1. How many Americans drink?

• 70%

2. How many people killed in car wrecks are legally drunk?

• 43%

3. Is alcohol a drug?

• Yes, the most abused drug in our society!

4. What is the drug called?

• Ethyl alcohol or ethanol-

• There are many different kinds of alcohol and all of them are

poisonous to man (propyl, methyl, etc.)

5. How is alcohol produced?

• It is produced during fermentation-• Take yeast cells, a sugar source

like grape juice, and water. The yeast eat the sugar and give off alcohol as a waste product• “yeast pee pee”• Fermentation stops when the

alcohol content is 14%

6. What is distillation?

• The process of making a drink with more than 14% alcohol like whiskey or rum

• The fermented liquid is boiled to vaporize the alcohol which is then cooled to produce liquor

7. What is proof?

• A measure of the alcohol content

8. How is proof related to percent?

• Proof is 2X the percent

9. What beverage has the lowest alcohol content?

• Beer- 6-8%

• (wine is about 14% and liquor can be up to about 100%)

10. How is alcohol digested?

• It can go straight through the lining of the stomach and into the blood and is removed and broken down by the liver

• (food has to go all the way to the small intestine to get into the blood)

11. How does alcohol get into the blood so quickly?

• By going through the stomach lining

12. What decreases the absorption of alcohol?

• 1. food in the stomach

• 2. Mixed drinks instead of straight liquor

13. Why does alcohol cause fat to build up in the liver?

• The liver converts alcohol into fat and stores it

14. What is BAC and what factors influence it?

• Blood Alcohol Concentration-how much alcohol is in the blood

• Body size, gender, amount of fat and protein in the body

15. How many drinks could you have and stay below the legal intoxication

limit?

• Answers will vary

• Legally drunk is .08 BAC

16. What effect does alcohol have on the body?

• It is a depressant-slows heart rate, breathing rate, slows brain function

17. What are the psychological effects of alcohol

• Lessens inhibitions, may increase depression

18. What positive effect does alcohol have on the body

• Positive effects exist only when alcohol is consumed in small amounts and include relaxation, lowering blood pressure, lowering cholesterol

19. What is a diuretic?

• Something that increases urination

• Alcohol is a diuretic so it causes dehydration

20. How does alcohol cause headaches?

• When the blood vessels in the brain get dehydrated, that causes headaches

21. What is sludging?

• Red blood cells become “sticky” and move more slowly through the circulatory system

22. What is fetal alcohol syndrome?

• Birth defects including mental retardation and delayed development

23. How do babies get F.A.S.?

• The mother drinks alcohol while pregnant

24. Who pays the cost of babies with F.A.S.?

• TAXPAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!

25. Chronic drinking has what effect on the heart and circulatory system?

• High blood pressure

• Irregular heart beat

• Chest pains

• Coronary artery damage

26. What happens to the liver?

• Hepatitis

• Cirrhosis

27. What happens to the nervous system?

• Kills brain cells

• Interferes with sleep, neurotransmitters

28. What happens to the reproductive system?

• Decreased testosterone

• Increased impotence

• FAS

29. What happens to the muscular system?

• Muscle cells are killed by excessive amounts of alcohol

30. What is chronic alcohol use?

• Long term heavy drinking above a moderate amount