According to the latest statistics released by Shanghai-based organizations, China’s alcohol consumption, especially spirits consumption, has shown strong growth momentum. Spirits consumption in China accounts for 23% of the world’s total spirits consumption, leaping to become the world’s largest spirits consumption market.
The main components of alcohol are alcohol (ethanol) and water, which account for 98% of the total weight. The advantages and disadvantages of alcohol for the human body are also mainly produced and determined by alcohol, with only 2% of other trace components, including organic acids, advanced alcohols, esters, aldehydes, polyols and other organic compounds. In addition, alcohol contains components that are harmful to the human body, such as miscellaneous alcohol oils, methanol, cyanide, lead, etc.
When the concentration of ethanol in the blood reaches 0.05%, the effects of alcohol begin to show, with euphoria and euphoria; when the concentration of ethanol in the blood reaches 0.1%, people lose their ability to control themselves; when it reaches 0.2%, people are already drunk; when it reaches 0.4%, people can lose consciousness and become unconscious, and even have a life-threatening condition.
The number of people who die from alcoholism in China is more than 110,000 every year, accounting for 1.3% of the total mortality rate.
In 1982, the incidence of alcohol dependence in China was only 0.16 per thousand, but by 1990 it had increased more than three times, and alcoholics are younger and the proportion of women is increasing.
In China, 114,100 people die from alcoholism every year, accounting for 1.3% of the total mortality rate; 2,737,000 people are disabled, accounting for 3% of the total disability rate.
The liver is the most injured by excessive alcohol consumption.
About 900,000 people in the United States suffer from cirrhosis of the liver, of which 40 to 90% of cirrhotic patients have a history of alcohol abuse. The occurrence of liver damage is directly related to the amount of alcohol consumed, i.e., the risk of liver damage increases steeply when the amount of alcohol consumed reaches a certain level.
The most central chemical in wine is alcohol, and what is often referred to as intoxication is actually alcohol poisoning. Because more than 90% of alcohol in the body is metabolized by the liver, its metabolites and the metabolic disorders of liver cells it causes are the main cause of alcoholic liver injury.
According to research, normal people drink an average of 40 to 80 grams of alcohol per day, alcoholic liver disease can occur in 10 years, such as an average of 160 grams per day, 8 to 10 years can occur cirrhosis of the liver.
90% of the alcohol is metabolized in the liver, if the body can only metabolize 50 grams of alcohol, drink more alcohol can only be piled in the liver, producing a lot of peroxide, which hurts the liver. Light is fatty liver, heavy is cirrhosis of the liver, cirrhosis of the liver can cause death by haemorrhage, but also can cause death by liver cancer.
Excessive drinking has very bad effects on the body.
Studies reported by the World Health Organization show that more than 60 diseases are associated with alcohol.
In addition to the major damage to the liver, excessive alcohol consumption can also have adverse effects on other parts of the body. Such as the brain, heart, digestive system, and reproductive organs.
Studies have shown that the incidence of cancer in the mouth and throat is more than two times higher in excessive drinkers than in non-excessive drinkers, the incidence of thyroid cancer increases by 30-150%, and the incidence of skin cancer increases by 20-70%. The chance of breast cancer in women increases by 20-60%. Among patients with esophageal cancer, 60% of them are excessive drinkers, while only 2% are non-drinkers.
Higher alcohol intake can cause serious damage to memory, attention, judgment, function and emotional response. Drinking too much alcohol can cause slurred speech, blurred vision and loss of balance.
Many studies have shown that moderate alcohol consumption can improve health, but a new study found that the risk of heart disease increased over time in those who drank more alcohol. The study of more than 18,000 men found that the risk of heart disease increased by 63 percent from those who drank more alcohol compared to those who drank the same amount.
Chronic excessive alcohol consumption is a major cause of cardiovascular disease, such as cardiomyopathy, arrhythmias, coronary artery disease, and hypertension.
Cardiomyopathy occurs in people who consume large amounts of alcohol, which can cause weakening and damage to the heart muscle tissue, while fibrous tissue proliferates, seriously affecting the function of the heart.
Since alcohol first enters the gastrointestinal tract and is then metabolized by the liver, the digestive system bears the brunt of the damage. Excessive alcohol consumption is very closely related to chronic gastrointestinal inflammation.
A single large amount of alcohol consumption can lead to the uncomfortable symptoms of acute gastritis, and continuous high intake of alcohol can lead to more severe chronic gastritis.
Heavy drinking has damage to the pancreatic duct, which can cause gastritis and duodenitis, edema of the duodenal papilla, spasm of the sphincter at the mouth of the bile duct, leading to pancreatic duct obstruction and rupture of the glandular vesicles pancreatic fluid overflow and autolysis, foreign reports of acute pancreatitis 20 to 60% occur after drinking alcohol.
Alcohol can cause a decrease in sperm quality in men; for women during pregnancy, even a small amount of alcohol can increase the risk of physical defects in the unborn baby.
The metabolism of alcohol requires the involvement of two enzymes (ethanol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase) in the human body. First, ethanol is oxidized to acetaldehyde by the action of ethanol dehydrogenase, and then, acetaldehyde is oxidized to acetic acid by the action of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, and thus the final metabolism is completed.
Acetaldehyde has the effect of dilating the blood vessels of the body. Blushing and drunkenness are caused by acetaldehyde staying in the body. Many people lack the second enzyme, which causes acetaldehyde to accumulate in the body.
People who drink and blush also have varying amounts of alcohol, mainly because of differences in the body’s tolerance to acetaldehyde. However, acetaldehyde is a harmful substance to the human body, no matter what kind of body you have, it stays in the body for a long time, causing liver damage and easily forming cirrhosis of the liver or liver cancer.
Some people who drink do not blush, but will drink more and more white, they are not really drinking masters, white face because of the lack of both enzymes, so the accumulation of ethanol in the body, at first there will be no problem, but to a limit, he will suddenly collapse, that is, alcohol poisoning, which is very dangerous, will cause serious damage to the liver.
Those who can really drink are those who are rich in both enzymes, as alcohol is quickly broken down in the body into harmless acetic acid, the so-called thousand drinks without falling down (which is an extremely rare gene), judged by the fact that these people sweat a lot while drinking.
A recent report from the World Health Organization reports that people who turn red easily after drinking may have a far greater chance of developing esophageal cancer if they drink regularly than those who do not change their faces after drinking.
Pay attention to the contraindications in drinking alcohol
Avoid lying in bed, taking a hot bath or swimming immediately after drinking; avoid drinking to be a hero, too hard and too fast; avoid mixing alcohol; avoid smoking while drinking; avoid spraying pesticides after drinking; avoid taking sedative, sleeping, anti-allergic drugs after drinking, such as aspirin, Anacin, antihypertensive drugs, cold medicine, etc.; avoid drinking during pregnancy; avoid having sex after drinking; avoid drinking strong tea after drinking; avoid using medicinal wine to entertain guests; avoid drinking cloudy, precipitated, spoiled, made Shoddy wine; avoid drinking wine indiscriminately; avoid persuading others to drink wine and so on.
Drinking speed should be slow rather than fast, drinking fast, the blood ethanol concentration rises quickly, will soon appear drunk state, if slowly drink, the body has sufficient time to break down the ethanol, ethanol production is less, not easy to get drunk.
The side of drinking while smoking is harmful to the liver and lungs. The nicotine in cigarettes will weaken the effect of alcohol on the body, which is equivalent to being “anesthetized” and will unknowingly increase the amount of alcohol consumed.
Alcoholics usually use alcoholism as an important way to vent their strong psychological potential caused by internal conflicts and psychological contradictions. Alcoholics often drink with a view to eliminating worries and alleviating psychological feelings such as emptiness, timidity, guilt, and failure. If society as a whole turns a blind eye to the phenomenon of alcoholism and does not take effective measures to discourage it, it may jeopardize social security and expose us to theft, murder, domestic violence actions after divorce, etc.
China’s annual alcohol-related accidents filed up to 4 million; 100,000 people die in car accidents each year nationwide, and more than one-third of traffic accidents occur with alcohol and drunken driving.