Heavy drinking of alcohol is recognised as a leading cause of cardiovascular disease (CVD) including cardiomyopathy (degeneration of heart muscle). It can also cause coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, dangerous heart beats and stroke.
The brain is very sensitive to alcohol. Alcohol is a depressant drug that reduces the pace of brain activity by a combination of effects. Alcohol affects the function of neurotransmitters by altering the communication between them. A sufficient dose can shut down brain function that can lead to unconsciousness or death. The brain areas that can be damaged by heavy alcohol use include:
Corpus callosum – Connects the right and left hemispheres of the brain
Frontal lobe – Contains regions of the cortex that control movement, language production, problem solving planning and social behaviour
Hippocampus – Controls memory of an accurate life
Mammillary body – A sub region of the hypothalamus related to memory formation
Parietal lobe – Contains regions of the cortex devoted to the senses, movement, spatial processing and memory and mathematics, grammar and spelling
Temporal lobe – Regions of the cortex devoted to auditory information, language comprehension, object identity and categorisation.
Heavy alcohol use can also affect the nervous system and can slow down reactions. It can cause lack of self-control, and may lead to an unconsciousness coma. It can also damage the liver as well as the brain.
DRUGS
Drugs can be extremely harmful and they are very addictive. Drugs give users a short feeling of happiness and joy. It gives a feeling of being ‘high’ and lasts for a certain period and then wears away. These feelings are then followed by stronger negative feelings. Examples are depression, anxiety, sickness, vomiting, guilt, and a need for more drugs.
Drugs impair a person’s judgement. They slow down the reaction time, meaning that it takes you longer to respond to a stimulus. Drugs change the chemical processes happening in the body, and this is what leads to dependence and addiction. They are poisonous and can kill cells.
Some drugs can cause immediate death or permeate brain damage. Sleeping is harder once doing drugs. Many drugs will increase breathing rate, heart beats per minute and blood pressure. They will make your hair and skin pale in colour. Give you bad breath or stain your teeth.
Different drugs have different effects. Most drugs affect the nervous system and the brain. Side effects of cocaine are that they can give you heart attacks even though you are in total shape. Cannabis is a hook- forming drug; once you are hooked to it you crave for more. The effects of heroin are much worse. It can get such a grip on the body that, if the drug is unavailable, the person develops withdrawal symptoms such as dizziness, vomiting and muscle pains.
Every time you take drugs, the dosage becomes less and less effective. This results in larger doses every time to get the same (or even less) effect of euphoria (happiness and joy). Many people have drug overdoses and suffer from brain damage or death. Drugs can cause problems from lung cancer, liver problems, brain damage and heart attacks.
NICOTINE
Nicotine is a drug which is very addictive. Once you are hooked on it you crave for more, in other words you become psychologically dependent on it. Nicotine is found in tobacco, and it is stimulant, meaning that it speeds up the brain and makes you more alert.
TOBACCO
When a person smokes, tiny particles in the smoke get caught in the lining of the windpipe and bronchial tubes. Extra mucus is produced and the cilia stop beating. Smoking one cigarette stops the cilia for about an hour. Instead of being wafted to the throat by the cilia, the mucus collects in the bronchial tubes and gives rise to a “smoker’s cough”.
There are more cases of heart disease and lung cancer among smokers than among non-smokers. Smoking causes irritation of the trachea and larynx (voice box). It also increases blood pressure and heart rate. Smoking can also reduce bone density and tighten the muscles.
Tobacco smoke contains substances which can help to cause lung cancer, bronchitis, emphysema and disease of the heart and the blood vessels. The most damaging compounds in tobacco smoke include:
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Nicotine- An alkaloid derived from the tobacco plant that is responsible for psycho active and addictive effects on smoking. It is toxic at high doses but can be safe and effective as medicine at lower doses.
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Tar - The particles of tar contain chemicals including nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. Tar is sticky and brown, and stains teeth, fingernails and lung tissue. It is known to trigger cancer.
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Carbon monoxide - this odourless gas is fatal in large doses because it takes the place of oxygen in the blood. Each red blood cell contains a complicated protein called haemoglobin; oxygen molecules are transported around the body by binding to, or hanging onto, this protein. However, carbon monoxide has an even greater affinity for binding to haemoglobin than oxygen does. This means that the heart of a smoker has to work much harder to get enough oxygen to the brain, heart, muscles and other organs.
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Nitrogen oxides - Nitrogen oxides damage the lungs. It is thought that nitrogen oxides are some of the particular chemicals in tobacco smoke that cause the lung disease emphysema.
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Hydrogen cyanide - the lungs contain tiny hairs (cilia) that help to 'clean' the lungs by moving foreign substances out. Hydrogen cyanide stops this lung clearance system from working properly, which means the poisonous ingredients of tobacco smoke are allowed to remain inside the lungs.
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Ammonia - ammonia is a strong chemical, which also damages the lungs.
Long term smoking can cause all types of cancer, such as cancer of the lung, mouth, nose, throat, pancreas, blood, kidney, penis, cervix, bladder and anus. It can also cause lung diseases such as chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema.
In pregnant women, the risks of smoking are that there will be a risk of miscarriage, still birth and premature birth. There will also be a lower birth weight of the baby. There will also be an increased risk of ear infections, respiratory illnesses such as asthma, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and childhood cancers such as acute lymphocyte leukaemia.
