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The Dangers of Alcoholism

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Submitted By rlane81
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Alchololism and the dangers
There are a lot of dangers in this world today that are caused by alcohol. Not only is alcohol one of the leading problems in todays society, but it is also a growing problem in Americas teenagers. I will be discussing several point in this paper from various studies to what exactly alcoholism is and the different dangers of this disease. This is a very personal topic to me so I hope you enjoy my research paper.

The first point being addressed is what exactly alcoholism is. According to The Reader’s Digest Great Encyclopedic Dictionary, alcoholism “is a diseased condition resulting from the excessive use or persistent use of alcoholic beverages.” Alcoholism has divided into two major forms--alcohol abuse and alcohol dependence (Goodwin 1998). Alcohol abuse is the excessive consumption of alcohol which has detrimental effects on the people and situations surrounding an individual; whereas, alcohol dependence is a physical attachment to the alcohol. Alcohol abuse leads to hazardous behavior, such as drunken driving and continued drinking despite negative consequences on family, work, or social functioning. Alcohol dependence involves withdrawal symptoms when alcohol is not used, and lack of control over drinking despite serious social and medical problems (Goodwin 1998).

Various studies have been performed to show the relationship between alcoholism and genetics. New research on male twins show that genes play a critical role in the development of milder forms of alcoholism, such as, occasional abuse that can land the drinker in dangerous circumstances, particularly while driving (Goodwin 1998). The genetic similarity between twins makes them the perfect subjects on which to perform testing. Previous research has shown that people with an alcoholic family member have a two to four times higher risk of becoming alcoholic than

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