Chapters 6, 7 & 8

 

Within chapter 6 CNS Depressants: Sedative-Hypnotics learned about the many types of CNS Depressants such as; Alcohol only prior to 1800s, Barbiturates, Benzodiazepines, Antihistamines, Hypnotics, and Sedatives etc. each depressant is a bit different and has different effects as well as risks. These CNS Depressants can be helpful for anxiety and stress, they relax you can cause sedation and drowsiness. Doctors use them also as anesthesia during surgery, by upping the dose. But can also cause dependency from either taking too long or taking higher doses. When someone takes them too long or in doses higher than prescribed then tolerance kicks in which leads to dependency.
A word I learned in this chapter was Benzodiazepines. This word refers to a class of heterocyclic organic compounds used as tranquilizers, such as Librium and Valium. I learned these kinds of drugs are strong and can be very dangerous if not taken in the right doses.

Within chapter 7 Alcohol: Pharmacological effects I learned about types of Alcohol and its effects, such as physical effects such as liver and other organ disorders and even mental effects. I learned that a tolerance can occur and may lead to dependency. I learned that ever drink you have has an effect that comes with it and 0.08% is legal intoxication after that it’s not good for you at all. It basically goes downhill. I found it interesting that there is no explanation of a hangover; I personally always thought that alcohol dehydrates you, and when you drink too much and go right to sleep, the alcohol causes effects of dehydration. Water always helps me. I also thought it was interesting to read that alcohol moderately can reduce cardiovascular disease for men over 50, Very surprising. I learned that there are medications out there to help people with alcohol dependency, like, Naltrexone.

A word I learned in this chapter was Cirrhosis. This word refers to a chronic disease of the liver marked by degeneration of cells, inflammation, and fibrous thickening of tissue. I learned that this is a disease related to alcohol when too much is consumed over a long period of time. And it’s irreversible.

 

Within chapter 8 Alcohol: Behavior effects there are a lot of statistics related to alcohol such as; age, schooling, culture, economics, ethnicity and race etc. this chapter helps you to see how alcohol effects not just people in general but the age of a person, where they are raised, if college students have higher rates of alcohol use and many others. The fact the economy can be affected by alcohol abuse was a surprise I just never thought of it that way. I found it insane that the drinking ages around the world could be so different; actually there are many places that do not have a drinking age, Such as Jamaica, Fiji and morocco. I think that is dangerous on many levels, mostly because children and young adults can’t always make the best decisions and if they choose to drink they could possibly drink too much or get hurt, then there are the long term effects on the brain, kids brains are still developing and alcohol is not a good mix with a young brain. I also learned of some of the history of alcohol like the fact that doctors used to write prescriptions for whisky and made quite a bit of money doing that. There are also many types of alcoholics like alpha, beta, gamma, delta, epsilon, and zeta. These were created long ago by someone called Jellinek, to better understand alcohol abuse. Along with these types came subtypes as well.
A word I learned in this chapter is Speakeasies. This word refers to a place where illegal alcoholic beverages were consumed and sold during the prohibition era. I learned that these kinds of places no longer are needed and no longer exist.

I was very interested in the drinking ages so I wanted to look into our own drinking age per state and found a very interesting chart or map that shows that each state has a little bit different laws when it comes to underage drinking such as Texas, there its parent discretion which I found kind of shocking I always thought every state was the same when it came to underage drinking. Below are the link and the chart.

http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/LegalDrinkingAge.html