Alcoholism Health Article

Signs and symptoms

The symptoms of alcohol intoxication often include talkativeness and a positive mood while the drinker's blood alcohol level is rising, with depression and mental impairment when it is falling. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) produces the following symptoms of central nervous system (CNS) depression at specific levels:

• 50 mg/dL: feelings of calm or mild drowsiness
• 50-150 mg/dL: loss of physical coordination. The legal BAC for drivers in most states is 100 mg/dL or lower.
• 150-200 mg/dL: loss of mental faculties
• 300-400 mg/dL: unconsciousness
• Over 400 mg/dL: may be fatal.

The symptoms of long-term heavy consumption of alcohol may take a variety of different forms. In spite of a long history of use for "medicinal" purposes, alcohol is increasingly recognized to be toxic to the human body.

It is basically a CNS depressant that is absorbed into the bloodstream, primarily from the small intestine. Regular consumption of large amounts of alcohol can cause irreversible damage to a number of the body's organ systems, including the cardiovascular system, the digestive tract, the central nervous system, and the peripheral nervous system. Heavy drinkers are at high risk of developing stomach or duodenal ulcers, cirrhosis of the liver, and cancers of the digestive tract. Many alcoholics do not eat properly, and often develop nutritional deficiency diseases as well as organ damage.

In addition to physical symptoms, most alcoholics have a history of psychiatric, occupational, financial, legal, or interpersonal problems as well. Alcohol misuse is the single most important predictor of violence between domestic partners as well as intergenerational violence within families. In 1994 (the latest year for which statistics are available), 79% of drivers over age 25 involved in fatal automobile accidents were intoxicated. In the states that provided data in 1994 for arrests for driving while impaired (DWI) by alcohol, about one-third of the arrested drivers had previous DWI citations. Since the early 1990s, most states have passed stricter laws against alcohol-impaired driving. These laws include such provisions as immediate license suspension for the first DWI arrest and lowering the legal blood alcohol limit to 0.08 g/dL for adults and 0.02 g/dL for drivers under 21. Penalties for repeated DWI citations include prison sentences; house arrest with electronic monitoring; license plates that identify offending drivers; automobile confiscation; and putting a special ignition interlock on the offender's car.