The Injurious Effects Of Alcohol. Part 1

Now, having considered the beneficial effects of alcohol, we come to the injurious ones. I shall mention here only in passing the well known blights of the excessive use of alcohol on the home, the individual, and society. Volumes have been written on the devastating effects of alcoholic excess on crime, suicide, divorce, general misery in the home and to the individual, venereal disease, juvenile delinquency, traffic accidents, economic and industrial losses. Here we are concerned only with alcohol as it affects your health. The effects of alcohol have been so profound that it is startling to consider that the United States of America exists today probably as a result of alcoholic excess! In the words of the "father of our country," the British were defeated on Xmas eve, after the epochal crossing of the Delaware, because "Cornwallis" men had drunk not wisely, but too well!" What would have happened to the cause of world democracy and freedom if Washington's tattered, frozen, and decimated men had faced a sober and efficient fighting army instead of a band of drunken soldiers! Let us now consider briefly some of the main systems of the body and the effects of alcoholic damage upon them.

Alcohol can be harmful to the emotions and the mind. Since we began this discussion with the beneficial effects of alcohol on the psychic and mental processes, let us now see what the pharmacologists like Sollman find in their texts on the subject.

The habitual, even moderate, use of alcohol (not even to the point of intoxication) induces relaxation, the easing of strain (tension), of maladjustments, of excessive inhibitions, indeed euphoria, all of which may be beneficial. But it also leads to diminished efficiency, especially in accuracy, impaired judgment, increased liability to auto accidents, loss of self-reliance, perhaps diminished resistance to disease, danger of excesses, higher incidence of venereal disease and general disrespect for law and order.

In answer to the popular notion that alcohol is a "stimulant," the principle that alcohol is actually a depressant was first advanced in 1883 by the noted German pharmacologist, Schmeideberg. The following quotation is from the American translation by Doctors R. N. Harger, H. R. Hulpieu and G. N. Thompson:

The subjective and objective states and manifestations, from which alcoholic drinks are considered stimulants, are usually attributed to the stimulating effect of the alcohol. One refers to the manifestations which we observe under these conditions, namely to certain exaltations of the psychic functions resulting in loud and profuse speech, and vivacious acts, also to accelerated pulse rate, engorgement and flushing of the body surface and the face, and a sensation of increased warmth. However, a closer consideration of these manifestations shows that they are the results of a beginning paralysis of certain parts of the brain!

Since this finding was first expressed in 1883, the idea that alcohol acts as a stimulant to the nervous system has been disproved in a host of pharmacological laboratories by countless scientists. To continue:

In the psychic sphere there is first lost the finer grades of attention, judgment, reflection, and ability to comprehend. This serves to explain the typical behaviour of persons under the influence of alcoholic drinks. The soldier becomes more courageous since he observes the danger less, and reflects upon it less. The speaker is not tormented and influenced by the proximity of the public; he, therefore, speaks freer and with more animation. One's self-appraisal rises greatly. Often one is astounded at the ease with which he expresses his thoughts and with the keeness of his judgment in matters which are beyond his mental sphere when sober, and is later ashamed of this delusion. The drunken individual attributes to himself great muscular strength and wastes this through unaccustomed and useless exhibits of strength without thinking of the harm which may ensue, while the sober person willingly spares his strength.

This conclusion is now verified and accepted by all present-day pharmaceutical experts in the field of medicine and drugs. Even the public is thoroughly versed in the excessive effects of alcohol in causing poor or double vision, the unsteady, clumsy gait, the impairment of muscular coordination, the delayed reaction time, and the loss of normal judgment and self-control.

The effects of alcoholic excess. It is remarkable that the source of relief with which man most frequently seeks to relieve his nervous tension, with which to relax, should be so free from poisonous or toxic effects when used in moderation. The fatal dose of alcohol is often very difficult to determine because of the wide variability of its action and its tolerance. In those cases where death has occurred from acute alcoholism, it usually is impossible to get the exact information from the companions of the departed one, since they have been too befuddled to give an intelligible account of the events preceding death, including the amounts of liquors drunk. As a rule, however, to those unaccustomed to alcohol, approximately 2 to 3 ounces of alcohol will result in acute symptoms of alcoholism and three times this quantity usually produces stupor in the average 150 lb. man! A fatal dose of alcohol ranges from 1 pint to 1 quart of whiskey, or 8 to 16 ounces of pure alcohol.

Children seem to have a particular susceptibility to acute alcoholic poisoning due to their smaller body weight and low tolerance. Most cases of fatal alcoholic poisoning will show blood alcohol levels between 0.3 per cent and 0.5 per cent; that is, only a fraction of 1 per cent! The intoxicating blood level of alcohol, as generally used in drunk-driving tests, is generally 0.1 per cent or only one-tenth of one per cent! Medical journals are filled with reports of silly wagers by would-be heroes anxious to show their virility and drinking prowess. Their post-mortem studies, after the coma, show that death is usually due to paralysis of the respiratory center, even though the heart may continue to beat for a while after breathing ceases. In these cases the brain, when opened, usually has the faint odor of alcohol, is swollen and often bulges over the edges of the opened skull.