Frances

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2

HISTORY………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..3

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4

USES OF ALCOHOL………..……………………………………………………………………………………………………….….. 5

ALCOHOL IN THE BODY……………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….. 6

ALCOHOL ADDICTION………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 8

HEALTH RISKS………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10

CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12

SOURCES…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….13
 
INTRODUCTION
The word alcohol comes from the Arabic “Al Kohl,” which means “the essence.” It may be the world's oldest known drug. Fermented grain, fruit juice and honey have been used to make alcohol (ethyl alcohol or ethanol)for thousands of years. The production of products containing alcohol has become big business in today's society and the consumption and abuse of alcohol has become a major public health problem.
The effects of alcohol abuse range from a mild hang over to mass destruction, disease and deaths on a huge scale. Alcohol use in moderation has little or no ill effects either for the user or thosearound them. But the misuse of what has become one of the world's most dangerous drugs takes a devastating toll on both the drinker and on society as a whole.
Alcoholism is a complex disease, which has been misunderstood and stigmatized. Alcohol Dependence and Alcohol Abuse are among the most common mental disorders in the general population. It is widely accepted that there is a geneticpredisposition toward alcoholism and the risk for Alcohol Dependence is three to four times higher in close relative of people with Alcohol Dependence.
Alcoholism is a progressive disease and follows several phases that go from social drinker who have few problems with alcohol and can basically take it or leave it. The an individual will seek out companions who are heavy drinkers and lose interest inactivities not associated with drinking. Work problems, such as missing work or tardiness, may take place. Then life becomes quite unmanageable and the alcoholic will still deny that he or she has a problem. At this point, the alcoholic will often drink more than intended. The individual may try to stop drinking, but without success. Job loss, medical problems, and serious family conflicts occur. Atthe last stage, medical complications are numerous and include liver diseases such as cirrhosis or hepatitis. Acute pancreatitis, high blood pressure, and bleeding of the esophageal lining can result from prolonged use. The heart and brain are compromised so that an alcoholic is at a higher risk for a heart attack or stroke. Depression and insomnia and even suicide are more prevalent at this stage.Memory loss, indicates that the individual has sustained brain damage from drinking. An alcoholic at this stage has become physically addicted to alcohol and will experience seizures or delirium tremens if he or she stops drinking.

HISTORY
The process of sugars fermenting into alcohol occurs regularly in nature through contact with airborne yeasts. But alcohol use did not begin until thedawn of agriculture. Viticulture, the cultivation of grapevines for making wine, is believed to originate in the mountains between the black and Caspian seas around 6000 B.C. The first brew was probably date palm wine, originating in Mesopotamia. It is known that the ancient Egyptians were drinkers as some of their texts refer to the social problems associated with drunkenness. They were nostrangers to recreational drinking. The Babylonians, in the world's first legal text, included a law regulating drinking houses. The Greeks and Romans had a god of wine, Dionysus or Bacchus, who they venerated in bouts of alcoholic frenzy. Greek literature is full of warnings against health and social implications of excessive drinking. Drinking was part...