Pros and Cons of Drinking

The following essay will introduce you to pros and cons of drinking. It will also give you a clear understanding in why you shouldn't drink alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant; it impairs your ability to drive, slows down your reaction time and causes you to make some risky decisions that you wouldn't normally take. This essay will also help you comprehend how and why things happen, because of alcohol. Alcoholism can kill in many different ways, and in general, people who drink regularly have a higher rate of deaths from injury, violence, and some cancers. The earlier a person begins drinking heavily, the greater their chance of developing serious illnesses later on. Any protection that occurs with moderate alcohol intake appears to be confined to adults over 60 who have risks for heart disease. Adults who drink moderately (about one drink a day) have a lower mortality rate than their non-drinking peers, their risk for untimely death increases with heavier drinking. Alcohol may not cause cancer, but it probably does increase the carcinogenic effects of other substances, such as cigarette smoke. Daily drinking increases the risk for lung, gastric, pancreatic, colorectal, urinary tract, liver, brain cancers, and leukemia. About 75% of cancers of the esophagus and 50% of cancers of the mouth, and throat are attributed to alcoholism. (Wine appears to pose less danger for these cancers than beer or hard liquor.) Smoking combined with drinking enhances risks for most of these cancers dramatically. When women consume as little as one drink a day, they may increase their chances of breast cancer by as much as 30%. In the liver, alcohol converts to an even more toxic substance, which can cause substantial damage. Not eating when drinking and consuming a variety of alcoholic beverages are also factors that increase the risk for liver damage. People with alcoholism are also at higher risk for hepatitis B and C, potentially chronic liver diseases than can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. People with alcoholism should be immunized against hepatitis B; they may need a higher-than-normal dose of the vaccine for it to be effective. Alcohol has widespread effects on the brain. The use of alcohol, however, eventually produces depression and confusion. In chronic cases, alcoholism can lead to mental disturbances. Alcohol can also cause milder problems, including headaches (especially after drinking red wine). Except in severe cases, the damage is not permanent and abstinence nearly always leads to recovery of normal mental function. Alcohol may increase the risk for hemorrhage stroke (caused by bleeding in the brain), although it may protect against stroke caused by narrowed arteries. Alcohol plays a major role in more than half of all automobile accidents. Alcohol also increases the risk of accidental injuries from many other causes. Drinking and driving is dangerous to yourself and others around you. The penalty for drinking and driving is Driving Under the Influence (DUI). If your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) registers over .08, you are Driving Under the Influence. After having one drink it takes approximately one hour for your body to burn off the alcohol. You can't depend on yourself to be able to drive after an hour, because everyone processes alcohol differently and you might even feel the effects long after you've been drinking. Your BAC is based on your body weight, how much you have had to drink, the amount of food you may have eaten before drinking, the length of time over which you have had alcohol, and the speed at which your own body processes alcohol (once again, everyone is different). There is no way to make your body burn alcohol faster; eating, drinking coffee, exercising, or taking a cold shower may make you feel better, but they have no effect on your rate that alcohol