Women and alcoholALCOHOLISM

Signs of alcoholism• The feeling you should

cut down on your drinking• You are annoyed when

people criticize your drinking• When you feel bad or

guilty about your drinking• If you have a drink first

thing in the morning as an “eye opener” or to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover

EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLISM• Anemia• Cancer• Cardiovascular disease• Cardiomyopathy• Dementia• Epilepsy• Gout• High blood pressure• Infectious disease• Alcoholic neuropathy• pancreatitis

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE, CARDIOMYOPATHY

• Cardiovascular disease- When a person is a heavy drinker it causes the platelets to clump together and cause blood clots, Blood clods can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

• Cardiomyopathy- a deadly disease also caused by heavy drinking. This is when the heart muscles become weak and fail or cause abnormal heart rhythm, ventricular fibrillation and atrial fibrillation. This is when the upper chambers of the heart twitch instead of working at a constant rhythm. If it isn’t treated immediately it will cause sudden death do to rapid blood loss.

HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE• High blood pressure has a list of

health problems in its own. Alcohol disrupts nerve senses, specifically the sympathetic nervous system. One of the purposes of the sympathetic nervous system is to control the dilation of blood vessels in situations such as; stress, temperature and exertion. Heavy drinking causes the blood pressure to rise permanently in which the body will suffer the damage of high blood pressure, which can lead to kidney disease, heart disease and stroke.

EPILEPSY, GOUT, DEMENTIA

• Epilepsy- alcohol can effect the medication that is used to control epilepsy• Gout- Uric acid

crystals form in the joints, alcoholism aggravates this disease. This is a very painful disease.

• Dementia- dementia is when the brain shrinks, when a person drinks it speeds up the rate of brain shrinkage that comes with age causing a person to lose the ability to plan, make judgments, and solve problems

FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME

The levels of effects of fetal alcohol syndrome varies, every child is different and the amount of alcohol the drinks while she is pregnant effects the level of effect.• Child’s growth• Child’s performance• Child’s intelligence• Child’s skeleton• Child’s heart• Poor muscle development• Poor circulation• Slow development in speech, thinking, and motor skills• brain

HEART MURMUR

There are many different types of heart murmurs, typically, a heart murmur is abnormal heart valves causing the blood flow in the heart to be abnormal. Hear murmurs vary from harmless to life threatening

SKELETON

A child with fetal alcohol syndrome sometimes have a smaller head than normal because the brain didn’t develop properly and stopped growing. This may be evident at birth or it may become evident in the first years of a child’s life.

BRAIN AND CEREBROSPINAL FLUID

Cerebrospinal fluid has three main purposes. • To keep the brain tissue buoyant,

acting as a cushion• To act as the vehicle for delivering

nutrients to the brain and removing waste

• To flow between the cranium and spine and compensate for changes in intracranial blood volume

The balance of this fluid is very important to the function of the brain. When this flow is not correct it causes “hydrocephalus” or “water on the brain” this is an effect of fetal alcohol syndrome

GENETIC• Genetic researchers now

have the technology to study a persons genetic make-up and enables them to study specific genes. A study the focused on the gene that encodes aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) an enzyme involved in the breakdown of alcohol in the body.

WORKS CITEDtwelve chronic risks of heavy drinking http://www.emedicinehealth.com/alcoholism/page9_em.htm#prevention Jurgen Rehm,PhD chairman of the University of Toronto’s department of addictionWomen and Alcohol, NIAAA, Ltd. 2011 Feb.2011http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/womensfact/womenfact.htmAlcoholism facts publication 8/29/2005http://www.medicinenet.com/script/mail/art.asp?articlekey=5288#yochFetal Alcohol Syndrome MedicineNet.com 2011http://www.medicinenet.com/fetal_alcohol_syndrome/article.htmGene-Enviroment Interplay in Adolescent Drinking BehaviorRichard J. Rose. PhD., and Danielle M. Dick, Ph.D.http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh284/222-229.htm