Alcohol as a chemical substance has many negative effects in the body. These effects are explained below;
2.10.2.1 Alcohol as a Depressant
Alcohol is a drug, classified as a depressant which means that alcohol slows down vital functions, resulting in slurred speech, unsteady movement, disturbed perceptions and an ability to react quickly. As for how it affects the mind, it is best understood as a drug that reduces a person’s ability to think rationally and distorts his or her judgement (Raupp et al., 2001).
Ethyl alcohol or commonly ethanol, is an intoxicating ingredient present in beer, wine and liquor. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant that is rapidly absorbed from the stomach and small intestine into the bloodstream. Alcohol intoxication can impair brain function and motor skills which can even lead to insanity (Weatherall et al., 2001).
2.10.2.2 Effect of Alcohol on Developing Foetus
Alcohol affects every organ in the drinker’s body. Alcohol also has effects in the womb, thereby affecting the development of the foetus. During pregnancy, the alcohol crosses the placenta and reaches the foetus. Because the rate of alcohol breakdown is slow, the foetus then have higher levels of blood alcohol than the mother. Drinking alcohol during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth, raises the odds for having a baby with low birth weight and raise the child’s risk for having problems with learning, speech, attention span, language and hyperactivity (Abbas and Lichtman, 2003).
The most severe result of alcohol is foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), a lifelong condition characterized by poor growth (in the womb, after birth, or both), abnormal facial features and damage to the central nervous system. Babies with foetal alcohol syndrome also have anatomical defects of the head, brain, heart, and spine (Fleming and De silva, 2008).
2.10.2.3 Stimulating Effect of Alcohol
Although classified as a depressant, alcohol is also seen as a stimulant. The amount of alcohol consumed determines the type of effect it will have on the body. Most people drink for the stimulant effect, such as beer or a glass of wine taken to loosen up. But if a person consumes more than the body can take, he or she then experiences more than a stimulant effect. The drinker begins to feel stupid or lose coordination and control (Berrington et al., 2000). Alcohol overdose causes even more severe depressant effects, such as inability to feel pain, toxicity where the person vomits the poison, and finally unconsciousness or, worse coma or death from severe toxic overdose. These reactions depend on how much is consumed and how quickly (Berrington et al., 2000).
Alcohol directly affects brain chemistry by altering levels of neuro-transmitters in the body, which are the chemical messengers that transmit the nerve impulses (Raupp et al., 2001).
2.10.2.4 Effect of Alcohol as Anaesthetic
As the alcohol moves quickly to the brain, it acts like an anaesthetic to various parts of the brain. First affected is the frontal lobe with immediate effects of increased enjoyment, euphoria, happiness and the general expression of positive moods (Ngane et al., 2003).
2.10.2.5 Effect of Alcohol on the Digestive System
Drinking alcoholic beverages of lower ethanol levels (about 10%) raises the acidic level of the stomach secretions; therefore gastric ulcer patients are obviously affected. Beverages with ethanol level of over 20% inhibit the secretion of the gastric juices and so weaken the ability to digest animal protein. If the level is over 40%, the mucosa of the stomach is irritated, thus leading to gastric ulcer when alcohol is regularly drank (Hull and stone, 2004).
Internally applied alcohol can cause sickness and vomiting because during its oxidation in the body, it produces acetyl aldehyde (CH3CHO) which has those toxic effects on the central nervous system (Berrington et al., 2000).
2.10.2.6 Alcohol influence on the circulation system
Medium amounts of ethanol widen the smaller blood vessels of the skin, thus reddening the skin colour and making the imbiber warmer. But it cannot serve as a measure against coldness; the skin shrinks normally under low temperature (goose skin) which is its only protective reaction, but alcohol restrains this function and moreover causes a higher loss of warmth by the increased radiation resulting from the widened blood vessels; in this situation coldness can become a mortal danger (Akanni et al., 2010).
Medium amounts of alcohol do not obviously influence the heart, but high amounts can paralyze the nerves in the brainstem and so damage the whole body circulation. According to research reports, alcohol abuse easily causes acute and chronic intoxications and a blood alcohol level of only 0.5% to 2% can cause states of drunkenness. If a level of 4% is reached, a lethal acute intoxication will follow (Chu, 2000).
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