The authors are entirely responsible for the research and results reported in this paper, and their position or opinions do not necessarily represent those of the University of Miami, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or the National Institute on Drug Abuse Nov 11, · We will write a custom Research Paper on Genetic Predisposition to Alcohol specifically for you. for only $ $11/page. certified writers online. Learn More. As mentioned above, the concept of alcohol dependency and related problems running in families dates back to the distant past Dec 11, · Any essay, alcohol addiction article or research paper can help to understand this truth better. In fact, there are numerous aspects to speak on within this theme: reasons and causes of alcohol abuse, signs, and treatment of this addiction, the influence of alcoholism on an individual, their family, and the entire society and so on
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Some alcohol problems are severe and alcohol research paper substantial consumption of alcohol, which results in multiple physical and psychosocial problems. In order to understand the problematic use of alcohol, it is helpful first to consider what constitutes a state of health with regard to its use.
Alcohol has held a common, even honored, place in the daily life of many cultures for thousands of years. It has been an element central to religious observances in Judeo- Christian and other faiths, and has often been part of important social and cultural events as well. Wine has long been recommended to promote physical health, and indeed recent scientific evidence indicates a consistent association between moderate drinking and longevity, although the reasons for this link are still poorly understood.
At the same time, it is abundantly clear that heavier drinking is often associated with devastating consequences to the individual and to society. Alcohol is involved in about half of all traffic fatalities, alcohol research paper, and a substantial proportion of fatal falls, alcohol research paper, drownings, deaths by fire, homicides, and suicides.
Excessive drinking is also closely linked to violence, crime, injuries, and a plethora of chronic diseases. The relationship of alcohol to health can thus be understood as a continuum. At one end of the continuum are abstainers, those who do not drink alcohol alcohol research paper all, who constitute more than one-third of adults in the United States, alcohol research paper.
Such people obviously have no negative consequences related to their own drinking. The average consumption for this large group is about three or four drinks per week. They fall largely within the limits for safe drinking recommended by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism: not more than two drinks per day for men, and not more than one drink per day for women, with some alcohol- free days each week.
When moderation is exceeded, or when one drinks at all in dangerous situations, one enters the realm of risky drinking, alcohol research paper, which includes both acute and chronic risk, alcohol research paper. Acute risk has to do with the immediate effects of intoxication. Even low levels of alcohol in the bloodstream, for example, alcohol research paper, can significantly impair driving ability. The only safe blood alcohol level behind the wheel is zero.
A small amount of impairment from intoxication can also be lethal when combined with activities such as water sports, skiing, hunting, climbing, or using power tools, where minor misjudgments can have major consequences.
There is no known safe level of drinking during pregnancy. Perhaps one of the most dangerous aspects of intoxication is that above very moderate doses, perception and judgment are among the first abilities to be impaired.
Chronic risk, on the other hand, has to do with the long-term effects of drinking. Heavy drinking is closely linked to a wide range of health problems, at least doubling the risk for heart disease, cancers of many types, and hypertension. Risks for liver disease and for cancers of the mouth and gastrointestinal system are greatly increased by drinking above moderate levels. Harmful drinking is when negative consequences from drinking actually occur.
In addition to adverse effects on physical health and appearance, common types include legal problems, social consequences, damage to relationships, alcohol research paper, financial problems, and emotional disturbance. Because alcohol is a depressant drug, depression is often caused or exacerbated by heavy drinking. In college students, drinking level has a strong and negative relationship to grade point average. Memory problems are common in heavy drinkers, alcohol research paper, and the occurrence of memory blackouts is associated with brain impairment from alcohol.
A majority of crimes resulting in imprisonment are committed under the influence of alcohol, which is also associated with domestic violence. Alcohol dependence occurs as a person develops a pattern of alcohol use that results in substantial impairment in functioning. Such tolerance is misleading, however, because while it appears that the person is unaffected, in fact he or she has alcohol research paper sufficiently high blood alcohol level to cause serious acute and chronic risk.
Gradually, the body adjusts to the presence of alcohol, so that sobering up results in unpleasant experiences such as hangovers, insomnia, agitation, or nervousness, sweating, alcohol research paper, and trembling. In the extreme, alcohol alcohol research paper produce a withdrawal syndrome stronger and considerably more life-threatening than that associated with heroin addiction.
Other features of alcohol dependence include drinking more or for a longer time than intended, failed attempts to reduce or stop drinking, and foregoing other important activities in favor of drinking. What is the normal course of human development with regard to alcohol? The answer to this question is quite specific to culture. In some cultures, the normal course is lifelong abstention from alcohol.
In Mexico, binge drinking is common among males, whereas women are usually abstainers, alcohol research paper.
Large general population surveys reveal that a majority of Americans drink alcohol. Inresearchers conducting the National Health Interview Survey interviewed more than 40, people about their alcohol consumption.
At one end of the alcohol research paper, about one-third of men and one-half of women were classified as abstainers—individuals who drink less than once per year or not at all. Most individuals were classified as either light drinkers, consuming I to 13 drinks per month, or moderate drinkers, consuming 4 to 13 drinks per week. Although most Americans drink without negative consequences, a significant minority of individuals are found at the harmful end of the use continuum.
Recent surveys estimate that Drinking at these levels becomes increasingly dominated by men, who drink more often, in greater quantities, and report more frequent episodes of intoxication than women. In fact, studies find that men are more than three times alcohol research paper likely to be diagnosed with alcohol abuse or dependence at any age than are women. In addition to gender, drinking patterns are affected by alcohol research paper. After little or no drinking during childhood, alcohol use increases sharply during adolescence and peaks in young adulthood.
Young adults drink in greater quantities, show the highest rates of binge alcohol research paper and problems related to alcohol use, and show the highest rates of alcohol abuse and dependence of any age group.
The percentage of abstainers increases with age, although it is thought that heavier drinkers may be more likely to show stability of heavy drinking over time. This decrease in the number of people who use and abuse alcohol continues into older adulthood. Adults over age 65 have the lowest rates of alcohol abuse, dependence, and alcohol-related negative consequences of any age group. Some longitudinal research suggests that drinking patterns remain fairly stable over time, alcohol research paper, with the decreased rates of use and problems in older adulthood being attributable to increased mortality of heavy drinkers.
Although studies of general population samples indicate that consumption and problems are greatest during the young adult years, studies have found that minority groups do not always follow this pattern. For example, Blacks have been found to show low rates of heavy drinking in young adulthood, followed by increased rates of heavy drinking and problems in their adult years.
Importantly, rates of abstinence are higher among Blacks of all ages, especially among Black females. Research has also found variations by age from general population samples in patterns of drinking among Hispanics, alcohol research paper.
In a way that is similar to non-Hispanic Whites, alcohol research paper, heavy drinking and associated problems increase during the young adult years among Hispanics.
Hispanic men, however, show a smaller decrease in heavy drinking and problems from young adulthood to adulthood than that found among general population samples. In addition, Hispanic women show higher rates of abstention at all ages than non-Hispanic White women. Importantly, research with Hispanic samples is complicated by the practice of studying individuals of Mexican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican descent together, ignoring the substantial cultural and geographic differences among these groups as well as their different rates of drinking and attitudes toward alcohol use.
American Indians tend to alcohol research paper higher rates of alcohol problems than the alcohol research paper population, with a death rate from alcohol dependence that is more than five times higher than the rate for other races. Patterns vary widely by tribal affiliation, however, with some tribes drinking more than the general population average and others drinking less. Alcohol use among American Indians is highest and is associated with the greatest number of negative consequences through young and middle adulthood, with a decline in consumption in the forties.
Whatever the population, it is clear that a significant alcohol research paper of individuals drink in an excessive or harmful way. What causes alcohol research paper problems? Historically, alcohol research paper, this question too often has been answered by pointing to a single cause. In the nineteenth century, drunkenness was the mark of a sinful person who lacked morals or will power.
Alcohol research paper is clear, however, that there are many causes of alcohol problems, which develop out of interacting biological, environmental, and cognitive factors that begin early in life and continue over the course of development.
At various points in development, different factors have more or less of an influence on drinking behavior. Much research has shown that genetics play a role in the development of alcohol problems. This research studies individuals with varying degrees of genetic relatedness to individuals with alcohol problems, and observes the rates at which these different relatives develop alcohol problems themselves. For example, family pedigree studies look at biological relatives of alcohol dependent adults; twin studies examine the rates at which identical and fraternal twins both develop alcohol problems; adoption studies follow children of alcohol dependent individuals who have been adopted by individuals without alcohol problems.
The results of contemporary genetic studies strongly support a role for genetics in the development of alcohol problems, particularly among sons of alcohol dependent parents, who are three to four times more likely to develop alcohol problems than sons of nonalcohol dependent parents. Knowing that genetics plays a part in the development of alcohol problems, researchers have now turned their attention to identifying those processes or deficits that might be genetically transmitted and contribute to alcohol problems.
As children are required to function more independently, alcohol research paper, they learn skills to help them evaluate situations and change behavior such as self-monitoring of functioning, evaluating functioning in comparison to a standard, and designing and implementing behavior change if needed.
Some children make this transition readily, while others fail to become competent self-regulators. Temperamentally difficult children- those showing poor behavioral control, hyperactivity, and impulsivity—are thought to have poor self-regulation. Such children can be difficult to parent. Their heightened activity interferes in the development of self-control skills, as well as in the formation of strong relationships with others such as parents who would help them develop these skills.
As individuals develop and are required to behave more autonomously, individuals who are poor self-regulators may be less able to change their behaviors to meet new challenges. As a result, they rely on external sources of regulation such as alcohol and drugs, which in turn tend to impair self-regulation still further. A large body of research has shown that temperamentally difficult children show a greater likelihood of developing alcohol problems as adults. Although genetic and biological processes contribute to the development of alcohol problems, environmental factors are also strongly involved.
Difficulties in temperament and self-regulation can be thought of as risk factors that interact with personal and environmental factors to lead to the development of alcohol problems. Social learning models of alcohol use and problems emphasize the importance of social reinforcers—reactions from others in the social world that either reward or punish particular behaviors.
Positive reactions serve to reinforce drinking behavior, while negative reactions punish such behavior. What environmental factors might be important to drinking behavior?
There are multiple levels of environmental influence—more immediate influences include family members and peers, while farther removed factors include aspects of society, culture, and religion. Family and peers strongly influence drinking behaviors by setting examples, altering availability of alcohol, and by encouraging or discouraging alcohol use. Much evidence suggests that adolescents and young adults tend to hold attitudes toward alcohol and show drinking behaviors that are like those of their parents and peers: young individuals who drink tend to have parents and peers who drink.
Through these links with drinking others, alcohol research paper, young people observe the positive features of drinking, learn how to drink, and receive positive feedback for their drinking. Similarly, peer influence appears to have a particularly strong impact on drinking in adolescence and young adulthood.
Research Paper ( Alcohol Consumption)
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The Journal of Drug and Alcohol Research is a scholarly, open access, and peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing original research papers, reviews, protocols, news and views, and commentaries in the field of drug, nicotine and alcohol abuse, both basic and blogger.com papers submitted to the Journal of Drug and Alcohol Research will be subjected to peer review by the editorial board of View sample criminology research paper on alcohol and crime. Browse other research paper examples for more inspiration. If you need a thorough research paper written according to all the academic standards, you can always turn to our experienced writers for help Example research paper on Alcoholism: Alcohol’s importance in our social history is significant. Even more significant is the abuse of alcohol and the how alcoholism has effected modern society. However, before the word “alcoholism” was ever spoken, alcohol was used for many purposes such as settling battles, giving courage in battles
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