Alcohol Overdose

"It is important to note that alcohol overdose doesn't only occur from any one heavy drinking incident, but may also occur from a constant infusion of alcohol in the blood stream."

"According to the CQ Researcher, by the time U.S. teenagers reach driving age they will have seen 75,000 ads for alcohol."

"Regardless of the source of addiction, the effects are mainly in the brain, physically, chemically, and psychologically affecting energy levels and emotions."

"According to substance abuse research, most people who enter alcohol and drug treatment have at least one relapse. Follow-up contact, as well as participation in support groups, have both been shown to improve long-term treatment outcomes."

"It seems likely that an individual's genetic background and his or her environmental factors interact with significant developmental stages in her life that will strongly influence her drinking behavior and perhaps make her more or less vulnerable to alcohol abuse and alcoholism."

"As shown by the U.S. research literature, nearly all alcoholics have a co-morbid psychiatric disorder, most commonly anxiety and mood disorders in women and drug abuse and antisocial personality disorders in men."

"Mixing alcohol and drugs not only compounds the drug and alcohol problems that the abuser experiences, but doing so increases the person's need for professional alcohol and drug treatment."

"U.S. alcohol abuse statistics demonstrate that individuals who start drinking alcohol before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become alcohol dependent at some time in their lives, compared to those who start drinking at the legal age of 21."

"Ironically, the abuser's ability to get 'high' from the alcohol or drug gradually decreases as his body adapts to the presence of foreign chemicals. This means that they must take more and more drugs or alcohol, not just to get an effect but often just to function at all."

"According to a report published by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, most teens who experiment with alcohol continue using it. Among high school seniors who had tried alcohol, 91.3 percent still were drinking in the 12th grade."

"According to a 2007 Science Daily report, research shows that drinking patterns established during adolescence are likely to continue through adulthood."

"Alcohol-related crashes in the United States cost the public an estimated $114.3 billion in 2000, including $51.1 billion in monetary costs and an estimated $63.2 billion in quality of life losses. People other than the drinking driver paid $71.6 billion of the alcohol-related crash bill, which is 63 percent of the total cost of these crashes."

"Recent research demonstrates that the drugs most likely to produce effective results when treating alcohol withdrawal symptoms are the benzodiazepines: the shorter-acting benzodiazepines such as Serax and Ativan or the longer-acting benzodiazepines like Valium and Librium."

"Message to drug addicts. Don't just sit there and think things are going to get better. Addiction doesn't get better. It gets worse until somebody dies. You need to take appropriate action by getting professional treatment and you need to take action now!"

"Novice alcohol users run the risk of a lack of tolerance to alcohol, and of not knowing how they will react, as well as the risks that may be associated with the effects of alcohol."

"Positive alcohol expectancies, or the belief that drinking will lead to positive, pleasurable experiences, play a key role in the drinking behavior of young adults."

"According to mental health and substance abuse experts, the finding regarding the relationship between alcoholism and depression and alcoholism is noteworthy because many people, including healthcare practitioners, tend to perceive depression and alcoholism as separate problems, when in fact, they are frequently associated with one another."

"Alcohol withdrawal symptoms rarely occur in people who only drink once in a while. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms usually occur in people who have been drinking heavily for weeks or months and then suddenly stop drinking."

"Whether a baby's alcohol or drug-caused health problems will continue as the child grows older is not always known. Medical research does show, however, that children born to mothers who used marijuana regularly during pregnancy may have trouble concentrating, when they get older."

"The research findings suggest that adolescents who drink are at high risk and should be targeted early with intervention programs that focus not only on alcohol, but also cigarette smoking, use of illicit drugs, and perhaps other problem behaviors."

"Studies have shown that inpatient detoxification programs are more effective and longer lasting than outpatient detox programs. The important issue here, however, is the following: the more severe the alcohol-related withdrawal symptoms, the more likely that inpatient detox programs should be used."

"The findings of the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse and Addiction demonstrated that, while millions of Americans habitually drink alcohol, swallow prescription drugs, smoke pot, and snort cocaine, a number of drug users who meet or exceed the standards that indicate that they need professional treatment do not realize or accept the fact that they have a drug or an alcohol abuse problem."

"Alcohol abuse and alcoholism research has shown that everyone who experiences alcohol withdrawal symptoms needs professional treatment. As a result, alcohol detox and alcohol withdrawal should not be done at home and instead need to be undertaken in a medical rehab or treatment facility."

"Research into the effects of long-term addiction has shown that substantial changes in the way the brain functions are present long after the addict has stopped using drugs."

"Brain shrinkage increases with age in everyone. The early decreases seen in alcoholics may make them more vulnerable to cognitive decline and dementia as they grow older. Alcoholism is linked to dementia, and one study suggests that alcoholic women may be particularly at risk."

"Studies have shown that inpatient detoxification programs are more effective and longer lasting than outpatient detox programs. The important issue here, however, is the following: the more severe the alcohol-related withdrawal symptoms, the more likely that inpatient detox programs should be used."

"According to U.S. drunk driving statistics, in 2001, more than half a million people were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present, an average of one person injured approximately every two minutes."

"Individuals who engage in alcohol and drub abuse, at least on some level, know it, and many times they may try to cut down. They may change from hard liquor to beer or from beer to wine. They may decide to drink or take drugs only after six o'clock or only on weekends. They may even move or change jobs. But the result is more of the same: more substance use."

"Screening for problem drinking and alcoholism needs to become an integral part of the routine health screening questionnaire for adolescents and all adults, particularly women of child-bearing age, because of the risk of fetal alcohol syndrome."

"Drug and alcohol abuse statistics reveal that more than 67% of the funding for drug and alcohol treatment programs comes from public sources. Private insurance pays for about 14% of these services and the patients pay for about 10%."

"When an individual consumes a heavy amount of alcohol over a short period of time, or use is continuous over a number of days or weeks, this is called bingeing, intensive use, or binge drinking."

"Alcoholism is a profound problem, and the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., after smoking and obesity. Being aware of your risks may prevent you from becoming one of those statistics."

"According to research undertaken by the American Medical Association, there is some evidence that drinking an abusive amount of alcohol at some stage in late childhood and during adolescence can lead to permanent brain damage."