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Dear Readers,
Last week, using material from The
National Institute of Alcohol and Alcohol
Abuse (NIAAA), I discussed what alcohol
is...now we turn to what it does when we
drink it.
The effects of alcohol on
an individual depend on a variety of factors.
These include:
- How one feels before
drinking: If a person is upset and tense,
very excited, sad, nervous, or even extremely
happy, he or she may tend to gulp drinks
and actually consume more alcohol than
planned.
- What the drinker expects
alcohol to do: Some people expect a drink
to help them feel relaxed, happy, angry
or sad. Quite naturally, these feelings
can be produced by the drink; how you
want to feel helps you feel that way.
- How much one drinks:
A person who has one drink during dinner
is not likely to feel the effects of alcohol.
But having six drinks before and during
dinner means the individual might not
make it through dessert.
- How long one takes to
drink: This is a critical factor: four
drinks in one hour will have an obvious
effect on the drinker, but the same four
drinks over a four-hour period will probably
have a very slight, if any, effect. Type
of alcoholic beverage: Some beverages
have more alcohol in them than others.
Beer has about 4.5% alcohol, "table
wines" average from 11% to 14%, "fortified"
or "dessert wines" (such as
sherry or port) have 16% to 20%, and distilled
spirits range from 40% to 50%. However,
in normal size, each drink (i.e., 12 ounces
of beer, 5 ounces of wine, and 1 1/2 ounces
of distilled spirits) contains approximately
the same amount of alcohol.
- Size of the drinker:
Because of the way alcohol circulates
in the body, the size of the drinker also
relates to the effects of alcohol. A person
weighing 220 pounds will not feel the
effects of a drink as much as a person
weighing 120 pounds.
- Food in the stomach:
The alcohol consumed does not affect the
drinker until it has been absorbed into
the bloodstream. Food in the stomach slows
the alcohol's absorption, so that a person
who has a drink after eating a meal will
feel less effect than a person who has
a drink on an empty stomach.
- Experience in using
alcoholic beverages: Someone drinking
a glass of wine may experience light-headedness
the first time, but will probably not
experience that effect on subsequent occasions.
Most individuals who drink know what to
expect from various amounts of alcohol
because of their prior experience with
drinking. But, even if not addicted to
alcohol, many a "party boy,"
particularly young people will ignore
these effects, and pay little attention
to the fact that alcohol acts directly
on the brain, and affects its ability
to work...so, even if they will soon be
driving, they drink on!
Numerous studies provide
scientific proof that even at a level of
.01-.05% a person has lowered alertness,
usually a "good" feeling.....restraint
is loosened Judgment is the first function
of the brain to be affected; the ability
to think and make decisions becomes impaired.....so,
all to often, they will continue to drink
and reach one step further to a BAL of .06
up to 0.1% (the still legal upper limit
for New Jersey) which produces a markedly
impaired reaction time, depth perception,
distance acuity, peripheral vision, and
glare recovery. Even at .08% a driver is
still impaired. Most of European countries
know this, some allowing a level of only
.02%.
Last fall Congress passed
legislation, which was signed by the president,
which will deny states 5% of their federal
highway construction funds if they don't
adopt the newly established national .08%
impaired driving standard. Will our state
politicos act? I doubt it.
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