Aedryn wrote,..
In regards to Alcohol, mostly tho it is shorterm affects not longterm.
Again, I think you are misinformed. The following are the long term effects of alcohol abuse. Again, I stress that what makes any drug dangerous is its quantity. The following is a study based on the adverse effect of alcohol by The National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse.
" Dr. Sidney Cohen, a drug abuse expert, described alcohol as "the most dangerous drug on earth". There are a variety of drinking patterns and the range of injury among alcohol abusers is great. Some are mildly injured and can recover on their own with the right tools and techniques. Others are critically injured and need hospitalization and prolonged rehabilitation with custodian supervision.
We compare the heavy drinker with an injured person - the body is damaged and must heal. The damage is done by the toxic effects of alcohol, by nutrient deficiencies and by other adverse effects of the wrong food such as food allergy. Heavy drinkers tend to starve - they eat little or have limited, inferior food choices. They have used up their nutrient stores and are often drawing on their own tissues for fuel
The Negative Effects of alcohol abuse include:
Water loss: There is rapid water loss (diuresis) within the first several hours of AB ingestion due to decreased secretion of antidiuretic hormone, a pituitary peptide.
Electrolyte Depletion: Depletion of tissue magnesium (the serum magnesium level may not be reduced). Replacement of magnesium deficits is a recognized part of treatment of post-intoxication states. Hypocalcemia may also result from magnesium depletion by reducing parathyroid hormone-induced mobilization of calcium from bone. Reduced serum phosphate may lead to muscle weakness and degeneration.
Vitamin Deficiency: Folate deficiency occurs in the majority of binge-drinking alcoholics and is a common cause of anemia. Inadequate dietary intake, intestinal malabsorption, and impaired folate storage in the liver all contribute to folate deficiency. Alcohol ingestion also interferes with vitamin B12 absorption. Deficiencies of the two vitamins cause large-cell (megaloblastic) anemia.
Thiamine deficiency may occur in long-term alcohol users as a consequence of both inadequate ingestion and malabsorption of the vitamin. With severe deficiency, major brain disturbance or alcoholic psychosis emerges (Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome). The brain dysfunction is global, with disordered thinking, feeling, remembering, and disturbed motor coordination. Thiamine replacement corrects the grosser dysfunctions of the brain and it has been proposed that alcoholic beverages be fortified with thiamine as a means of preventing this syndrome.
Pyridoxine: (B6) metabolism is disturbed by the process of alcohol oxidation, contributing to anemia. Pellagra, or niacin deficiency, is common in chronic alcoholics. Pellagra is recognized by the three D's: Diarrhea, Dermatitis, and Dementia.
Vitamin A storage is commonly decreased in alcohol-induced liver disease. With ABAB, protein-calorie malnutrition often occurs. Liver disease may lead to low blood protein and decreased serum levels of branched-chain amino acids.
Micronutrients: Trace element metabolism may be disordered with regular AB input. Alcohol may increase the urinary loss of zinc and the gastrointestinal absorption of iron. Zinc deficiency aggravates vitamin A deficiency, since zinc is needed in the transformation of vitamin A into its active form. Contamination of beer with arsenic or cobalt has caused death from heart failure.
TOXICITY TO DIGESTIVE ORGANS
Liver damage is the best known result of alcohol abuse. The liver will swell with acute intoxication, often painfully, and will show fatty infiltration and enlargement if AB ingestion continues regularly. With excessive AB over many years, the ravaged liver becomes scarred, shrunken, and relatively non-functional. This end-stage cirrhosis is associated with the yellow, demented alcoholic, belly swollen with water (ascites).
Pancreatitis is a consequence of alcoholism. Alcohol stimulates pancreatic secretion. Malnutrition with deficiencies of protein and vitamins contributes to chronic pancreatic dysfunction. Impairment of pancreatic enzyme production spoils digestion and contributes to malabsorption of nutrients. Decreased insulin production may cause or aggravate diabetes.
Alcoholic beverages contribute to malnutrition by replacing foods needed for essential nutrients and by interfering with absorption, storage or metabolism of the essential nutrients. Ethanol may suppress appetite and consumption of food. In some individuals, however, AB's trigger excessive eating instead. Food choices follow an addictive pattern, with nutrient deficiencies based on poor food choices. Bowel distension and diarrhea are common GIT effects and are correlated with increased brain disturbances. The increased absorption of undigested proteins sets the stage for all the food "allergic" diseases.
Another List of the Disease and Dysfunction Associated with Alcohol Abuse
From the National Institute (USA) on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism No. 14 PH 302 October 1991
Medical conditions. Alcohol has been shown to be directly toxic to the liver. Approximately 90 to 100 percent of heavy drinkers show evidence of fatty liver, an estimated 10 to 35 percent develop alcoholic hepatitis, and 10 to 20 percent develop cirrhosis. Fatty liver is reversible with abstinence, alcoholic hepatitis is usually reversible upon abstinence, and while alcoholic cirrhosis is often progressive and fatal, it can stabilize with abstinence. In addition to liver disease, heavy alcohol consumption causes chronic pancreatitis and malabsorption of nutrients .
The prevalence of alcoholic cardiomyopathy (heart muscle disease) is unknown. Alcohol-induced heart damage appears to increase with lifetime dose of alcohol. Alcohol can damage the brain in many ways. The most serious effect is Korsakoff's syndrome, characterized in part by an inability to remember recent events or to learn new information. The incidence of alcohol-related brain damage is approximately 10 percent of adult dementias in the United States. Milder attention and memory deficits may improve gradually with abstinence. Additional diseases strongly linked to alcohol consumption include failure of reproductive function and cancers of the mouth, larynx, and esophagus. Hospitalized alcoholics have also been found to have an increased prevalence of dental problems, compared with nonalcoholic psychiatric patients, including missing teeth and nonrestorable teeth.
Psychiatric disorders. Despite the study's shortcomings, data from the ECA** provide a starting point for assessing the prevalence of some comorbidities (on a lifetime basis). Based on ECA data, alcoholics are 21.0 times more likely to also have a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder compared with nonalcoholics. Similar "odds ratios" for some other psychiatric comorbidities are as follows: drug abuse, 3.9 times; mania, 6.2 times; and schizophrenia, 4.0 times. There is only a mild increase in major depressive disorder among alcoholics (odds ratio 1.7), and essentially no increase in anxiety disorders.
Antisocial personality disorder. The strongest correlate of alcoholism documented in the ECA is antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Comorbid ASPD has prognostic and treatment implications for alcoholics. Patients with ASPD have an earlier age of onset of alcohol and other drug abuse and a more rapid and serious course of illness.
Bulimia is an eating disorder in which patients, usually female, binge on sugar- and fat-rich meals, and purge regularly, as by self-induced vomiting. This disorder is characterized by craving, preoccupation with binge eating, loss of control during binges, an emphasis on short-term gratification, and ambivalence about treatment--symptoms that resemble those of addictive disorders . Bulimics commonly exhibit multiple drug use disorders and have high rates of alcoholism. Between 33 and 83 percent of bulimics may have a first-degree relative suffering from alcohol abuse or alcoholism.
Although it has been suggested that alcoholism and depression are manifestations of the same underlying illness, the results of family, twin, and adoption studies suggest that alcoholism and mood disorder are probably distinct illnesses with different prognoses and treatments. However, symptoms of depression are likely to develop during the course of alcoholism, and some patients with mood disorders may increase their drinking when undergoing a mood change, fulfilling criteria for secondary alcoholism. When depressive symptoms are secondary to alcoholism, they are likely to disappear within a few days or weeks of abstinence, as withdrawal symptoms subside.
Anxiety. Studies (not using ECA data) indicate that approximately 10 to 30 percent of alcoholics have panic disorder, and about 20 percent of persons with anxiety disorders abuse alcohol. Among alcoholics entering treatment, about two-thirds have symptoms that resemble anxiety disorders. The relation between major anxiety disorders and alcoholism is unclear (30). Several studies indicate that anxious patients may use alcohol or other drugs to self-medicate, despite the fact that such use may ultimately exacerbate their clinical condition.
The strongest correlation between alcoholism and severe anxiety symptoms occurs in the context of alcohol withdrawal. The severe tremors, feelings of tension, restlessness, and insomnia associated with withdrawal begin to subside after 4 or 5 days, although a vulnerability to panic attacks and to generalized anxiety may continue for months. Because these symptoms decrease with abstinence, they are unlikely to represent an independent anxiety disorder . Interestingly, subjects suffering from both alcoholism and panic disorder are unable to distinguish between a number of symptoms common to both disorders.
Other drug abuse. Based on ECA data, alcoholics are 35 times more likely than nonalcoholics to also use cocaine. Similar odds ratios for other types of drugs are: sedatives, 17.0 times; opioids, 13.0 times; hallucinogens, 12.0; stimulants, 11.0; and marijuana and related drugs, 6.0. Surveys of both clinical and nonclinical populations indicate that at least 90 percent of alcoholics are nicotine dependent. "
I would challenge anyone to find an illegal drug that does more long term and short term damage to the body.
I can gladly post 3 textbooks if you want on what my point was, I was commenting on how pot can affect you even a small amount in the long run ie: trigger something in the brain when can cause bad side effects, that is bi-polar tendances and other nasty things. Anything in excess in bad,...simple .Take panadol have more then 10 or 12 and it gets dangerous, have 24 you die. simple. Pot in small amounts can be bad. Alcohol is small amounts may not have as bad side affects if any.