Alcoholic Drinks and Cigarette Smoking; Your Health

Because of the addictive nature of alcohol drinking and cigarettes smoking, many people have fallen victim to the negative effects that come as a result of alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking.

What really is alcohol and what does its consumption mean to the body?

When glucose and yeast get fermented, ethanol which is otherwise called alcohol is produced. The alcoholic content in drinks varies in regard to the duration within which fermentation took place and also the amount of sugar and yeast which was used in the process.

Ciders and wine are made from fruit sugar known as fructose while spirits and beer are made from serials such as rye and barley and their end product is often referred to as malt.

Alcohol is mainly a depressant though its immediate effects of making ones mood to shift to the positive, feeling of immediate relaxation and its euphoric effect on an individual makes its use increase.

Alcohol has an effect on the brains controls making reflex messaging to be inhibited after some quantity of the drink has been consumed and this has tremendous effects on physical locomotion and coordination of the consumer.

Alcohol contamination in the body once drunk can stay for a long time before the liver can be able to effectively break them down and have them excreted from the body system. It can take the liver over an hour to work on 8g which is equivalent to one unit of alcohol before its final elimination from the body can be achieved.

Some health benefits of alcohol to the body

Reduction in death rates resulting from Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). According to the research carried out in France, it was discovered that the consumption of huge amounts of saturated fats lead to the conclusion that there is a connection between high wine consumption in the region and the reduction in heart diseases related deaths. High alcohol consumption in south European countries is claimed to have great effects on the reduced risk of developing heart diseases among people in the region.

Moderation of alcohol consumption has also been found to be having some effect at the rate in which drinkers suffering from heart problems get lower than for non alcohol consumers. 

As much as clarity on the relationship between the development of coronary heart disease and wine consumption in moderation has not been determined, there is some evidence though on alcohol’s effect on blood cholesterol levels thus minimizing the risk of blood clotting in patients.

There is an antioxidant effect from the consumption of red wine due to its flavonoid content. This lowers the rate of build up of atherosclerosis which comes with build up of fat on inner walls of arteries.

Red wine is also found to be able to aid in the management of flexibility within the walls of blood vessels

Negative impacts of alcohol to human health

Irreversible scarring of the liver otherwise known as liver cirrhosis occurs as a result of liver damage as its cells die as a result of alcohol effect and they get replaced by fibrous tissues. This condition can greatly affect the body in a number of various activities that the liver foresees like the regulation of the metabolic system.

Synthesis and effective digestion of proteins, vitamins, fats and carbohydrates as well as waste products excretion and detoxification of harmful substances in the body become greatly impaired operations that the fibrous liver would most definitely be incapacitated to handle.

It is not only an impairment of the liver but also a very fatal condition for a person’s health and early control of the condition is very important.

There is a possibility of developing an undying urge for alcohol or addiction to alcohol if you have accustomed yourself to alcohol drinking for a long period of time. This could greatly have a serious damage to your internal body organs and expose you to some serious health problems.

Drinking of alcohol in excess also has an effect on the development of high blood pressure a situation that gets one in heart attack prone situations. To reduce the chances of having a heart attack you should therefore moderate your alcohol consumption.

Alcohol also hinders adequate absorption of nutrients by the body and is also responsible for the leeching of some minerals and vitamins from the body leaving you with an increased chance of developing a nutrient deficiency based disease.

Overindulgence in alcohol drinking could also expose you to gastrointestinal infections and stomach ulcers. Those who drink a lot of alcohol also tend to loose appetite due to the effect that hangover has on their desire for food leaving their bodies with undernourishment and high chances of getting infection.

A high prevalence of some cancers in men like the cancer of the pharynx, mouth, larynx, colon and the esophagus was reported by the 2007 report from the World Cancer Research Fund. Breast cancer was also included in the high risk increase triggered by too much alcohol drinking.

There is some great connection of serious psychiatric problems in those who drink alcohol especially when it reaches levels when one looses social reputations, health condition, jobs, economic security or relationships. This has in many cases led to suicidal contemplations by most alcoholic individuals, as it gives the feeling of irresponsibility and heighten guiltiness.

Smoking and its effects on the human body

The negative effects that cigarette smoking exposes the entire body to are numerous and lead the body to the development of some very chronic diseases that in most cases lead to the termination of life in the whole world.

Lung cancer is a health concern even to non cigarette smokers who get the smoke blown (exhaled) into the air by smokers down their lungs.

Cigarette smoke attacks all body organs and is responsible for numerous deaths. The most common are respiratory infections like bronchitis, colds, coughs, and pneumonia. Second hand smoke on non smokers could lead to increased rates of ear infections, lower respiratory infections and asthmatic development in children and adolescents.

Long term smoking causes even more health detrimental cases such as gastric cancers, lung cancers, throat cancers, mouth cancer, cervical cancer, pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer and kidney cancer among other numerous risks.

The development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is also associated with cigarette smoking. It brings about case like chronic bronchitis, and emphysema and severely damages the lungs.

Narrowing of blood vessels and disruption of efficient supply of blood all through the body is also common and could bring some serious heart disease problem as a result of insufficiency of oxygen. This could affect second hand smoke inhalers by a degree of 25% increase in the attack of a heart problem.

The development of cataracts and having a stroke case also gets increased due to smoking.

Smoking also prevents effective absorption of nutrients minerals and vitamins into the body and also has some of them leeched and wasted leading to problems like osteoporosis in women especially if calcium amounts in the body are interfered with making them prone to suffering fractures.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) also becomes a serious health risk for women smokers.

Health effects of under age smoking

Smoking by adolescents is very dangerous as it exposes the lung which has not yet been fully developed to the smoke substances making them prone to very serious diseases which are contracted as a result of exposure to cigarette smoke.

Young age smoking can also make an individual to develop some serious addictions once they grow up and that could be very hard to handle. Young smokers also develop serious depression tendencies and multiple psychiatric problems which follow them to later stages in life.

Smoking is also very detrimental during pregnancy as the fetus greatly gets affected by the habit. It brings about cases of sudden death of infants medically known as SIDS, makes the baby to have respiratory problems, the baby could be born under weight or prematurely.