Mr.

Hinschberger
Alcohol Transcription
Today, we are going to be learning about alcohol. Can anyone tell
me what alcohol is? The learning outcomes today will be that the
students will know what physical and behavioral effects that alcohol
can cause. The students will understand what BAC is and you will know
what alcoholism is and how to prevent it.
Some facts about alcohol: it is a drug. Drugs cause changes in a
persons body and behavior when it is consumed. It is also a
depressant and a depressant is a drug that slows the brain and body
reactions. Alcohol can cause confusion, decreased alertness, poor
coordination, blurred vision, and drowsiness. Beverages such as beer,
wine, and liquor are all produced by a process called fermentation.
During fermentation the alcohol feeds on yeast in foods and malted
grains, grapes, berries. During this process carbon dioxide and alcohol
is produced. So in wine, the yeast soaks up the grapes and thats how
you get the grape flavor in some wines. Not all alcoholic beverages
contain the same amount of alcohol. Beverages usually range from 4%
to 50% alcohol. Some beverages like on a bottle of whiskey, gin, or
vodka, it will show a proof. It will say like 100 proof. You take 100 proof
and divide it by 2 it equals 50%. That means 50% alcohol.
Teens and alcohol. So the legal age to drink is 21. So if youre
under 21 it is illegal to drink or have possession of any alcohol. Most
schools have adopted a zero tolerance policy. Its a policy that puts
strict consequences on students that are caught with possession or
caught drinking, or being at a party with alcohol. Alcohol is the most
abused by students. Family, peers, media, friends, all influence
drinking. Teens say that they drink to fit in with their friends because
their friends are drinking in high school and sometimes parents supply
alcohol to their children. Some teens refuse drinking alcohol because
they have had bad altercations with alcohol. That being one of their
parents is an alcoholic or one of their friends is allergic to something
that is in alcohol or just decides not to do it.
Some physical and behavioral effects, one is intoxication. When
youre intoxicated it means that you are mentally and physically
impaired. Youre brain is not quite as sharp, youre actions arent what
you would normally do. When people drink alcohol faster than their
body can break it down they become intoxicated. The effects of
intoxication are heart rate and blood pressure slow down, brain activity
slows down, and coordination becomes impaired like I said earlier.
Another affect is a blackout. This is a period of time from the night

before or the day before that the drinker can not recall. The drinker
could harm himself, herself, or others and not even know about it.
Blood alcohol concentration. This is what BAC stands for. It is the
amount of alcohol in a persons blood and it is expressed as a
percentage. So like I have up here, 0.1% is 1/10 of 1% of blood is
alcohol. The higher the BAC that you have, the more severe effects
that you will have. The loss of nerve cells cause permanent changes
that impair memory and the ability to concentrate and make
judgements. Alcohol interferes with the ability of the liver to
metabolize and break down fats. As a result of heavy drinking, the liver
fills up with fat, which blocks the flow of blood to the liver. The fat filled
liver cells die leaving behind useless scar tissue. The disease is called
cirrhosis, which can lead to liver failure and death. Excessive drinking
contributes to heart diseases and that is the leading cause of death in
America.
Can anyone tell me what BAC stands for? (Blood Alcohol
Concentration)
Some factors affecting BAC is the rate of consumption. The faster
you drink, the faster you become impaired and your blood alcohol
concentration gets higher. Your gender, usually women tend to become
intoxicated quicker then men because they are generally smaller than
men and men just seem to break down alcohol easier. Another factor
affects your blood alcohol concentration is the amount of food that is in
your stomach. If you have food in your stomach it takes longer for you
to become intoxicated in most cases. If you dont have food in your
stomach, the alcohol goes right into your blood system pretty easily.
Motor vehicle crashes. 40% of all fatal motor vehicle crashes are
linked to alcohol. In most cases one driver is intoxicated or has had a
drink before that time (before the crash). A driver over the age of 21
caught driving with a BAC over .08 is charged with Driving While
Intoxicated, also known as a DWI. Peoples whos BAC is over the legal
limit can get their drivers license revoked, pay pretty heavy fines, and
can even serve jail time. There are zero tolerance laws and these laws
are different for people under the age of 21. The purchase or
possession of alcohol is illegal for minors. There is no acceptable BAC
for underage drivers.
Does anyone know what an overdose is?
An overdose is taking too many drugs and that can lead to a
coma or death. Alcohol overdose is also known as alcohol poisoning
and that can cause your heart and breathing to stop. Binge drinking is

the consumption of many drinks in such a short time. Drinking games

usually make you binge drink. A lot of college students tend to binge
drink. There are many damages to the body. Long term alcohol abuse
damages nerve cells in the brain. Loss of nerve cells causes permanent
changes that impair your memory and the ability to concentrate, and
the ability to make sound judgements. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is when
a mother that is pregnant takes in alcohol. That is one of the main
causes of mental retardation in an infant. Like I said earlier, heart
disease is the leading cause of death in America. It creates digestive
problems, and there are many repeated irritations. You can get cancer
in the mouth, tongue, esophagus, and stomach. You can get recurring
diarrhea, and chronic indigestion, heartburn or ulcers.
Alcoholism. A person suffering from alcoholism cant control their
use of alcohol. The body ends up developing a tolerance to alcohol and
the tolerance causes the bodys need to increasing larger amounts of
alcohol to experience the original effect before they were an alcoholic.
There are three stages to alcoholism. The first stage is problem
drinking. This is when a person is a social drinker, one that drinks with
small meals, or at parties, or on special occasions. They can become
an alcoholic if this occurs more than often. Drinkers that start to drink
to relieve stress or escape from problems, their drinking problem
quickly becomes even more of a problem. Then theres absolute
dependence. The drinker becomes totally dependent on the drug.
He/she can not stop after one drink. Signs of alcoholism is absences
from work or school and strained relationships. The late stage of
alcoholism is when alcoholics rapidly lose their mental, emotional, and
physical health. You can just see that they look older than what they
actually are. Late stage alcoholics experience reverse tolerance, which
is a condition that less and less alcohol causes intoxication.