or 3 units not much damage but only if not every day.
- 4 units or more, risks damage to health if 4 or more units a day
Woman - 1 or 2 units not much damage but only if not every day.
- 3 units, if more than 3 units they risk damage
- 4 units, can damage health
Under 18's -1, 2, or 3 units, we only know what level is safe for adults. We don't know for sure how much young people can drink without harming their health. We know it's less than adults
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How alcohol affects your body
Drinking too much over a long period of time is bad for your health. Alcohol can harm almost every part of the body.
Here are examples of the damage done: -
- Brain damage
- Cancer of the mouth, voice box, pharynx and oesophagus
- High blood pressure, which is a big risk factor for heart diseases and strokes
- Breast cancer
- The liver cleans alcohol from the body - but too much alcohol causes fatty deposits in the liver, hepatitis and cirrhosis which can cause death. Also an increased risk of liver cancer
- Inflamed stomach (gastritis) which can prevent food being absorbed properly. Increased risk of cancer
- Pancreas (which makes insulin and enzymes used for digestion) becomes inflamed. This is very painful, causes vomiting and can lead to death
- Damages the developing fetus in a pregnant woman
- Damages nerves causing pain and numbness
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Binge drinking
Binge drinking is when you drink a lot in one go. It is very risky because too much alcohol can cause you to become unconscious or get alcohol poisoning. This is much more likely to happen in young people than adults. It's also easy to have an accident or do something really stupid when you get that drunk.
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Drinking Problems
Some people regularly drink too much or are unable to stop drinking. This can cause problems for them or for other people.
You may be worried about somebody's drinking habits. Perhaps they may:
- Be drunk when they are needed to do something important
- Take time off work or school because they have a hangover
- Have accidents because of the alcohol
- Get into arguments or fights or do things they regret
- Get annoyed when people talk to them about their drinking.
It can be really hard if someone you care about is drinking heavily. They may need some help and so might their family or friends if they have been affected by the drinking.
Try talking to them when they are sober or talk to someone else you trust about your concerns.
LINKS
Al-Anon Family Groups UK
Tel: 020 7403 0888 between 10am and 10pm.
Al-Anon is for relatives and friends of problem drinkers. Al-Ateen is especially for teenagers who have a parent or other close relative with a drink problem. Local groups meet to share experiences and learn how to cope.
The National Association for Children of Alcoholics (NACOA)
Tel: 0117 924 8005 and Freephone 0800 3583456 (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm)
www.nacoa.org.uk
NACOA offers advice, information and fellowship to the children of problem drinkers.
Prevention of Cruelty To Children (NSPCC)
Helpline: 0808 800 5000 (Freephone) 24 hours a day
Textphone (for those with hearing difficulties)
0800 056 0566 (Freephone)
www.nspcc.org.uk
The NSPCC Child Protection Helpline is a free, 24-hour service that provides counselling, information and advice for children and young people
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Is it Legal?
Under 5's - It is illegal to drink alcohol except under medical supervision in an emergency
5's to 14's - Not allowed into a pub or bar unless he/she has a children's certificate, and then you can only go to set-aside places. You cannot buy alcohol anywhere.
14's and 15's - You can go anywhere in a pub but not buy or drink alcohol anywhere
16's and 17's - You can buy and drink beer or cider with a meal in an eating area of a pub. You cannot buy alcohol anywhere apart from this
18's and over - You can buy alcohol anywhere
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Drinking and Driving
Even drinking a small amount of alcohol increases the chances of having a car or motorcycle crash. More than ten people die due to drink-driving each week. There is a legal amount of alcohol you can have in your body while driving
But this can't be measured in how many units a person has drunk because people's bodies deal with alcohol at different rates. To be on the safe side, people who plan to drive should not drink any alcohol.
Pedestrians and people who ride their bikes after they have been drinking can also cause accidents. Thirty nine per cent of pedestrians who were killed in traffic accidents had drunk more than the legal limit for driving.
Why does drinking lead to accidents?
Alcohol is a depressant so it slows down the brain and body's reactions. It can alter our balance and the way we see things.
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