Alcohol - the facts
alcohol; drive; drinking; drunk; binge; driving; hangover; dependence; withdrawal; tolerance; standard; party; spirits; wine; beer; soft; drink; liqueur; alcopops; soda; pregnancy; drug; drugs;
Contents
What is alcohol?
There are different kinds of alcohol. The one that people drink is called ethyl alcohol. It is made by fermenting different ingredients. Fermenting is when yeast acts on the sugar in these ingredients and creates alcohol.
Here are some of the key ingredients for fermentation, and the alcoholic drinks they make:
- grain for whisky and beer
- potatoes for vodka
- grapes for wine and brandy
- apples for cider
- honey for mead
- sugar for rum.
What are standard drinks?
- A standard drink has about 10 grams of pure alcohol in it.
- Some examples of a standard drink are:
- a nip of spirits (30 ml)
- 100 ml or a small glass of wine (12% alcohol/volume)
- 285 ml of regular beer
- 425 ml of light beer
- 60 ml of fortified wine (eg. port)
- A 750 ml bottle of wine at 12% alcohol contains about 7 standard drinks (alcohol levels in wine vary a bit, so check the label).
- A 750 ml bottle of spirits contains about 24 standard drinks.
- A bottle of alcoholic soft drink is about 1½ standard drinks.
- A can of mixed alcohol and soft drink is nearly 2 standard drinks.
Alcoholic soda drinks
- Recent research in Australia has shown that alcoholic soda drinks (also known as ‘alcopops’) are the most popular alcoholic drinks among young people, with 75% of young people between 12 and 21 years saying that they have drunk at least one a week.
- These drinks are especially popular among girls.
- The same survey indicated that about a third of the young people drinking these drinks get drunk (binge drinking) at least once a month - more than young people who drink other types of alcoholic drinks.
- These drinks may seem like soft drinks, but they have about 5% alcohol, more than most full strength beers.
What happens to alcohol in the body?
Alcohol is absorbed through the walls of the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream where is it carried to the rest of the body, including the liver and the brain.
- In the liver, alcohol is slowly metabolised (removed from the blood).
- In the brain, alcohol slows the action of nerve cells – a 'depressant' effect.
- Some alcohol is excreted (got rid of) unchanged through the lungs and in urine and sweat.
Alcohol effects
In small amounts, alcohol makes people feel more relaxed and less inhibited - they may do things they would not normally do.
In larger amounts:
- movements become clumsy
- reflexes are slowed down
- eyes do not focus properly
- speech becomes slurred
- judgement becomes impaired (eg. a person might drive while intoxicated, or have unsafe sex).
The person is often not aware of these changes, and may think that he is able to do things even better than usual, when in fact he cannot do things as well as usual. For example, he may drive faster than usual, because he thinks he is driving well, when in fact he is driving much more poorly than usual.
Large amounts can also have a strong effect on the person's mood.
She might become:
- violent and aggressive
- very depressed
- excitable and reckless
- withdrawn and sleepy.
Long term effects of drinking too much include:
- heart damage
- liver damage
- cancers of the digestive system and breast
- sexual impotence (for example, men not being able to have an erection)
- sleeping difficulties
- brain damage, causing changes in mood and personality
- concentration and memory problems
- missing work - maybe getting fired
- problems with school - missing school (truancy), not getting work done on time
- arguments with friends
- family conflict and breakdown.
Alcohol during pregnancy
Pregnancy and alcohol do not mix.
- Alcohol can affect the growth and brain development of an unborn baby.
- There is no safe time to drink alcohol during pregnancy and there is no safe amount of alcohol.
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is the biggest preventable cause of birth defects and brain damage in unborn children.
- Have a look at the topic 'Alcohol - effects on unborn children' for more information about this problem.
Bec says:
"The effects of alcohol can include making a fool of yourself in front of your friends, and putting yourself at risk around people who are not your friends and do not have your interests at heart. How scary is it to not remember what you did the night before? And how embarrassing to listen to people talking about what you did when you can’t remember if you did or not?!"
Hangover
Hangovers occur after a person has drunk too much alcohol. Generally the more the person has drunk, the worse the hangover.
- The hangover symptoms start a few hours after stopping drinking, and can last for 8 to 24 hours (well after the blood alcohol concentration is down to zero).
- The symptoms include:
- tiredness, headache, dizziness, increased sensitivity to light
- muscle aches, thirst, red eyes
- raised blood pressure, rapid heart rate, shaking and sweating
- depression, anxiety and irritability.
- Time is the only thing that is known to always improve the symptoms. The symptoms usually go away within 24 hours. Sleep may help this, and quite a lot of people have reported that coffee does help them feel a bit better. Coffee does not lower the blood alcohol level.
- Other ‘remedies’ have not been shown to work reliably. Having another alcoholic drink is a really bad idea.
The best way to avoid a hangover is to drink no alcohol, or only a small amount. Low alcohol drinks (eg. light ales) seem less likely to cause problems than high alcohol drinks. Some people find that certain types of drinks cause them more problems - they need to watch their drinking and work out what to avoid.
Resources
South Australia
- Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia
www.dassa.sa.gov.au
- Alcohol and Drug Information Service - telephone 1300 13 13 40
- 24-hour confidential telephone counselling and information.
- The Second Story Youth Health Service (TSS):
Central: 57 Hyde Street, Adelaide
South: 50a Beach Road, Christies Beach
North: 6 Gillingham Road, Elizabeth
West: 51 Bower St, Woodville
- Youth Healthline: 1300 13 17 19
- Aboriginal Drug and Alcohol Council (SA) Inc - telephone (08) 8362 0395:
http://www.adac.org.au/
- Al-Anon/Alateen Family Group (for families of people with a drinking problem)
- telephone (08) 8231 2959 (24 hour service) or (08) 8212 6824.
- Department of Education and Children's Services Drug Strategy:
http://www.drugstrategy.central.sa.edu.au
- Your local community health centre (check the Telstra white pages under the heading "Community Health Centres").
Australia
General
- Learn how many calories are in alcoholic drinks, and how much money people spend on alcohol each year, you might be surprised. Its all on this college drink prevention site from the US:
http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/
Further reading
Department of Education, Science and Training (Australian Government) 'L.E.A.D. - Leading Education about Drugs' Click here
Department of Health, South Australia: 'Population Health and Drug Strategies' Public Health Bulletin, Edition 2, 2005
http://www.dh.sa.gov.au/pehs/publications/PHB-autumn-edition05.pdf
Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia - 'Alcohol':
http://www.dassa.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=112
National Drug Strategy 'The costs of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug abuse to Australian society in 2004/05 (2008) Click here
The information on this site should not be used as an alternative to professional care. If you have a particular problem, see a doctor, or ring the Youth Healthline on 1300 13 17 19 (local call cost from anywhere in South Australia).