Alcohol is a drug that slows down the brain and nervous system. It is the most widely used drug in Australia.​ It is the most widely used drug in Australia. Drinking a small amount is not harmful for most people, but regular drinking of a lot of alcohol can cause health, personal and social problems. The effects of alcohol differ from person to person, depending on: Alcohol slows down the messages sent between the brain and the rest of the body. This can make you: Drinking a lot in a short time can cause: Because alcohol affects sight and co-ordination, drinking often causes accidents - especially car crashes and drownings. Drinking a lot of alcohol regularly over time is likely to cause physical, emotional or social problems. Damage to some body organs can be permanent. Doctors suggest that women should drink less than men. This is because women's body tissue absorbs higher concentration of alcohol than men's. Anyone can develop a 'tolerance' to alcohol.

Tolerance means that you must drink more to feel the same effects you used to have with lower amounts. Dependence on alcohol means that it takes up much of your thoughts, emotions and activities. best wine regions franceNot all people who drink are dependent.best seller wine in india Dependent people find it very difficult to stop or reduce drinking. buy wine case cheapThis is because of withdrawal. best wines under 20 bc Using alcohol at the same time as any other drug can be dangerous. wine for sale free shippingThis includes drinking alcohol while using medicines from the chemist or doctor. best years for oregon wine

One drug can make the negative effects of the other even worse. Alcohol can also stop medicines from working properly. Mixing alcohol with other drugs that slow down the body (e.g. sleeping pills, heroin, marijuana) can:best red wines that are sweet Regular drinking of any alcohol during pregnancy can cause problems for both the mother and the baby. top wine quotesDrinking a lot can lead to losing the baby before it is born or the baby being born with foetal alcohol syndrome (slow growth before and after birth, and mental disabilities). best price wine bottlesDoctors do not think that pregnant women or women trying to get pregnant should drink alcohol at all. A 'standard drink' is the measure of alcohol used to work out safe drinking levels.

All these drinks (common servings in NSW) are different sizes but each of them has about 10grams of alcohol. The drinks are different sizes because some are stronger (have more alcohol) than others. Each is one standard drink. From: National Health and Medical Research Council Everyone should have at least 2 alcohol-free days a week. Binge-drinking means drinking a lot over a few hours - or non-stop over days or weeks. This can be very dangerous as it makes the harms from alcohol worse. Also, because drinking a lot can stop you thinking clearly and acting sensibly, you may put yourself in danger from other things. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) means how much alcohol is in a person's blood. A breathalyser measures the amount of alcohol in a person's breath and gives an idea of BAC. The gives a number, such as .05. A person with a BAC level of .05 has more alcohol in their blood than someone with a level of .02. BAC is determined by how much a person drinks and how long they take to drink it.

Alcohol causes around one-third of all road deaths. There are laws to limit the amount a person can drink before driving. In Australia, the legal limit for drinking and driving for most people is .05 BAC. In NSW and WA the limit is zero for: It is difficult to work out how many drinks will put a person over the legal drink-driving limits. Some people will reach higher BAC more quickly, including: If your legal limit is .05 a good guide is 2 standard drinks in the first hour and then 1 per hour after that. If your legal limit is .02 a good guide is avoid drinking at all before driving, as just 1 standard drink could be enough to put you over the limit. If you drink more than this and drive, then you are breaking the law and could lose your licence, get a fine or go to prison. Any drink-driver who injures or kills someone can be sent to prison. Sobering up, or getting the alcohol out of your body, takes time. A little bit of the alcohol (about 10%) leaves the body in breath, sweat and urine, but most is broken down by the liver.

The liver can only get rid of about one standard drink per hour. Nothing can speed this up - not even black coffee, cold showers, exercise or vomiting. You can still be over the legal limit even a few hours after your last drink, even if you feel okay. It is illegal to sell alcohol to - or get it for - anyone under 18. It is also illegal to sell alcohol to someone who is already drunk. In NSW, police can keep you in a 'proclaimed place' (usually a police station) for up to eight hours if you are drunk in a public place and behaving in a disorderly way. In some other states these places are called 'sobering-up shelters'. Alcohol and Drug Information Service (ADIS) is a 24 hour confidential telephone counselling service. Call (02) 9361 8000 or toll free 1800 422 599. Also see Contact a Service for other relevant numbers.If you enjoy a glass of wine or pint of beer with dinner, you might wonder whether alcohol is a friend or foe to arthritis. The answer is, it’s a bit of both.

Enjoying that glass or pint with some regularity might reduce your risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to a few studies. “Moderate alcohol consumption…reduces biomarkers of inflammation, including c-reactive protein, interleukin-6, and TNF-alpha receptor 2,” says Karen Costenbader, MD, MPH, a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Inflammation is what makes your joints swell and ache when you have RA. Alcohol’s anti-inflammatory effects are also thought to be one of the reasons it appears to lower cardiovascular disease risk in moderate drinkers. Yet the key word is moderate. “We saw that for women who drank between 5 and 10 grams of alcohol a day, there was a reduced risk of RA,” says Dr. Costenbader. That works out to less than a glass of wine or beer daily. Once you already have arthritis, drinking may have more downsides than pluses. Many of the medicines your doctor prescribes to relieve sore joints don’t mix well with alcohol – including nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen (Motrin) or naproxen (Aleve), which carry a greater risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers when you drink.

Taken with acetaminophen, methotrexate or leflunomide (Arava), alcohol can make you more susceptible to liver damage. Alcohol is particularly problematic if you have gout. “Gout attacks can be brought on by purine-rich foods or drinks, and beer is high in purines,” Dr. Costenbader says. Distilled liquor, and possibly wine, can also cause problems for those with gout. If you have arthritis and want to drink, “Get your doctor’s advice first,” Costenbader recommends. Even with a doctor’s ok, limit yourself to one glass a day. Drinking in excess is damaging to your body in many other ways. “The risk of other kinds of diseases goes up with higher alcohol consumption.” Conditions linked to drinking more than moderate amounts of alcohol include cancers of the breast, colon, esophagus, mouth and throat, as well as diseases like diabetes and stroke. Alcohol, if you choose to drink it, should be only one small part of an overall healthy lifestyle. Even better ways to protect your joints – and the rest of your body – are to eat a healthy diet, exercise, control your weight and not smoke, Dr. Costenbader says.