ALCOHOL

1. ALCOHOL

2. How Does Alcohol Affect the Body? • Alcohol is a depressant, which means it slows the function of the central nervous system. • Alcohol actually blocks some of the messages trying to get to the brain. This alters a person's perceptions, emotions, movement, vision, and hearing. • In very small amounts, alcohol can help a person feel more relaxed or less anxious. • More alcohol causes greater changes in the brain, resulting in intoxication. • Depending on the person, intoxication can make someone very friendly and talkative or very aggressive and angry. • When large amounts of alcohol are consumed in a short period of time, alcohol poisoning can result. Violent vomiting is usually the first symptom of alcohol poisoning. Extreme sleepiness, unconsciousness, difficulty breathing, dangerously low blood sugar, seizures, and even death may result.

3. The effects of drinking alcohol vary between people, and they can even differ for the same person, depending on the situation. Your body may react differently, for example, if you drink when angry or upset. Some of the factors that may influence how someone is affected by alcohol include: • age, weight, body size and gender • the amount of alcohol that is drunk • how quickly the alcohol is drunk • whether food has been eaten before drinking • whether any other drugs have been used while drinking • how frequently a person drinks • a person's mood when drinking.

4. The effects of alcohol increase as more alcohol is consumed

5. Tracking Alcohol Slows down the messages to and from the brain. How alcohol gets into the blood When you drink alcohol, it enters the STOMACHand the SMALL INTESTINE. From there it passes through the wall of the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream and is carried to the BRAIN. If there is no food in the stomach, alcohol will be absorbed quickly. That’s why if you drink on an empty stomach you will feel the effects much faster. How alcohol leaves the body Ninety-one per cent of alcohol is broken down by the LIVER. The liver breaks down between seven and 10 grams of alcohol per hour, depending on the person. Nine per cent of alcohol leaves the body via BREATH (3%), SWEAT (3%) and urine (from the KIDNEYS) (3%).

6. Consequences The consequences from a single incident of consuming too much alcohol are potentially far reaching and numerous. For example, an accident that is the result of drink driving can cause harm to many, including: • injuries (health harms), which may require time off work (financial harms) • police charges (legal harms) that result in a criminal record, restricting travel and work options (social and financial harms) • fines and the repair cost (financial harms) that you may need to borrow from family or friends to pay • feelings of guilt and shame (emotional harms) • loss of independence and freedom (social harms) through the loss of a drivers licence or imprisonment.

7. The day after a big night out Read through the following scenario. Choose one character, either Serge or Anika, and in relation to that character answer the following questions below. 8 pm It’s Saturday night and Jen’s parents have gone away for the weekend. She has invited a group of friends around for a party. Serge arrives with a car load of friends. He’s ready for a big night and everyone in the car has put in money to buy a bottle of bourbon to share. Anika is excited about the party, even though her boyfriend, Tan, cannot come because he’s working. 10 pm The music is blaring, and a small group of people are dancing. Others have decided to cool off in the pool. Several people, including Anika and Serge, have been drinking heavily since they arrived. 12 am Serge and his friends have drunk all their bourbon and are hassling Jen for more alcohol from her parents’ bar. Serge is getting louder and becoming rude and aggressive. No-one has seen Anika since she stumbled upstairs with someone she had just met. 2 am People are heading home. Serge has passed out on the lounge after vomiting on the kitchen floor. Anika left by herself an hour ago.

8. Gender differences • The sex of the drinker affects the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream (called blood alcohol concentration, or BAC). • On average, women’s bodies have less water and more fatty tissue than men’s. The more water in a person’s body, the more alcohol can be diluted, and alcohol is not absorbed into fatty tissue. • Women tend to drink more carbonated (‘fizzy’) drinks such as sparkling wines and spirits with mixers. The bubbles in these drinks increase the rate of alcohol absorption by the body. • Women also tend to drink cocktails consisting of several spirits or liqueurs. Such drinks are higher in alcohol than the beer drunk by many men, especially the low-alcohol beers now available. • Women often eat less than men • A woman drinking the same amount of alcohol at different stages of her menstrual cycle will have different BAC levels. BAC is likely to be higher just before a woman’s period than at other times. • Pregnant women or women planning pregnancy need to take particular care as drinking may cause foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or foetal alcohol effects (FAE). FAS babies may have brain damage, abnormal facial features and be smaller and lighter than other babies. They may also have learning difficulties.

9. A standard drink is defined as one which contains 10 grams of alcohol. • Regular Beer- 375ml can = 1.5 standard drinks • Light Beer – 375ml can = 1 standard drink • Pre-mixed drinks - 375ml can = 1.7 standard drinks. • Wine – 750ml bottle = 7.4 standard drinks • 4 litre cask wine = approximately 30 standard drinks.

10. Pouring drinks • When the same drink is poured into different sorts of glasses, what do you notice? • Compare a standard drink of different sorts of beverages. What do you notice? • Which drink would it be easiest to consume a lot of? Why is this? • Volunteers to colour in what a standard drink would look like in these cups.

11. Danger Ranking Think about which situations need to be avoided by ranking them from most to least dangerous.