About Alcohol Info

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When studying the history of alcohol, some important alcohol information has been discovered, namely, that people have known about alcohol and have been drinking alcoholic beverages and drinks for at least 10,000 years.

Even though alcohol has been used in a number of different ways throughout history that can be called "positive," it was, however, recognized thousands of years ago that excessive drinking and abuse resulted in harmful alcohol side effects, negative consequences and alcohol problems including social and personal difficulties.

Question. If this basic alcohol info has been known for centuries, why is it that so many people worldwide experience the devastating, unhealthy, and at times the fatal consequences and alcohol side effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism?  Why do so many people in the developed nations suffer from the negative outcomes of abusive and excessive drinking?

Basic Alcohol Information:  What Is Alcohol?

The alcohol that is consumed at parties or bars is called ethyl alcohol or ethanol.  Ethyl alcohol is created by fermentation, a process in which yeast fungus feeds on sugars and/or starches in various grains (such as barley, hops, rice) or fruits (such as grapes) and excretes alcohol along with carbon dioxide (CO2).

Despite claims that alcohol is a stimulant because it helps certain individuals "open up" during social events, ethyl alcohol is, in fact, a depressant drug.  Maybe this fact helps explain why so many individuals get depressed when they drink irresponsibly and also why so many people display alcoholism and depression.

The concentration of alcohol in drinks varies widely. For instance, while wine and beer usually have an alcohol content between 5% and 15%, hard liquor, on the other hand, typically has an alcohol content of up to 40% or more.

From the least expensive beer to the most expensive wine or after dinner liqueur, all alcohol is made with the same fermentation process. The various flavors, tastes, colors, and strengths come from the different vegetables or fruits that are used as well as from the by-products, additives, and the diluting substances used in the fermentation process.

Interestingly, the fermentation process used in alcoholic beverages is the same process that will occur with apple juice, orange juice or other fruit juices and fruit if they are unconsumed and left long enough.

According to the alcohol information received from medical science, when a person drinks an alcoholic beverage, approximately 20% of the alcohol is absorbed in the stomach and 80% is absorbed in the small intestine. The type of drink, the concentration of alcohol, and whether the stomach is empty or full affect the speed at which the alcohol is absorbed.

Once the alcohol is absorbed into the tissues, it affects your body and your mind.  It takes around 20 minutes after having an alcoholic beverage for a person's blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level to rise.  After alcohol is absorbed, it leaves the body in three ways: via the kidneys, the lungs, and via the liver.

The History of Alcohol

While it is not known exactly when alcohol was first consumed, research regarding the history of alcohol reveals the discovery of late Stone Age beer jugs that means that deliberately fermented alcoholic beverages existed at least as early as 10,000 B.C.

Thus, people have known about alcoholic drinks and alcoholic beverages and have been drinking alcohol for at least 10,000 years!  Other relevant aspects regarding the history of alcohol include the following:

• In the Bible, Genesis 9:20 states that Noah planted a vineyard on Mt. Ararat.
• In Ancient Egypt, the Egyptians believed that Osiris, the god of wine, also invented beer, a beverage that was so much a part of Egyptian life that it was brewed daily in the home.
• In Sumeria, wine and beer were used for therapeutic reasons as early as 2,000 B.C.
• In ancient Greece, by 1,700 B.C. wine making was so common that, similar to other places in the old world, it was used in hospitality, it became an important aspect of religious rituals, it was used for medicinal purposes, and it became a commonly used with daily meals.
• In ancient China, it was believed that the consumption of alcohol in moderation was prescribed by heaven.
• In Babylon, as early as 2,700 B.C, the Babylonians worshiped wine deities.  Beer and wine were used on a regular basis as offerings to the gods.

The Abuse of Alcohol

While alcohol was used in a variety of ways that can be called "positive," it was, however, recognized thousands of years ago that excessive drinking and misuse led to numerous alcohol problems and negative alcohol side effects.  For instance, both Plato and Aristotle were critical of drunkenness.  And in China around 650 B.C., a manuscript was found which discussed how difficult it was for people to do without beer and included warnings of the "abuse" of beer.

Continuing with our discussion of alcohol from a history of alcohol perspective, in 1596 in France, an adviser to Henri IV proclaimed excessive drinking as something that too frequently ruined families and homes.  In a document published in 1647, a Greek monk articulated that excessive drinking was detrimental to the nerves and to the brain and was a key contributor to many medical problems such as convulsions, trembling, paralysis, and uncontrolled bleeding into an organ or into the brain.

Interestingly, more than 350 years ago some intelligent individuals with "alcohol awareness" in Europe discussed information about the negative alcohol side effects of excessive alcohol consumption that in modern-day terminology would be classified as alcohol problems such as "alcohol overdose," "alcohol poisoning," "alcohol withdrawal," alcohol side effects," and the "DTs".

In 1667 in France, a medical thesis was submitted that both articulated the positive aspects of wine and also those aspects that are detrimental to one's health such as memory loss, ulcerated eyes, trembling hands, sleep disruption, erratic gait lethargy, and gawking expression. Though this alcohol information contained numerous clinical observations that were legitimately attributed to heavy drinking and excessive alcohol consumption, this type of information and knowledge about various alcohol problems and the damaging and negative alcohol effects of drinking alcohol was not widespread.

Fast forwarding to 1920 in the United States marks the beginning of Prohibition.  At this time the 18th Amendment to the Constitution had been officially ratified and focused on putting an end to alcohol problems and the "evils associated with drinking."  Around this same time one writer equated excessive drinking with "Grappling with the Monster" and the "Curse" and stated that the only cure was total abstinence.

This brief discussion of alcohol from a history of alcohol perspective, clearly reveals one unmistakable bit of alcohol information:  whether we are talking about thousands of years ago or about today's world, chronic, excessive, and abusive drinking has resulted in a host of alcohol problems that have affected millions of individuals world-wide.

Excessive Drinking and Social Issues

Interestingly, the alcohol problems and the "evils" that resulted from excessive drinking in the 1800s and the early 1900s in the United States were mainly viewed from a social perspective.  That is, according to the alcohol information known at that time, drinking too much alcohol was seen as associated with crimes, poverty, family violence, public disorder, and lack of productivity in the shops and in the factories.

Though this is the case, it must also be pointed out that some people did see that excessive drinking, especially rum, would result in death.  Others did articulate warnings about alcohol problems that resulted from excessive alcohol consumption, but their voices, for the most part, were not heard.

Some Alcohol Statistics and Facts

Regrettably, many of the dangers and adverse alcohol side effects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism do not really make an impact on people until someone various types of alcohol information in the form of statistics and facts about alcohol abuse and alcoholism.  For instance, according to a study undertaken by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University in 2005, the following statistics about alcohol abuse and alcoholism were discovered:

• The 9.6% of adult alcoholics drink 25% of the alcohol that is consumed by all adult drinkers.
• The 25.9% of underage drinkers who are alcohol abusers and alcohol dependent drink 47.3% of the alcohol that is consumed by all underage drinkers.
• Every year in the U.S. more than 150,000 college students develop health problems that are alcohol-related.
• American youth who drink before the of age of 15 are four times more likely to become alcoholics than young people who do not drink before the age of 21.
• Every year, 1,400 American college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related inadvertent injuries, including motor vehicle accidents.
• In the United States during 2004, 16,694 deaths occurred as a result of alcohol-related motor-vehicle crashes.  This amount was approximately 39% of all traffic fatalities.  This amounts to one alcohol-related death every 31 minutes.
• Every day in the U.S. more than 13,000 children and teens take their first drink.
• Alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse cost the United States an estimated $220 billion in 2005.  This dollar amount was more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) and obesity ($133 billion).

Alcohol Problems and Alcohol Treatment

The Need for Alcohol Treatment and Alcohol Rehab.  Revisiting the history of alcohol, it can be seen that the focus on the alcohol problems and negative alcohol side effects that result from excessive drinking from a medical perspective received a major impetus from a doctor named E.M. Jellinek. In 1937 Dr. Jellinek was the first person in the United States to formulate a taxonomy of medical problems observable in chronic alcoholics.  Interestingly, Dr. Jellinek was actively involved in some of the early alcoholism studies undertaken by the World Health Organization.

Partially due to this working relationship, in 1952, the World Health Organization actually used Dr. Jellinek's definition for the term "alcoholic" in their own documents:  "Alcoholics are those excessive drinkers whose dependence on alcohol has attained such a degree that it shows notable disturbance or an interference with their bodily and mental health, their personal relationships and smooth economic functioning or who show prodromal signs of such a development. They therefore need treatment."

As a result of the above discussion, it can be determined that basic alcohol information and concepts such as alcohol treatment and alcohol rehab were being formulated and articulated in the United States nearly 70 years ago!  In fact, much of this early work by Dr. Jellinek and others with "alcohol awareness" has formulated current policies and programs for the chronic use and abuse of both drugs and alcohol.

Not only this, but the work of Dr. Jellinek and other early pioneers has provided input into the formulation of some of the drug and alcohol laws that exist in the United States.

It is also apparent that Jellinek's work influenced more modern concepts such as "blood alcohol level," "blood alcohol content," the whole concept of alcohol tests, as well as some of the most effective ways to address the alcohol problems experienced by so many individuals.

While doctors in the 1950s were well aware of various alcohol problems as well as the relationship between chronic alcohol abuse and alcoholism and diseases such as the degeneration of the liver, gastritis, and hepatic cirrhosis, doctors now are more knowledgeable about the many diverse ways in which the different organs of the body are affected by chronic alcoholism.  Modern day doctors are also more informed about other crucial alcohol problems and issues such as fetal alcohol syndrome.  In other words, alcohol abuse and alcoholism research is constantly discovering new and relevant alcohol information that helps in the prevention and treatment of alcohol dependency and chronic alcohol abuse.

Alcoholism Videos

We have included some alcoholism videos so that you can see and hear directly from various people about their struggles with this disease.  If you, a family member, or one of your friends has a "drinking problem," seeing what others have gone through and how they addressed their adverse alcohol side effects and attained successful recovery is much more "real" than any information you can read about.  Furthermore, watching these videos may provide some additional alcohol abuse and/or alcoholism information that will help you understand what others with alcohol problems are experiencing.  So make sure you look at these excellent videos!

Alcohol Information:  Conclusion

From a history of alcohol perspective, it can be seen that even though alcohol has been used in a number of different ways throughout history that can be called beneficial or "positive," a key aspect of alcohol information and a relevant discovery in the history of alcohol is the fact that thousands of years ago, not unlike today, excessive drinking and abuse led to negative issues and alcohol problems and unhealthy and harmful alcohol side effects.

For instance, three or four hundred years B.C, Plato and Aristotle, two of the more famous ancient Greek philosophers, openly criticized those who exhibited public drunkenness.

Additionally, a Chinese manuscript written approximately 650 B.C. was recently found in which it was stated how hard it was for people to do without beer and actually included warnings about the "abuse" of beer.  Ironically, despite the fact that basic "alcohol information" such as the negative effects of abusing alcohol and other alcohol problems have been known for centuries, alcohol abuse and alcoholism continue to destroy human lives in our "aware" and "enlightened" society.

These facts point to the importance of studying relevant alcohol information via the history of alcohol and discovering that serious alcohol problems and alcohol side effects, not unlike today's situation, were observed and were determined to be the result of alcohol abuse and alcoholism.

In spite of claims that alcohol is a stimulant because it helps various people "open up" in social circumstances, ethyl alcohol is, indeed, a depressant drug.  Perhaps this fact helps explain why so many people get depressed when they drink in a hazardous manner and also why so many individuals manifest alcoholism and depression.

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