Alcohol Abuse

Alcohol abuse in pregnancy

Alcohol abuse has become a big problem in our society. South Africans are amongst the heaviest consumers of alcohol in the world. Many researchers claim that this is a result of poverty, unemployment, and the poor conditions in which people live.  Their theory is that people abuse alcohol to escape from their problems.

Drinking alcohol in limited quantities is not necessarily a bad thing in itself. It becomes a problem when people start drinking irresponsibly.  When people are relaxing, entertaining or celebrating they often include alcohol as a beverage.  It is there as part of the entertainment.  It is when a person drinks more than s/he can take that becomes a problem.  This is referred to as alcohol abuse.  Sustained alcohol abuse over a period of time leads to the condition known as alcoholism.

Alcoholism is a dependency or addiction to alcohol.  This means that the person cannot function normally without alcohol.  Alcoholism is now recognised as a disease by the medical community and is treated as such.

Treatment

The good news for those addicted to alcohol is that it can be treated. There are alcoholism treatment programs that include counselling and medication to help the person stop drinking. These treatment programmes have a high success rate, so long as the patient is 100% committed to recovery.  There are so many people that have been helped by these programmes. They have started afresh and have rebuilt their lives to become responsible members of our society.

Alcohol does not only affect the person abusing it. It affects the people around you, especially those closest to you.  Part of your treatment for alcoholism will be to acknowledge this, face up to the damage you have done to these people, and apologise to them.  There are also counselling programmes for people who are affected by a loved one's alcoholism e.g. life partners, parents or children.

If you are addicted to alcohol or know someone in this situation, follow the links below for a list of rehabilitation centres in the greater Cape Town area: -

Do not drink alcohol while you are pregnant.

It is very dangerous for pregnant women to drink any alcohol at all. It may harm the foetus by causing neonatal abstinence syndrome and baby alcohol syndrome.  This will be a lifelong condition for your child.  Please refrain from drinking while pregnant.

WARNING: Alcohol and driving

Do not drink and drive.

Alcohol impairs your judgement, and makes you a danger to yourself and everyone around you if you are driving.  There are legal limits as to how much alcohol you can have in your blood if you are driving.

The Legal limit of alcohol for a driver

Legal Blood alcohol concentration = < 0.05g per 100ml.
Legal Breath alcohol concentration = < 0.24mg per 1000ml.
For Professional drivers these limits are different, and lower.
Blood alcohol concentration = <0.02g per 100ml
Breath alcohol concentration = <0.10mg per 1000ml.

For a person weighing 70kg this can be reached by consuming the following:

  • Two glasses of wine, or
  • Two tots of hard liquor, or
  • Two cans of beer.

However it is important to note that one should not rely on the above alone. One's actual blood alcohol level can be higher than expected and is influenced by many factors. This can include the type of alcoholic beverage, time of one's last meal, the speed at which one drinks, one's age, sex, fitness level, type of build, the use of medication, presence of illnesses, etc.  

For more information on this, click on the links below:

Physical signs of alcohol abuse and alcoholism

  • While intoxicated: slurred speech, dizziness, clumsiness or unsteadiness
  • Blackouts, when you drink so much you pass out
  • Unexplained sore or upset stomach
  • Redness in the face or cheeks
  • Numbness or tingling in hands and feet

Side effects of alcohol abuse

Every system in the body can be negatively affected by alcohol abuse, because alcohol goes directly into the blood stream.  It affects your brain functions, so your impulse control is impacted, causing you to speak and act before you think. It affects physical co-ordination, leading to unclear speech and loss of balance.

Consuming large amounts of alcohol can also lead to unconsciousness which may result in a coma or even death. Some people throw up when they are unconscious and that is also very dangerous. Alcohol abuse has many consequences, namely crime, sexual harassment and rape and many more.

Over-consumption of alcohol over a period of time can cause liver and kidney damage.

To know more about side effects, click on the links below