General Health

There has been a lot of discussion in the last few years about the continuing problem of alcohol and the effect it has on society. Should we treat alcohol as if it were an illicit drug?

It’s a fact that excessive drinking can seriously damage one’s health. Those who claim that “alcohol is a drug” want that word to carry a particular, threatening connotation. In reality, however, “drug” is an ethically, legally and physiologically neutral term that encompasses a wide spectrum of substances.

According to a well-known medical textbook of pharmacology, a drug is any chemical agency that affects living processes. A drug can be as menacing as cocaine, as benign as sucrose or as helpful as vitamin C. In a societal sense, some drugs relieve pain and assist in the healing process. Others are safely and legally enjoyed by millions of people very day, even though overuse can result in undesirable side effects. And Some drugs are so terribly addictive that simply experimenting with them carries substantial risk.

Recent studies show that excess alcohol consumption can lead to a number of serious health problems, and of course there is the problem of addiction which must be taken into consideration. Who among us hasn’t been exposed to a friend or relative with a severe drinking problem. Many of societies’ problems today such as spouse abuse, child abuse and dysfunctional family relationships can be traced to drinking problems.

Alcohol may lead to liver problems, a variety of cancers as well as forms of osteoporosis and depression, and studies are showing, too, that women are more susceptible to the ill effects of alcohol than are men. From this information, it is safe to conclude that anything which has this type of effect on one’s general health, is going to affect the entire system. And research has shown that alcohol depletes the body of it’s necessary vitamins and minerals.

“Social drinking” seems to be an accepted practice these days and the arguments both pro and con will always be with us. It is our hope that as you read and consider this information you will become more aware of the effect that alcohol has on society today’s no different than illegal drugs.

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